By Lucia Viti

San Diego’s ArtWalk NTC will celebrate artistic elegance and eclectic genius at Liberty Station’s Ingram Plaza on the weekend of Aug. 15 and 16, showcasing more than 200 local, regional and international artists.

Paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry, and glass, metal and wood work will be nestled against a backdrop of the historic former Naval Training Center (NTC), now San Diego’s largest arts and cultural district. The annual event, which will commemorate its 10th anniversary, will also host live music, interactive art for adults and children, a wine and beer pavilion, and free parking.

“Liberty Station’s Ingram Plaza is the perfect, park-like venue to highlight and celebrate ArtWalk NTC’s artistry at its finest,” said Sandi Cottrell, ArtWalk NTC’s managing director. “Every artistic medium is represented in balance — one specific style doesn’t weigh heavier than the rest — featuring local and Mexican artists as well as artists who travel through festivals nationwide. Because spaces are so highly coveted (60 percent of those who apply are chosen), only seasoned artists or those who have truly proven themselves are accepted to exhibit their work.”

Hillcrest residents Kate Ashton, Adrian Arango and Maru Mercado, as well as North Park’s John Gibbons are included among the chosen.

Mercado, an abstract painter and ArtWalk novice, describes a life without art as a life without heart. Sporting fine arts degrees in architecture and interior design, Mercado says she remains inspired by nature, colors that communicate and accidents that teach.

“Mistakes often become the most popular compositions,” the 33-year-old Tijuana-born artist said. “Accidents teach me to improvise and learn new techniques. Art is like life; nothing’s black or white, things are just the way they should be. For me, art’s a responsibility. I work as a perfectionist treating every piece as a masterpiece, challenging myself more fiercely than anyone else could.”

Ashton is an abstract painter and a veteran at the festival.

“I’ve served ArtWalk San Diego since the event was a series of downtown studios and galleries outlined on a Xeroxed map,” Ashton said. “Liberty Station is a phenomenal venue to exhibit your work. Steady streams of people truly interested in art meander through the grassy park all day long. Work is seen, postcards are taken home and sales continue months, even years, down the road. So there’s the event itself and the afterglow of what happens after the show.”

Cottrell heaped praise on Ashton.

“Kate Ashton is not only an incredible abstract artist that works with neat textures, she’s a teacher with a mentorship program for San Diego’s emerging artists,” Cottrell said. “Kate has introduced many of her students, now successful artists, to ArtWalk NTC as well as ArtWalk’s sister counterpart held annually in Little Italy. Through the years we’ve established relationships and ultimately bonds with so many amazing artists like Kate and John Gibbons, whose colorful art glass is very popular.”

Cottrell added that the Mexican Consulate aided in cultivating a following of Mexican artists, including jeweler Adrian Arango. “Adrian’s repurposed jewelry made of shells, antique buttons, leather and interesting used items, is a show favorite,” she said.

An 11-year veteran of ArtWalk NTC at Liberty Station and Little Italy’s Mission Federal ArtWalk, Cottrell described each art fair as an opportunity to gather collectible and approachable facets of art for a free, family-friendly public event. This year will offer interactive play with the Rady Children’s Playful Learning Academy for Young Children (Alexa’s PLAYC); ArtReach San Diego; The Monart School of the Arts; The Living Coast Discovery Center; as well as face, henna and letter-brush painting with amusement artists.

“Attendees can preview the art, artists and activities on the ArtWalk San Diego website,” Cottrell said. “And we support the beautiful work of our artists as an ongoing process even after the show, making a concerted effort to connect people with artists for pieces that they’re now ready to buy.”

For Ashton, said festivals can be emotionally draining.

“Shows are a roll of the dice,” Ashton said. “Some days you sell your socks off while others simply become an opportunity for your work to be seen. Successful shows are the best drug on the planet; you feel fabulous and validated as an artist. I mentor artists and I feel just as elated when they sell. We’re all tired at the end of shows, but nothing beats the high of selling well!”

Over 25,000 attendees are expected over the course of both days. “ArtWalk is not only my passion, it’s passion for the artists, its sponsors and its audience,” Cottrell said.

ArtWalk NTC will also feature the works of San Diego’s ‘Inocente’ since the release of the 2012 Academy Award-winning Best Short Documentary of the same name. Musical performers include Marissa Grace, Steven Ybarra, Teagan Taylor Band, Vanja James & Ed Kornhauser, Bart Mendoza, G. Burns Jug Band, Robin Henkel, Many-Strings, Nina Francis, SABA, Manny Cepeda, Tolan Shaw and LA Edwards.

For more information on ArtWalk NTC, please visit artwalksandiego.org/ntc.

—Contact Lucia Viti at [email protected].