The second annual La Jolla Art & Wine Festival (LJWAF), happening Oct. 9 and 10 on Girard Avenue, will take its focus to new heights. Instead of bringing participants a mishmash of crafts and random wares, the festival will work this year to showcase only fine art and expertly-selected wines. Joseph Lillis, the new artist director for LJAWF, explained that the previous year had some kinks to work out and that 2010 will prove to be a major improvement on a variety of levels. “Last year, the event had a mix of vendors that didn’t even represent fine art, so this year we really looked to eliminate anything that wasn’t fine art,” Lillis said. “There are plenty of street or farmer’s markets and that kind of thing all around the area but what La Jolla doesn’t have is a first-rate art show. The nearest one is in La Quinta,” he said. In order to create this new ambiance, a team of prestigious artist jurors — handpicked by LJAWF’s organizers from universities and museums around the country — aimed to reduce the number of participants by using a selective scoring process for each artist that applied. This process helps to maintain a much higher quality event, Lillis said. Out of the more than 250 artists who applied, only about 150 were selected. “By bringing in the best art and the best collectors, the more people will buy and the more people were willing to be involved in this venture,” he said. The same selective process was used in filling the featured Surfside Wine & Beer Garden aspect of the festival. With spirits from Escondido’s Stone Brewery, Whole Foods and about 18 other importers, wineries and breweries, the organizers left no grape or hop ignored. All of the event proceeds will go toward three local public schools — Bird Rock, La Jolla and Torrey Pines elementary schools. The proceeds will be used to benefit underfunded programs at these schools, such as art, music, technology and on-site medical treatment. The festival is the brainchild of Friends of La Jolla Elementary, Inc. (FLJE), a group comprised of parents and friends of the children of La Jolla elementary schools and marketing executive Sherry Berman Ahern. Its goal is to raise funds every year through a variety of events in order to support educational enrichment programs. FLJE’s most established event is the Open Aire Market, which takes place at the corner of Girard Avenue and Genter Street every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Last year’s LJAWF earned $40,000 for the schools, and this year’s new art director seems confident that this year’s event will meet or exceed those goals — and provide festivalgoers with a quality experience chockfull of fine arts, live music and spirits.
