MURAL FESTIVAL COULD BECOME ANNUAL EVENT
A number of murals on buildings throughout the city have added to Sand City's public art scene
SAND CITY >> The first West End Mural Festival has come and gone but its cumulative mark has been left on Sand City along with the hope that it becomes an annual event.
“I think people are going to be surprised by the caliber of the public art that was produced over such a short period of time,” said City Manager Aaron Blair.
The WE. Mural Festival was sponsored and coordinated by the city in collaboration with the Sand City Arts Committee to infuse public art into the community through a collaboration of artists. It was held Sept. 28 through Oct. 5. Seven murals were produced by 13 local and national artists.
“Murals create a tangible sense of place and destination, thus increasing the magnetism of the West End, which will boost opportunities for our local businesses and hard-working community of artisans,” said Blair. “It was exciting to witness the creative interactions be
tween our talented local artists and the non-local artists.”
The city hired Pat Milbery of So- Gnar Inc., a Denver-based artist with an extensive background creating large-scale murals alongside other prominent street and graffiti artists. Milbery provided professional event and artist procurement and curation services for the mural festival.
Milbery said the festival teamed “two artists working together on something unique,” with the property owner, Sand City and the arts committee in support.
“Curating is doing your best to select artists that can bring an amazing skill set and energy,” said Milbery.
The goal was to provide collaborations that would build positive energy, use the individual expression and style of the artists, creating a dynamic between the two, that would culminate in the finished piece.
Blair said WE. Art celebrates the collaboration between artists, local businesses and residents, and those who joined the com
munity to celebrate Sand
City.
But K ayhan Ghodsi, founder of the Sand City Art Foundation, said the mural festival should have been organized with more community involvement.
“I would have liked to have seen more artists from the area participating,” said Ghodsi, who added though it may seem like he was against the festival, he was not.
Ghodsi said he appreciated all the color and energy the WE. Mural Festi
val brought to the city.
“T here wa s nothing wrong with the project, it deserves to be happening throughout the city more,” he said.
Ghodsi had a mural painted on a building earlier this summer on the corner of Ortiz Avenue and Hickory Street, by 95-year- old Carmel artist Eleen Auvil, as a parting gift to the city when she stopped using her studio in Sand City. Ghodsi funded that project himself.
Ghodsi’s Sand City Art Foundation and the Sand City Arts Committee are two different groups.
Blair said the mural festival was a great success and said the hope and goal is to make it an annual event.
Milbery said he thought the biggest challenge was going to be lining up properties that wanted to participate, but “people wanted art on their buildings.” He said owners jumped on board and had a say in what themes went on their walls.
But the biggest challenge for the curator was coordinating all the artists and budgeting. Sand City approved $65,000 for the festival and Blair said the event came in under budget. Each artist got paid the same for their work. Milbery worked out a deal with the Tides Hotel in Monterey for lodging.
Milbery said now that they are completed, the murals can be showcased and enjoyed every day and that he hopes it “inspires the
potential of what we can do together, and will open minds and imaginations of other property owners to grow this public art gallery in Sand City.”
The event organizer and curator said there is a plan to do another mural festival in Sand City. Milbery would like to see international artists come in who could not this year because of COVID-19, and also have
a call for local artists.
Milbery said it is great that people want to be involved, to keep the collaboration moving forward with local, national, and international participation, and to keep the family vibe going. He describes Sand City’s many buildings as “a dream world for canvases” and a place to further build and curate public art.
Another challenge was getting aerosol paint because supply lines have been affected by the pandemic but through So- Gnar Inc.’s network, it was able to overcome that wrinkle, as well as finding equipment such as lifts to get artists where they needed to be to paint on such large areas.
“We wrapped up on (Oct. 5), clear- coated and sealedup,” said Milbery who is back in Colorado but plans to return to Sand City in about two weeks to continue work with the city and gather feedback.
The WE. Mural Festival featured local artists Hanif Panni of Sand City, Frank Signs in Sand City, Kenton Hoppas of Monterey, Jessica Carmen of Gonzales, Augie W.K. of Gonzales and Bryan Gage of Pacific Grove. National artists included Amanda Valedez of Portland, Oregon, Casey Kawaguchi of Salt Lake City, Thomas Evans of Denver, Hannah Eddy of Reno, Hiero Veiga of Massachusetts, Nathan Brown of Nashville, and Milbery.