Nearly 200 award-winning fine artists will showcase their work before an expected 7,000 – and within a new Surf Culture theme – at the 29th annual La Jolla Festival of the Arts Saturday, June 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, June 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UCSD’s Warren Field The festival, jointly sponsored by Torrey Pines Kiwanis and San Diego Magazine, is an annual Kiwanis effort to raise money for the city’s disabled.
Kids can enjoy crafts, face painting and puppet shows, while dads can watch the U.S. Open and enjoy a complimentary pint on Father’s Day, June 21. Live music and entertainment will serve as backdrop for the festival’s honorary ambassadors, world-renowned surf photographer Aaron Chang and legendary custom surfboard shaper Tim Bessell. Bessell will have Andy Warhol-inspired boards onsite, including one featuring Mick Jagger, the newest collection entry. Chang will exhibit installments from his 25 years of surf photography.
Artists will exhibit their fare in painting, sculpture, photography, glass, jewelry, ceramics, wood, fiber and mixed media. Entertainment includes jazz guitarists Peter Sprague and Fred Benedetti; the Jazz 88 All Stars; jazz group Monsoon, led by Dave Scott; the Cajun-inspired Bayou Brothers; blues-folk singer-songwriter Nina Francis; and violin, viola and cello musicians Caprice Strings.
Represented restaurants include Ohana Hawaiian Island BBQ; Divine Greek; Doggos Gus; Home Plate Sports Cafe; Bottaro Wood Fire Pizza; Harvest Truck. Hunter Steakhouse and Blue Chip Ice Cream.
The nonprofit festival supports more than 30 organizations for the disabled, including Adapted PE San Diego City Schools, ASRA Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp, Grossmont Union High School’s special education department, the Helen Woodward Therapeutic Riding Program, Operation Game On and St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center. Warren Field is a soccer pitch on UCSD’s Voigt Drive.
For more information on the festival, see ljfa.org.
