Artist Exhibits Initiative With Crafts Fair

After several years of exhibiting her soft sculptures--ducks, birds and other small animals--at local outdoor festivals, Ronda Mills became discouraged.

Lack of advertising, unreasonable admission prices and shows coinciding with children’s carnivals contributed to what she called unprofessional exhibits plagued by low public turnout. The artists, she said, were cheated.

So in 1983, the West Hills resident established West Coast Artists, a venue for local and national artists to display their products throughout Southern California. Tomorrow and Sunday, her organization will present the ninth semiannual Valencia Fine Arts and Crafts Festival at Old Orchard Park, 25051 N. Avenida Rotella in Valencia.

Over the last seven years, the art festivals have grown--today Mills’ mailing list consists of more than 3,000 artists, and exhibits are held at 16 locations annually. Most shows, Mills said, feature about 100 booths, including ceramics, clothing, country crafts, jewelry, soft and iron sculpture, woodwork, stained glass and fine arts items.

“Ronda puts on a great festival,” said Chet Blacketer, a sculptor who works in iron and exhibits with West Coast Artists about 10 times a year. “She’s an honest businesswoman who, because of her own creative flair, understands the artist. And she puts profits back into advertising so the public actually shows up. That’s important. If you’re an artist, you’ve got to have the public see your work.”

The 49-year-old Yucaipa artist and his wife, Carrol, are known for their sculptures of locomotives, Model-T automobiles and figures. Blacketer, a pipe fitter by trade, said he and his wife spend from a few days to six months welding fragments at 3,500 degrees with an electric arc to complete the iron configurations.

Outdoor festivals, such as the ones West Coast Artists promotes, have not only yielded a substantial public following for the Blacketers but have also caught the business community’s attention. Unocal’s Westlake Village office commissioned the couple to make a five-foot replica of an oil rig and the Hand Prop Room of Los Angeles has contracted their ironwork as background art for office and home settings in several television series.

More than 100 arts and crafts booths will be featured at West Coast Artists’ ninth semiannual Valencia Fine Arts and Crafts Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Old Orchard Park, 25051 N. Avenida Rotella, Valencia. Admission is free. For additional information, call (818) 884-8284.