The eight featured artists from among the hundreds whose work will be on display at the 2018 Mission Federal ArtWalk were revealed at a special ceremony in downtown San Diego.
The group is comprised of local, regional and international artists selected from over 350 who will be participating at this year’s festival on April 28 and 29 in Little Italy.
Also honored Thursday night at the Westgate Hotel were three leaders of the San Diego arts community. The 2018 Artie Award winners were Patrick Stillman, local artist and founder of The Studio Door art gallery, and Chantal Wnuk and Tracy Ann Thalo, local artists and co-managers of Artist and Craftsman Supply San Diego.
“We’re pleased to honor these outstanding community members that we’re lucky to have supporting arts and culture in our city,” said Sandi Cottrell, director of ArtWalk San Diego. “Mission Federal ArtWalk thrives through partnerships with these art influencers, and we’re thankful and proud to share the same goal—using the power of art to connect communities and individuals.”
The artists who will be featured at the 34th annual ArtWalk are:
- AkZhana/Maxim — This creative collective duo hailing from the Soviet Union and Kazakhstan describe their genre as “figuratively decorative expressionism” using bright expressions of a complex emotional world to create art.
- Ann Golumbuk — Golumbuk, a native of Oklahoma, creates vivid paintings using recycled materials, finding items of interest in her environment and using every drop of paint to add dimension to her paintings.
- Harut Hakobyan — This abstract industrial artist, originally from Armenia, expresses himself through the vast colors and abstract textures in his work.
- Carolyn Johnson — A mixed media fine artist with her own unique multi-level process, Johnson incorporates everything from painting, free-hand drawing, design elements, hand dipped paint marbling and detailed textured gels, mostly depicting nature-inspired themes.
- Tesa Michaels — Her work is inspired by nature’s abundant landscape and the energy and spiritual properties of earth’s beautiful semi-precious stones. Her unique paintings incorporate stones into one-of a-kind works of art.
- Gedion Nyanhongo — A master stone sculptor who was born into an artistic family in Zimbabwe, Gedion’s wok offers the viewer endearing elements of his Shona culture, created from Opal stone, Springstone and Zimbabwe Nayanga stone.
- Dany Paragouteva — This Bulgaria native uses her European heritage and soulful appreciation of the power of fairy tales to bring people into a fantastical world of the subtly surreal.
- John Straub— A photographer and current member of the Motor Press Guild, San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild and the San Diego Art Institute, Straub celebrates memories—rusted or old, shiny or new—and immerses the viewer in their soul, color, texture, and design.
The annual ArtWalk attacts over 100,000 art collectors and visitors from all over the country to the streets of Little Italy.