SD Art Prize at Art San Diego

2017 New Contemporaries SD Art Prize  at Art San Diego
Presented by  community partners Studio Door and San Diego Visual Arts NetworkSD Art Prize Emerging Artists: Rizzhel Mae Javier, Alexander Kohnke,
New Contemporaries Miriam Gabriela Garcia Aguirre, Cathy Breslaw, Michelle Montjoy Rebecca Louise Webb 
Thursday, Sept 28 to Sun Oct 1, 2017
Wyland Center, Del Mar Fairgrounds
2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar, CA 92014SDVAN is very proud to have been represented by Patric Stillman from Studio Door who hosted the SD Art Prize New Contemporaries at Art San Diego in 2017. He has written this report and the credit for the photos is Studio Door. 

"It was an honor for The Studio Door to work alongside of San Diego Visual Arts Network, Art San Diego and the Athenaeum on this year's San Diego Art Prize Booth.  Throughout the weekend, Art San Diego 2017 found very little downtime as artists, art leaders and patrons filled Wyland Center at the Del Mar fairgrounds.  While the new venue was smaller than the Balboa Park facility and at time felt a little tight, it was a pleasure to be in an air-conditioned venue that was constructed for an event exactly like this one.

The artwork from this year's Art Prize winners, Rizzhel Mae Javier and Alexander Kohnke, were greeted with quite a bit of attention. In fact, all of the artwork from New Contemporaries artists that we were able to bring to the fair stood out from the other art booths.  Along with the artists, I spent a good deal of time educating the public on conceptual art and installations.  For many guests, the booth provided their first contact with works that challenged them and I was told they even saw the rest of the fair with new eyes after spending time with us. 

From my perspective the event went smooth as glass for being at a new venue.  It may sound a bit like grumbling but for next year, I'd like to see some changes to the layout for a more impactful experience; better catering options since its a closed environment; wayfinding information that pointed out special exhibits and talks; and an arrangement with the parking vendor, which scared some patrons away due to the cost.  I know that one of the hopes for the new venue was more patrons from Orange County.  I'm not sure if that occurred but I can attest to San Diego's art community coming out in droves. 

I saw it as a clear sign of the times that galleries and art representation is giving way to direct sales from artists.  This, of course, has its benefits and issues.  On the plus side, no middle man means that its possible to get better pricing, commissions and build a relationship with the artist.  On the minus side, the main issue I saw in artist-direct booths is that they tended to place too much art in their booths and don't necessarily edit themselves."

Patric Stillman also reported on his choice of other artist at Art San Diego:

Taking in all the artwork is always the best part of course.  Some of the highlights that stood out for me for a variety of reasons were Loretta Tearney Warner's multimedia works of cultural women from around the world; Julia S Rasor's new avant-garde fashion sculptures; Chad Daly's skulls made of paper money; Richard Lee's beaded skulls; Rodrigo De La Sierra's whimsical sculptures with his unique little character Timo; and Bernie Taupin's ragged glory artworks.  I was also very excited about Launchpad artist Mikaela McLeish's latest work since we selected her earlier this year for ArtWalk's Business of Art Scholarship.

All in all, it was exciting be at ground zero for the entire event as a participant."