PORT ANGELES — Michelangelo worked with marble.
Dale Chihuly works with glass.
At this year’s Arts in Action Street Fair, the Michelangelos and the Chihulys of the sand world will display their mastery of a beachcomber’s favorite medium.
The sand sculpture competition at Hollywood Beach provides the “sizzle,” said event co-chairman Doc Reiss, who is helping to coordinate the Windermere Masters Sand Sculpture Classic.
Four truckloads of special river sand are being brought in for the artists, said Reiss, who noted that regular beach sand granules are too round to allow sculptors to build anything very high.
Originally, 10 sculptors were invited to compete in the competition, which rewards a jury-selected first prize winner with $1,500, but one sculptor had a family emergency and won’t be able to compete, Reiss said.
The remaining nine artists, who comprise eight teams, will begin packing their sand into wooden frames early Friday morning and will have 16 hours to carve out their creations.
Artists will be forming their sculptures around the theme of “Legends, Fantasy and Myths,” suggested by 10-year-old Port Angeles resident Courtney Lemon.
Competitors must finish by 3 p.m. Saturday.
