The 31st annual Carmel Art Festival concluded on Sunday, May 19 and was declared a resounding success by all who participated. Many of the attendees who came from around the country told us they plan their vacation around the festival. This year we tried somethig new: with each purchase of a painting, the buyer received two tickets to the popular VIP event on Friday night. And purchase they did, then getting to hang out with their favorite artists while enjoying wine and delectable foods from our area's award winning restaurants and wine tasting rooms.

With rotating live music events and children's art activities the 3-day festival is a celebration of the arts for the whole community, but the heart of the festival is a plein-air painting competition featuring some of the most talented plein air artists in the nation. Judging this year's work were Terry and Paula Trotter of the Trotter Galleries in Carmel and Pacific Grove and Hailee Singleton Museum Curator for Monterey State Parks.

The main awards ceremony was held on Friday evening, May 17. The following artists and works were honored.

1 st Place Joaquin Turner --Dunes at Dusk
2 nd Place Steve Weinberg --With Pride
3 rd Place Geoffrey Allen-- Secret Mist

Honorable Mentions:
#1 Najeeb Abdulrahiman --Monterey Marina
#2 Terri Ford - Dune Crossroads
#3 John Guernsey-- Garage Garden
#4 Scott Hamill-- Point Lobos
#5 Sally Jordan -- Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Jennifer Hill Award: Paul Kratter -- Light
Artist's Choice: John Guernsey -- Garage Garden
People's Choice: Joaquin Turner -- Dunes at Dusk
Mayor's Choice: Meisha Grichuhin -- Sunset Under The Canopy

On Sunday, the artists participated in a Quick Draw competition where they had just three hours to complete new works. In past years only one winner was selected from this group, this year the judges felt as though the submitted works were so strong that they made an exception and selected three winners. They are as follows:

#1 Joe Mancuso-- Stop and Look
#2 Paul Kratter-- From the Dunes
#3 Meisha Grichuhin -- TBD

The festival is also grateful for the record number of sponsors whose donations of funds and services made this year's event such a success. These generous individuals and businesses are as follows:

A's Creations
Agnes Biederman Photography
Ariel Mar Studio
Arts Council of Monterey County
Barnyard Shopping Centre
Bernardus Winery
Big Sur Vineyards
Bouchaine Vineyards
Carmel Cares
Carmel Coffee House
Carmel Gives
Costanzo Creative
Cypress Inn
Dawn's Dream Winery
Drawn 2 Art
Esperanza Carmel
FancyPansy Art Design
Folktale Winery
Forage Vintage Rental Company
Horizon Inn
Inns by the Sea
Jacquie Adams, Realtor Sotheby's
KAZU
Monterey History and Art Association
Monterey State Parks
Old Fisherman's Grotto
Oscar's Playground
The Party Senorita
Print Works.Solutions
Scheid Vineyards
Steven Whyte Sculpture Studios
Rothwell Realty, Inc.
Terry and Paula Trotter/Trotter
Galleries, Carmel and Pacific Grove
UPS stores of the Monterey Peninsula
The Wecker Group


All Juried Artists.