Visual stimulation will be plentiful next weekend at the free Mission Fed ArtWalk.
The 39th annual edition of the festival is expected to attract more than 100,000 attendees to peruse the creations of more than 250 artists. The media include sculpture, glass, photography, fine jewelry, woodwork and paintings, from acrylics to watercolors.
Set in the cuisine-happy neighborhood of Little Italy, art-lovers will have many options if they’re hungry or thirsty. They can also sample sonic treats from the four music stages that dot the festival. More than 30 acts will perform throughout the weekend, including six-string wizard Robin Henkel and 2023 San Diego Music Award Best New Artist nominee Ash Easton.
“There’s so much to be excited about this year,” said Curt Brooker, director of ArtWalk San Diego, which also oversees similar festivals in Carlsbad and Liberty Station. “Mission Fed ArtWalk gets better every year. The caliber of the artwork is outstanding.”
For families, there is the KidsWalk area as well as interactive art experiences that everyone can participate in. Among those activities are adding colorful strokes to a mural of Italian scenes and learning the unusual technique of “tape painting” to contribute to Sarah Stieber’s collaborative canvas.
At Piazza della Famiglia, the plaza in the heart of Little Italy, a collection of bicycles and bike accessories designed by local artists will be displayed. Donated by San Diego’s Electra Bicycle Company, they are part of the Charity Art Auction that benefits ArtReach, ArtWalk’s nonprofit partner.
ArtReach aims to increase equity in visual arts education in schools throughout San Diego County.
In January, Mission Fed ArtWalk announced the eight featured artists for its 2023 edition.
“With so much excellence represented at the festival, choosing just eight featured artists was not easy,” said ArtWalk director Brooker. “These represent some of the best and brightest.”
Here are the eight featured artists this year.
Mieko Anekawa — An acrylic, impressionist painter, Anekawa has lived in Japan, New York and now La Jolla. She combines “naturalism and emotion into an organic collaboration.”
Nobe Babayan — A Los Angeles-based bronze sculpture artist (born and raised in Armenia), Babayan’s pieces are contemporary “with a side of whimsy.”
Jen Duran — This San Diego abstract-realist painter uses watercolor, acrylics, and inks in hopes to “evoke emotions” from the viewer.
Mac Hillenbrand — A native San Diegan, now residing in Carlsbad, Hillenbrand applies the 17th century art of marquetry to his woodworking.
Veronica Leiton — An abstract-surrealist artist who paints in oil on canvas, Leiton is a native Chilean and longtime resident of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Melissa Marquardt — This Encinitas-based mixed-media artist specializes in abstract waterscapes and landscapes, inspired by California’s coast and estuaries.
Nic McGuire — Santa Barbara-born and Encinitas-raised, McGuire now lives in San Diego, creating glass sculpture.
Carlos Vargas — A Palm Springs resident, Vargas was born and raised in Colombia. His photography is inspired by the Caribbean’s “dazzling colors.”
The three people interviewed for this story — McGuire, Hillenbrand and Leiton — are experts in different mediums. Each is excited to be among Mission Fed ArtWalk’s 2023 featured artists.
“This title validates that the artists chosen are on the right path with their personal journey through art,” glass sculptor McGuire said.
“It’s a big morale booster …. There’s a huge marketing benefit to being selected. ArtWalk promotes all their featured artists on the website, social media and local news stations to create a buzz around your artwork. It also makes your booth a designated stop as attendees roam around the festival. It is a true honor,” he said.
McGuire needed many arduous years to acquire the skills — and power tools — that enable him to make his glass-and-steel creations. He also had to learn to facilitate metal so that his materials come together properly.
“I make glass sculptures that intrigue and fascinate the senses,” he said. “Brilliant, rich colors and unique handmade textures have a graceful movement in the forms. My intentions are in symbiotic harmony with the process-based nature of this exotic material …. Glass is a symbol for the fragility of life.”
Woodworking artist Hillenbrand applies pioneering techniques on the ancient art of marquetry, which is basically inlaying patterns on variously colored woods. Most marquetry artisans are in the furniture world, he said.
“I wanted to make my own artwork and make a small business of that,” said Hillenbrand, who uses computer-aided design software in his art. “I’m going beyond the traditional — like breaking the rules of the sensei to start my own dojo.
“I create two-dimensional pieces, often using wood grain, to express oceanic textures. I’m drawing from years and years of surfing and spending time in the ocean to try to understand how breaking waves affect the dynamic that makes the ocean so enthralling.”
Leiton, throughout her almost four decades as a professional artist, has exhibited in 155 solo and group exhibitions. While she has dabbled in different mediums, she primarily paints in oil on canvas.
“I have worked with various artistic expressions,” she said, “such as engraving, drawing, sculpture, photography, video. But painting has always been present since my childhood. This year I’m celebrating 39 years of being professionally dedicated to painting. It is my ion, my life.”
Leiton first experienced Mission Fed ArtWalk three years ago.
“The great difference between this festival and others is its excellent organization,” she said via email. “As an artist you always feel ed — and you interact with excellent artists. I also really like the people who attend — they’re generally very friendly, sensitive, and knowledgeable about art. I have had very pleasant, very happy moments there.”
Woodworker Hillenbrand agreed. He has shown at the festival for at least seven consecutive years, even when the pandemic caused it to relocate or run online.
“Not all art fairs are made of the same stuff,” Hillenbrand said from his Del Mar studio. “ArtWalk organizers are some of the best that I’ve ever worked with. They’re organized, they promote the festival well and they treat the artists well.”
Glass sculptor McGuire is returning to the festival after 10 years. He had exhibited there three times previously.
“This is the largest and most prestigious art festival that takes place in San Diego every year,” McGuire said. “It has the biggest collection of talented and unique artists, and the overall energy of bustling city life, enhanced by a ton of creative, colorful artwork.”
Mission Fed ArtWalk
When: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 30
Where: Throughout Little Italy
ission: Free
Online: artwalksandiego.org/missionfederal
