From quirky ceramics to vibrant paintings and handmade jewelry, artists turned downtown El Cajon’s mural-lined streets into an open-air art festival Saturday to showcase local art and launch a new public mural restoration project.
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The event merged two of the city’s popular art events: Artivál and the Alley Cat Art Walk, an annual event that ran for over two decades as an evening stroll celebrating local art and galleries.
“We’re trying really hard for people to come to East County to experience and see the representation of local artists and the community,” Charlene Mosley, vice president of the East County Art Association, said.
Saturday’s festival debuted the new daytime Alley Cat Art Fest, put on by the Downtown El Cajon Association.
This year’s celebration unveiled the newly restored Birds of Paradise mural — a longtime landmark located in Arts Alley, a corridor lined with murals acting as a permanent art gallery. Proceeds from the event will fund the restoration of existing murals and support future public art projects.
Mosley works in watercolor and oil paintings and also illustrates children’s books. Her pieces — ranging from smaller paintings to large murals — blend portraits with a variety of animals, a combination she says represents “embracing your inner wild.”
“When you come by a mural, it just makes you stop in your tracks because it’s so colorful and vibrant,” she said. “Restoration is a big thing we need here because after years, the sun beats down on the colors, so they kind of fade away.”
The summer heat was noticeable during the festival’s first few hours, and may have contributed to lighter crowds during the all-day event.
While the event has taken many forms in the last two decades, its focus has always been on celebrating the arts, local businesses and artists in the region, said Erin Perschbacher, art program manager at Sophie’s Gallery.
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The gallery is one of many on Main Street, but Sophie’s is specifically a space for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to create and sell their art.
Fundraising to restore existing murals — and possibly create new ones — will draw new visitors to the art corridor while investing in local artists, Perschbacher said.
“El Cajon has a great collection of public murals,” she said. “We have a lot of people that come here specifically to check them out.”
In the art alley directly behind their business, a bright blue butterfly mural acts as an interactive photo spot where passersby take pictures in front of the wings.
A mother-daughter duo stopped to take photos of each other in front of the mural. While stopping downtown to grab lunch, the pair said they stumbled across the festival and learned about the murals.
Ceramic artist Brianna Gardner worked on a new piece at her booth, surrounded by pottery that ranged from eccentric hollow luminaries with carved openings to animal-shaped teapots.
This was her second year traveling from her home in Huntington Beach to El Cajon to participate in the event.
“I love that it brings the culture back to the downtown area,” Gardner said. “Art is such an important essence of humanity and in this era, it’s especially important to keep it going. I just like being a part of that.”
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