ENCINITAS: Leucadia Artwalk comes to town again this year

"Cigar Box" Bob will be making banjos

By RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer | Friday, August 29, 2008 5:12 PM PDT ∞

ENCINITAS ---- Leucadia will revel in its artistic heritage Sunday, when nearly 100 artists set up booths along North Coast Highway 101 for the fourth annual Leucadia Artwalk.

The popular event, featuring original art, musical performances and art-related activities for the kids, will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. between West Glaucus and Marcheta streets.

Photographers, sculptors, painters, glass blowers and jewelers will all be represented. A man known as "Cigar Box" Bob, who makes banjoes from cigar boxes, and others who handcraft bamboo flutes and walking sticks will also be on hand.

"Leucadia is known for its laid-back, eclectic beach-town ambiance and diverse art culture, and this event showcases both," said Paula Kirpalani of the Leucadia Highway 101 Mainstreet Association, the organization that has put on the event for the last four years.

Morgan Mallory, owner of the Corner Frame Shop/Leucadia Art Gallery, was one of the organizers of the original Leucadia Artwalk, which started in 1982 and ran for about five years. It was revived in 2004 when the Leucadia Highway 101 Mainstreet Association was looking for a signature event to showcase businesses up and down the coast highway.

"There has always been a strong art identity in the area," said Mallory. "They are in the nooks and crannies, so it is good to get the artists out there and share them with the community. It is good for the artists and for the community."

Mallory said he will be showing a number of artists' work at his gallery, including Jim McConlogue, who paints local ocean scenes and was featured on the cover of the San Diego Golf Guide during the U.S. Open. Works by Tim Gunther, who paints botanical and marine species with great detail for the Natural History Museum, will also be on display.

One of the area's best-known artists, Wade Koniakowsky, will be surfing in Hawaii this weekend, but his wife, Lynn, will have a booth in the Leucadia Roadside Park with dozens of his paintings and a collection of prints available for sale.

"I am so impressed with the enthusiasm with which the residents of Leucadia and 101 Mainstreet support the arts," she said about Artwalk.

The Koniakowskys, who live in Carlsbad, previously had an art gallery in Encinitas on the Coast Highway but recently relocated it to Cedros Avenue in Solana Beach.

For the first time this year, a children's art center will be set up at the Leucadia Head Start school with chalk drawing and clay projects for children. Gyminny Kids Oceanside, a demonstration team with gymnasts ages 7 to 15, is to perform at the Headstart school from noon to 12:30 p.m., and at 2 p.m., the magician Dr. Wilderness (aka Kevin Barnes) will perform "music and magic" with Socrates the toucan.

"Children are a bigger priority this year, " said Kirpalani. "We tell everyone it (the event) is free and fun for the whole family, so why not engage the children?"

Musicians will perform at the art locations, the Corner Frame Shop, Leucadia Roadside Park, Leucadia Glass, the Gold Coast Plaza, Travel Trust and the Mad Potter at the south end of the route. Performers include Adrienne Nims, Frank Leong and his Hawaiian Song and Dance Group, Steve White and Daphne Denniston.

Collectible walking maps will be available at these entertainment locations as well as participating galleries and art expos.

Most restaurants along the Artwalk route will be open, and some, such as the new Auggie's House of Crab, will even offer an Artwalk special.

Organizers are encouraging the public to park their cars in the lots at the Encinitas City Hall and the Coaster station at Vulcan and D Streets and take free shuttle buses to Leucadia. Two double-decker buses and two smaller ones will serve as shuttles throughout the morning and afternoon.

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 901-4074 or rwebster@nctimes.com.