CARLSBAD — The city of Carlsbad’s first large-scale public event roared back after thousands took to the streets on June 27 for the return of the Art in the Village street fair.
The event, hosted by the Carlsbad Village Association, showcased 105 art vendors along Grand Avenue and State Street. For many of the vendors, it was the first maskless event since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year.
CVA Executive Director Christine Davis said it was the most successful event in her six years of running it. She booked 105 artists and activated spaces with more than 12 bands playing at three locations along with face painting and food.
“It was a complete success on all levels,” Davis said. “We saw more artwork under the arms of people walking out of the Village than we’ve ever seen. A lot of artwork found new homes.”
Additionally, Davis said she changed the date this year to avoid a conflict with an event in San Diego, so the event had dozens of first-time artists.
One of those artists is Tyson King, a 33-year-old artist from Mission Beach, and it was also his first event in North County. King said he had a steady stream of interest and sold several prints within the first two hours.
King said he has taken part in a number of events over the past several months, but all of them with masks. He said going maskless makes a big difference when connecting with potential customers.
“It was very difficult to explain things and translate what I do,” King said of communicating his art through a mask. “You get people’s reactions and ask them what their descriptions are sometimes we’re aligned more than we realize.”
King’s art focuses on optimism through abstract paintings and murals. Always looking at the positive side, he said abstract art tends to skew to darker subjects and interpretations, which is why he decided to reverse course.
King uses bright and bold colors as a way to convey optimism and positivity.
“I’m trying to boost people’s day, not bring them down,” King said. “When I paint, I enjoy going toward the abstract. You just don’t see positive abstract, and it was bothering me.”
The all-day event drew a number of new fine art artists, Davis said, adding to the diversity of the art and artists. Some of those included oil, watercolor, mixed media, digital, photography, glasswork, woodworking, jewelry and pottery, to name a few.
Additionally, Davis was able to engage kids through the CVA’s own setup for a family zone, which is usually organized by the City of Carlsbad. The kids were able to color and express their artistic interests, along with a face painting vendor.
“We were able to do some activations and some artists did live demos in their booth,” Davis said. “We had a lot of little things going on and made for a fun day.”
