The Malibu Chamber of Commerce will host its 34th Annual Arts Festival and Food Fair this weekend. Part of arts sale proceeds will benefit an art scholarship fund at Malibu High School.
By Stephen Dorman/ Special to The Malibu Times
The two-day Malibu Arts Festival and Food Fair will feature more than 200 artists and a variety of cuisine from local restaurants. There will also be interactive games and booths set up for children in attendance.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Chamber of Commerce President Christine Rodgerson said. “We’ve got anything from mixed media to sculpture, glass, photography, lots of different things. We will also have events for children like we did last year … face painting and things such as that.”
Unlike past events, there will be no celebrity host this time around. The Chamber of Commerce opted against bringing in an honorary celebrity host a year ago and stuck with that decision again this year, although Rodgerson said there was no specific reason behind the decision.
The Malibu Art Association, a nonprofit organization established in 1963, will have several booths highlighting local artists and their work. MAA spokesperson Barbara Moore said approximately 15 percent of all proceeds generated from MAA-member sales at this year’s festival will go directly to an art scholarship fund at Malibu High School. The actual percentage of donated monies, Moore said, will depend on how many sales are actually made.
“This is the biggest way that we make money for the scholarship fund because this event has the largest amount of people that come to see it,” Moore said. “We have shows all year long, but this show draws in the most amount of people. It’s the biggest and the best we’ve got going in Malibu. It rivals the [Chili Cook-Off] … only this has all of the arts presented. This will be the event for the summertime.”
Christina L. Johnson, a fusion artist based in West Hills, has visited the festival several times over the last few years, but it wasn’t until now that she decided to get her own booth to try and sell her work. Johnson said she plans on bringing more than 140 of her handmade, kiln-fire glass sculptures for display.
“I always thought this festival had good quality art,” Johnson said. “And if I’ve got to be at a show selling my art, what nicer place to do so than next to the ocean in Malibu. Hopefully my sculptures will fly off the shelf.”
Johnson was one of 50 new artists who were allowed to purchase a sales booth this year. Rodgerson said the Chamber of Commerce had more than 150 applications from artists hoping to land a spot in the festival, but ultimately had to whittle the list down after reviewing all the applications.
“There are a lot of long-term artists with us who’ve done major art pieces,” Rodgerson said. “We wanted to make sure our show maintains a quality level that is very high. We have a criteria that everything is made by the artist-not things that are just purchased or embellished.”
Another festival tradition will be the Malibu Optimist Club’s annual pancake breakfast, which will take place from 8:30 a.m.-11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday morning. For festival attendees who arrive later in the day, several local restaurants and vendors will be serving anything from tri-tip sandwiches to hot dogs and hamburgers.
The Malibu Arts Festival and Food Fair will take place at 23555 Civic Center Way and will run from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Festival attendees can enter the event for free, although the designated parking areas will cost $5 per vehicle.