The eighth annual sand sculpting competition on Port Angeles’ Hollywood Beach was the most competitive yet, said organizer Doc Reiss.
But after careful deliberation Saturday, the judges for the Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic picked Carl Jara’s sculpture, “Alien vs. Bender,” as this year’s winner of the contest with a science-fiction theme.
Jara, from Cleveland, will receive $1,750 for winning first place.
Reiss said picking the winner this year was the toughest it has ever been for judges because of the high-caliber sculptures the seven artists competing in the contest created over three days last week.
“I saw several of them, literally several of them, that could quite easily be first place,” Reiss said. “We pulled in some of the best in the world.”
An eighth sculptor — Dan Belcher of St. Louis — is serving as this year’s artist in residence, and was not eligible for the adjudicated contest.
Belcher, however, won the sculptors’ choice award. He will receive $500 for the award for his piece, “Time Machine.”
Jara’s sculpture depicts the creature from the “Alien” movies hunting the character Bender from the cartoon “Futurama,” in keeping with the theme, “Legends of Science Fiction.”
The other winners are:
• Sue McGrew, second place for “Luke & Leia.” McGrew, of Tacoma, will receive $1,250.
• Damon Farmer, third place, for “Radio Visions.” Farmer, of Versailles, Ky., will receive $950.
Sculptor Jeff Strong received an honorable mention for “I. Asimov.”
Also on display are “Planet of da Apes,” by Fred Dobbs of Victoria; “I’ll be Back,” by H. Firat Uysal of Erdine, Turkey; and “The Three Laws,” by Damon Langlois of Victoria.
Strong, Dobbs, Uysal and Langlois each will receive $650 for “showing up and finishing.”
Display up through Saturday
The sculptures will be on display through Saturday.
They can be viewed for free from City Pier or visitors can walk through the gallery for a $1 donation each, which gives them votes for the people’s choice award, which will be announced next weekend.
The people’s choice award winner will receive $750. The gallery donations will go to the 16U girl’s softball team, Reiss said.
The competition is part of Arts in Action, organized by the Nor’wester Rotary Club of Port Angeles.
The festival will continue with music, entertainment and vendors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at City Pier.
As winner of the competition, Jara automatically gets to participate in the world’s sand sculpting competition in Federal Way next month. Reiss is also one of the organizers of that event.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
