Final duck carvers festival

The Pacific Southwest Wildlife Arts, Inc. (PSWA) will present its 44th annual California Open Wildlife Art Festival, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 18 and 19, at Liberty Station in San Diego’s Point Loma area. The festival, open to the public, will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both weekend days at Liberty Station’s Corky McMillin Event Center, NTC Promenade, 2875 Dewey Road, San Diego. Admission is $5 per person per day, and children under 12 years of age are free. For more information, visit www.PSWA.net.

On display will be wildlife paintings and photography, along with sculptures of traditional wooden hunting decoys of wildfowl, fish and birds. This year’s exhibition will attract more than 100 top carvers, wildlife artists and art lovers from all over the U.S., Canada, Russia and Japan.

Gary De Cew, PSWA president, has announced this festival will be the last one. Officials cite funding cuts and lower public interest in the art of carved hunting decoys.

Several East County artists will participate, including painters Gloria Chadwick of El Cajon, Peggy Bradshaw Palm of Alpine, Scott Streit of La Mesa and Ron Dotson of Jamul, as well as Bob Berry of El Cajon, a six-time world champion carver.

Other artists include Michael Crook, Pat Gilmore, Susan Mae Hull, Gary Johnson, Sue Kroll and Sandra Zelasko. This year’s featured artist is Jerry Vande Berg.

The Pacific Southwest Wildlife Arts, Inc. is a non-profit organization that promotes wildlife art, including traditional hunting decoys, paintings and wildlife and bird photography.