Local art festival makes a splash in Carlsbad

For the 11th year, the Carlsbad ArtSplash brought the community together over a weekend of local art, music, cuisine and other performances. This year’s theme for the event held on Sept. 28-29 was “The Wheel Deal,” which emphasized the community’s rich skate history, bike friendly environment and car culture.

Founded in 2002 by local street artist Ron Juncal and event director of the Carlsbad Flower Fields Joni Miringoff along with a group of active community members, ArtSplash has been working to raise money for local art and music programs in North County through this two day community event.

"I had been involved with art for years and years but it was just  group of us who met and started talking about doing something like this," Bobbie Hoder said.

The original event held above the flower fields on Armada Drive was spectated by 1,500 locals who came to see the incredible chalk art the event has since become famous for. Since then, it has expanded to include numerous forms of art and creative expression. But even though it’s grown, the founders have made sure to keep the event focused on it’s original purpose of bringing people together through local art.

“For the first number of years we did the large chalk art pieces and then as the years went on we added different mediums and themes,” Juncal said. “We've done pieces with clothing and with flowers and with rocks and many other unusual pieces of art.”

Over the years, Artsplash has featured many talented local artists and has raised over $42,000 to give to North County Schools. These $400-700 grants have helped establish art and music education programs in schools in the Carlsbad Unified School District, Encinitas Union School District, San Dieguito Union High School District, San Marcos Unified School District and Vista Unified School District. Artsplash also offers numerous volunteer opportunities to give back to the community.

“I volunteer every single year because I like seeing the art that comes out of Carlsbad,” volunteer Jade Lam said. “The first day you get to see the process and on the second day you get to see the final result, so it’s really cool.”

In addition to the classic chalk pieces which are the cornerstone of Artsplash, the event included pro skateboard demos, a car show, a silent auction featuring skateboard art, a three-mile breast cancer walk, speed painting by Amy Burkman, sand sculpture by Gerry Kirk, local musical performances and vendors showcasing local art and cuisine. All of this culminated into a family friendly art environment that is beloved by the community.

“Getting the community involved is so important,” Juncal said. “Everyone who comes here always says, 'oh this is so spectacular' but it only happens because of people and local businesses actually contributing by purchasing a square and letting artists come and showcase their art for free. It makes it a really interesting experience here in Carlsbad.”