PORT ANGELES — With sand versions of Poseidon and a mermaid guarding the festival at the center of City Pier, the 49th annual Arts in Action came to a quiet close Sunday afternoon — possibly for the last time.
Visitors, vendors and participants said they were dismayed by the end of the juried arts festival.
They hoped it may have a renewed future.
“We love this festival. There is a lot of creativity and community spirit. We’ll see what will fill the gap,” said Leya Heart of Port Angeles, whose husband, Clark Mundy, creates copper sea life sculptures.
Nor’wester Rotary Club members Steve Zenovic, who managed the festival for 15 years, and Doc Reiss, who organized the sand sculptures for 13 years, are stepping down after this year.
Nor’wester Rotary Club President Mark Nichols said Saturday that a member of Sequim Noon Rotary has expressed an interest in keeping the event alive.
The Sequim Noon Rotary has not yet met to discuss the possibility.
If no one is able to organize the next Arts in Action in 2015, there will be none, and the festival would come to an end.
Turnout was low over the weekend, Heart said.
On Sunday, visitors enjoyed browsing the artists’ tents, taking pictures of sand sculptures and walking out City Pier to see the long row of 33 new and classic Porsches on display by the Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Porsche Club of America.
The three sand sculptures — one featuring an ancient sea god and a mermaid, one of a boy fishing and the third a representation of CenturyLink Field in Seattle — collected admirers.
“This is special. We have been blessed,” said Judy Davis, 63, of Port Angeles, who was taking pictures of each of the sculptures.
Davis, who said she has missed a few shows over the years, said she wanted one last chance to see the sculptures before they became a part of Port Angeles history.
Two were by community teams.
The Merrill & Ring team created the fishing sculpture, and members of the Phoenix Dragon Martial Arts School carved the Seahawks’ stadium.
The centerpiece sculpture of Poseidon, a mermaid and a variety of sea creatures was created by Sue McGraw of Tacoma and Sandis Kondrats of Latvia, as a tribute to the Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic a competition last held in 2013.
The two also created a sculpture in front of the Windermere offices at 711 E. Front St., and another at the at the Extreme Sports Park, 2917 W. Edgewood Drive.
The sculptures will remain in place until they dry out and collapse — typically about a week from the time they are no longer maintained.
Nearby, on the pier, visitors climbed the observation tower to take pictures of the long line of Porsches.
Alex Raphael of Port Orchard, who owns one of the cars in the Porsches on the Pier show, said he had been coming to the festival with his car for the past four or five years, and was sad to see the rough year the festival was experiencing.
“It’s a good turnout on cars, but . . . ,” Raphael left his sentence unfinished, grimacing as he looked toward the mostly empty festival vendor area.
Raphael said he hopes that a new organizer will be found and will bring the event back.
“Anyone can have an off year,” he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
