PORT ANGELES — Two community teams of sand sculptors will join in the Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic contest at the Arts in Action festival this weekend.
Teams from Phoenix Dragon Martial Arts and Merrill & Ring have received instruction on sand sculpting techniques and how to make their own tools, said Doc Reiss of Nor’wester Rotary, which organizes Arts in Action, scheduled Friday through Sunday on and around City Pier and Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles.
The two community teams have designed their own sculptures and will carve alongside the master sculptors on the area next to City Pier in the contest.
The two community teams are not competing with the master sculptors — who will win prizes — and their sculptures are not required to fit this year’s “Hollywood” theme.
During the Sand Sculpture Classic, Arts in Action will offer nearly 50 vendors of arts and crafts, a beer and wine garden at the Red Lion Hotel from Friday through Sunday, music on City Pier on Saturday and Sunday, and a car show on City Pier on Sunday.
Organizers said the new wrinkle in the annual festival of adding community teams arose from asking the question:
How do you keep a street fair that is more than 40 years old fresh and exciting?
That has been the challenge Nor’wester Rotary has looked at every year, said Reiss and Steve Zenovic, Nor’wester Rotary past president and chairman of Arts in Action.
Thirteen years ago, organizers added sand sculpture to the event.
Three years after that, they introduced the Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic and built that portion of the festival into a contest internationally recognized for its superior-talent competition.
Three years ago, they added the talents of Ian Morris, a Canadian sidewalk chalk artist who will create another three-dimensional artwork this year outside of Captain T’s at 114 E. Front St.
“Every year, we try to make Arts in Action a bit better and a bit more fun for the community,” Zenovic said.
“And every year, we ask ourselves, ‘Where do we go from here?’
“When we approached Terry Neske and the folks at Windermere with an idea we had, they were very supportive of making their part of this even more community-involved.”
Earlier this year, Nor’wester Rotary aligned with World Master Bert Adams and announced it was looking for teams of 12 to 20 people to join in the fun.
Along with the Phoenix Dragon Martial Arts and Merrill & Ring teams, the Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic will feature world-master sculptors and is still a qualifying contest for the World Championship of Sand Sculpting.
“We only have so much space on the pier,” said Reiss, “so we have had to trim the world masters back from eight competitors to five this year.
“But with the display sculptures, the teams and the masters, there will be plenty to see.”
One of this year’s master sculptors, Bill Dow of Montana, is creating a display sculpture outside of the Windermere Real Estate office at 711 E. Front St., Port Angeles.
He also will build a sculpture on Hollywood Beach, along with other master sculptors Adams and Mark Chapman, both of Portland, Ore.; Delayne Corbett of Vancouver, B.C.; and Sue McGrew of Tacoma.
Sand sculptures will be created Friday and Saturday, and the finished gallery will be open Sunday for $2 for adults and free for children.
This year’s sand sculpture contest is presented by Windermere Real Estate and co-sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News and other local businesses.
The Port Angeles Downtown Association also is hosting a free Business in the Making Tour on Saturday.
The tour will leave from the peace bell at the City Pier parking lot at 11 a.m. and continue until 1 p.m.
Those on the tour will visit seven businesses and learn how they make their products — which range from blown glass to bridal gowns to T-shirts to body art and fudge.
