For the 46th year, the Malibu Chamber of Commerce hosted a three-day arts fair event last weekend. But, except for the art, it was completely reinvented as a new kind of experience for fairgoers.
For the first 45 years, the Malibu Arts Festival always took place next to the Malibu Public Library at the end of July. The redesigned event just took place in November under the new name “ArtWalk Festival at Cross Creek,” with booths spread out over Malibu Village, Malibu Country Mart and the Malibu Lumber Yard.
Barbara Bruderlin, CEO of the Malibu Chamber, said one of the reasons the location and time of year was changed was that they expected the Civic Center site to be unavailable because the Santa Monica College-Malibu Campus project was supposed to be under construction there and major sewer construction is already taking place.
“In the long run, we were going to change it anyway,” Bruderlin said in a phone interview. “My job is to bring business to the community.”
She said she feels the new “art walk” concept of art fair goers walking through three of Malibu’s shopping centers to see art will also encourage to them to walk into the local businesses in those centers.
“The event is for Malibu to come out and shop and enjoy,” Bruderlin said. “People could hang out, go to the restaurants, listen to live music and even get a start on holiday shopping.”
Parking and a shuttle were provided from the Civic Center area. The largest number of booths, including fine arts and local nonprofit organizations, as well as some live music and outdoor movies at night were located along Malibu Creek behind Malibu Village. The Malibu Lumber Yard had clothing, jewelry and art booths located in storefronts, and Malibu Country Mart hosted several outdoor art booths and some live music in the sculpture garden.
Bruderlin took a moment to reflect on the recent passing of Marie Stapel, who was president of the Malibu Art Association. The festival was dedicated to Stapel following her death.
“She told me her hopes and dreams of uplifting art in the Malibu community, hoping art would one day become as accessible here as it is in places like Laguna Beach,” Bruderlin said. “I hope this art walk has been one step in helping her dream come true.”
The fine art in this year’s ArtWalk was juried art selected by a five-person local committee that consisted of Michael Zakian, Pepperdine University adjunct professor of art history and Weisman Museum director; Pamela LeGrand, artist and member of the Malibu Art Association; artist Wes Van Dyke; Robert Scopinich, artist and president of the Allied Artists of the Santa Monica Mountains and Seashore; and artist Linda Perkins of Perkins Art Studio.
Among the local nonprofit groups with a booth was the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
“There’s a lot more local artists, with more art [depicting] the beach, the pier and scenes of Malibu, and there seems to be more local people attending,” Jim Myers, a member of the 45-member CERT, observed.
There was always a small crowd around three new Tesla cars that were on display by the company, letting people sit in the driver’s seat, open the gull-wing doors and play with the various hi-tech features. Joanna Zlatanov with Tesla explained that the company likes to market its cars this way.
“We like to get the cars out and really let people take a look at them,” she said. “A lot of people are intimidated about walking into a showroom—afraid there will be some kind of high-pressure sales.”
Several of the artists and vendors that The Malibu Times talked to were disappointed that there wasn’t a greater turnout.
Bruderlin said the new changes to the fair have been “a learning experience,” and that it’s going to take a year or two for people to get used to the new location.
Kathleen Gildred of Topanga Canyon, who had a booth selling her “Gorgeous Goddess Wear” inside the Malibu Lumber Yard, said she wished more people had known about the festival, where she said she had a “beautiful indoor space.”
“I thought this would be a good venue for me—I thought my clothes would work well in Malibu,” Gildred said.
