Residents to get up close and personal with artists
By CHIARA CANZI Special to the Daily Press
CIVIC CENTER Santa Monica residents are known for their sophisticated taste, so much so that two years ago the producer of successful art festivals around the country decided to test the market.
“Santa Monica is the best place to draw the best crowd,” said President-Producer for American Art Festivals Warren Cook. “People love to go to art shows and artists want to come to Santa Monica.”
Starting Friday and continuing throughout the weekend, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium will host the second annual Santa Monica Arts Festival featuring 200 contemporary artists, including several local Santa Monica artists.
“This is extra special,” Cook said. “We have two amazing painters from Brooklyn, New York, and other artists from Louisiana, Kentucky and Michigan.”
According to Cook, this festival has become the premiere contemporary craft and fine art exhibition in the nation. Each featured artist was hand picked by a jury for originality and quality of their work.
“We had over 800 artists participate from all over the country,” Cook said. “And we chose the best show of skill, talent and craftsmanship.”
The jury took time to carefully evaluate each artist’s work — from the end of the summer to the end of December.
“We had to turn a lot of people down and that’s always hard,” Cook said.
But Trace Palmer was among the lucky ones. The glass jewelry artist started playing with medium five years ago while observing glass blowers in Oregon.
“I was amazed by them,” she said. Self-taught and eager to see where her creativity could take her, Palmer started experimenting with color and different types of glass and created unique pieces that will be displayed at the festival. Palmer’s work is delicate and the seamless earth-tone colored necklaces, bracelets and rings generate from a simple color palette.
“I get my inspiration from nature, from flowers and underwater movements,” she said.
Palmer has exhibited her work at several local and national festivals, but this weekend will be only her second time in Santa Monica.
“I showed my work at a contemporary craft show in Santa Monica once,” she said. “I saw a lot of good art and people interested in good art.”
Palmer believes people who are exposed to great art seek it out time and time again.
“They usually are creative people themselves,” she said. “And that makes for a great pool of people.”
The Santa Monica Arts Festival will give visitors the opportunity to experience art in many different forms, from oil paintings to life-size welded sculptures, from hand-carved tiles to wood sculptures.
“The great thing about this art festival … it’s the fact that you get to see some of the best paintings in the country and the audience can meet the artists right there, in person,” Cook said.
With 200 booths in the auditorium, Santa Monica residents can stroll around picking and choosing the art that peaks their interests.
The American Art Festivals is produced by Cook and hits two other Southern California locations: Sacramento and San Diego.
The Santa Monica festival attracts a different kind of audience, a more affluent one, Cook said.
“It’s a hard living being an artist,” he said. “It’s often a gamble if you are not a glass or jewelry artist with pieces ranging from $50 to $100.”
For those painters selling their pieces for up to $5,000 Santa Monica is the right place.
“The Santa Monica audience is willing to pay that,” Cook said.
Even if an artist does not sell dozens of pieces, it’s still good to attend so they can build connections with new customers. With the new clientele, artists like Palmer can receive custom orders that will enable them to boost their stock.
For that opportunity, artists have to pay. Palmer has a one-time only rental fee of $550, which she pays City Hall for her small booth, number 218. Those with larg-er stands are charged more.
The Santa Monica Arts Festival, sponsored by K-EARTH 101 FM, will open its doors from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets will be available at the door: $8 adults, $7 seniors, and children under 12 enter free. For more information go to www.americanartfestivals.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 22, 2008. Read the original PDF.