The Carmel Gallery Alliance announces the names of the 60 Plein Air Artists who have been juried into the 13th Annual Carmel Art Festival:

April Raber will be participating in the four-day festival is scheduled for May 18 through May 21 in Devendorf Park and Mission Street directly adjacent in Carmel. The festival paintings will be available for viewing and bidding via silent auction from 10 am till 6 pm on Saturday, May 20. A live auction will immediately follow. Other events include Sculpture in the Park, Steven Whyte does sculpture LIVE!, a visit by Tony Curtis, Kids Make Art Day and Art of the Dog. All events are open and free to the public.

The competition honors our traditions by bringing in local and national outdoor painters to capture fresh images of the area’s natural beauty and history. Collectors are invited through both a national media campaign and individual gallery mailings to bid on more than 150 paintings offered through the Plein Air competition and Winners Quick Draw Sunday May 21st. Over $20,000 in prize money is raised and awarded to Plein Air painters. The events tent and Sculpture exhibition will be at Devendorf Park.

The Carmel Art Festival 2006 is a community event celebrating Carmel's rich traditions as both a Mecca and an inspirational source for artists. Gallery personnel, residents and the business leaders of Carmel and surrounds, volunteer to produce the festival annually to provide an eclectic cultural and educational experience for the local community and for our visitors. Proceeds support youth art scholarships, art education programs and event production.

One of the highlights of the weekend is certainly the 3rd Annual Art of the Dog Silent Auction. Art of the Dog captures the spirit of Carmel as local shops and artists team together to create, showcase and auction more than 75 dog themed sculptures for charity. Painters and artists of all mediums will show off their talents by painting, pasting, adding, subtracting and otherwise decking out their dogs for charitable dollars at the silent auction.

This years "Seated Dog" sculpture was created by local sculptor, Brian Moneypenny, a classically trained artist with some superior gifts, who began his career at the prestigious Lime Academy in Connecticut. Judy Archibald, Chairmen of the Governors' Invitational Exhibition in Loveland, Colorado and accomplished journalist whose work has been featured in South West Art and Wildlife Artist magazines, has selected Moneypenny's story for a feature in May 2006.

Brian Moneypenny's studio is in Pacific Grove. He is widely known as a sculptor's sculptor for his breath of knowledge and skill. In addition to the original artwork for the "Seated Dog," Moneypenny is creating and distributing the 75 casts that will be decorated by local artists. "Seated Dog" sits perfectly, a silent tribute to the love and loyalty of man's best friend.

Sponsors of the festival can choose an artist to paint their dog or the Gallery Alliance can find an artist for them.

Late Breaking News:
Actor/Artist Tony Curtis has painted the first dog for the 2006 auction. See it at Gallerie Amsterdam on Dolores Street between 5th & 6th.