Will Bowen | Downtown News

“We are unique. We are different. There is no other group like us,” said Dr. George Wahab, a Palestian-American, head of the Market Street Art Group, which is based out of the Design Center on Kettner Blvd. in Little Italy North.

“We are probably San Diego’s best-kept secret,” he said. “Our organization is the best place in San Diego for an artist to develop their talents and skills for a reasonable cost, especially if they are interested in figurative art – or the drawing of the human body.

“This is also the place to reinvent your self as an artist, especially in pursuing art as a second career. We help people make the transition. That’s why they call us ‘The Incubator for Artists.’”

Wahab said the Group develops their artists into leaders in the field, four of which have become president of the San Diego Portrait Society and four others members of the board trustees at the San Diego Museum of Art.

“We accomplish this by providing a supportive community of people who have a passion for art. We all work smoothly together and cooperatively without need for any form of government,” Wahab said.

“We are supportive and encouraging. We nourish each other and we learn from each other. I, myself, learned to draw from fellow member Ron Spelman.

“Our large studio/gallery, which is 2,000 square feet, is open 24/7 for anyone who wants to come in and work. Three days a week, we have a live model posing for drawings and paintings. We currently have about 20 members, but are always open to new blood. The cost is only $135 a month, which is very reasonable, considering you get the space, the community and the models.”

Wahab was born in Palestine to an Orthodox Christian family. During the war of 1948 he fled to Egypt. He graduated from medical school in Cairo and then immigrated to Canada, and then the United States. Now retired from medicine, he pursues painting full time.

“When I was a doctor I was interested in people and in the human body,” Wahab said. “It’s the same now in art. How do you capture the beauty of the body and the essence of the person? That is my quest.”

Ron Spelman is one of the original founding members of the Market Street Group. He said that it all began 25 years ago when a group of the students of master painter Sebastian Capella opened a studio on Market Street. Spelman, who lives in La Jolla, made his fortune in municipal bonds, then turned to art to develop his creative side and find fulfillment. He has been the president of the San Diego Portrait Society and is currently president of the Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild.

Spelman said that Dr. Wahab is one of the two hearts of the Market Street Group. The other heart is Carol Prior, an Irish Catholic from Philadelphia.

“I am the only member of my family that has ever gone west of the Mississippi,” Prior said. “My husband is a surfer from the beaches of New Jersey. We came out to California and checked out every single surf spot from San Francisco to San Diego before settling on Windansea Beach in La Jolla as the best break.”

Prior studied art at Villanueva and began her art career there, painting sets for their theater department. Her artistic interests are now in drawing the human body, which she calls a “challenge.”

“We have all types of artists at our studio from realist to abstract to impressionist,” Wahab said. “It’s really great to look around and see 20 people painting the same thing in a different manner. It is really inspiring and stimulating. People are constantly developing and changing – you can see it first hand. And we support each other.”

Jeanne Zvetina was there when it all began 25 years ago. “The first studio was in the old San Diego Ballet building in a rough neighborhood on Market Street,” Zvetina said. “If one of our models didn’t show up we would ask one of the prostitutes on the street outside to be our model. They were actually pretty nice people.”

Carol Harmon is the newest member, having only been part of the group for six months. “I was an art teacher in Clifton, New Jersey for most of my life. I didn’t get a chance to pursue my own art, because I was teaching all day long. I walked into this room and it reminded me of my old classroom, except that now I am the student trying to remember all the things I taught my kids and become the person I always wanted to be,” she said.

Hyo Park said the studio is, “Just like a home.” Jinnie Jung, said she is there, “To develop my own style.” Yen Ping Yiao, who is Taiwanese, has turned from the furniture business to fine art.

Shahla Dorafshan, a Persian, likes to paint abstractly. “I like to paint with my feelings,” Dorafshan said. “They come out of my heart, go down my arm, and onto my painting.”

Dana Mosser paints on silk with dye and likes to go to the studio at night when no one else is there. During the day she plays harp at San Diego Hospice, as part of their Integrative Medicine Team. “At the Hospice we try to give people the very best quality of life before they pass over. My art empowers me to be able to do this.”

At 86, Cris Crisler is the oldest member of the group. He had a career as a chemist, and then was a psychologist in private practice before turning to art.

“I am over 80 years old. I can’t expect too much,” Crissler said.  “I just want to have some fun. I know I am not going to become a great artist. But this group is a major part of my life.

“There is aliveness, creativity, and a social atmosphere here. When I paint I try to tell a story with my art work – there is something going on in this picture!”

Ally Nofal is from Jordan and has won numerous awards.  One of her paintings even hangs in the Royal Jordanian Museum. “Is like a family to me – except we don’t bicker,” Nofal said of the  group. She will be the featured artist at the gallery on Sept. 14th from 6 – 9 p.m. for the next “Kettner Nights” – to which everyone is cordially invited.

Will Bowen writes about art. He can be reached at [email protected].