This October fest was brewed with the help of the muses.

Art shows and classes at the Palos Verdes Art Center are usually confined to galleries and studios in the hillside art complex in Rancho Palos Verdes.

But on Saturday and Sunday, art will be bursting out all over as the center sponsors its 28th annual free Art for Fun(d)s Sake festival. About 160 artists will display and sell work ranging from authentic American Indian baskets and jewelry to prints and paintings, ceramics, sculpture, weavings and toys.

The galleries will be filled with art, and booths will dot the center’s patio and parking lot. Center Executive Director Vincent Beggs said the artists decorate their own booths, “so you may have custom weaving or clothing blowing in the wind. Someone who’s a painter would have a bunch of easels.”

Food will range from such standbys as hot dogs and lemonade to gourmet fruit tarts and Greek spinach-stuffed pastries. Children can take part in special crafts, courtesy of volunteers from Art at Your Fingertips, a center program that takes art activities to schools.

To help accommodate the 5,000 people expected during the weekend, shuttles will run between the art center and the Shops at Palos Verdes at Peninsula Center. Festival-goers can park in the parking structure at the mall and catch the shuttle in front of the I. Magnin store.

The festival is limited to handmade art, and everything was selected by a four-member art jury.

“There are no T-shirts or ball caps made by machines,” Beggs said. “All ceramics are one of a kind, and fine arts prints will be limited editions. There’ll be one-of-a-kind jewelry and some unique woven work.”

As the festival’s name implies, the weekend is designed not only to let artists shine but to raise money for the community-based art center. Artists and other vendors pay fees. The center also receives a portion of food sales and sales made by artists who are affiliated with the center.

“The nature of our organization is that we don’t have a steady base of income,” Beggs said, explaining that the center’s financial foundation is paid memberships and fund-raising by support groups. The art festival usually raises close to $30,000, which is 10% of the center’s annual budget.

“People who buy will not only get a work of art, but will make a contribution to the community,” Beggs said.

Among the more striking work festival visitors will see are raku ceramics, created through a 2,000-year-old Japanese process in which pieces are taken red hot from the kiln and put into a container with seaweed, bamboo leaves or other organic matter. Contact with the organic material gives the ceramics an earthy, smoky or metallic look.

American Indian jewelry and baskets will be shown by a California Paiute couple from Bishop, who have been show regulars for several years.

Michael Rogers fashions gold, silver and turquoise into jewelry, its shapes sometimes suggesting rock formations, sunbeams or the lines of an eagle in flight. His wife, Alta Rogers, makes woven willow baskets with beadwork designs. She said she uses earth tones to show “the relationship between myself and my environment and . . . to enhance my culture.”

Ceramist Jan Napolitan will show not only fine art pieces--some with shapes inspired by waves breaking on shore--but casseroles, colanders, teapots and other kitchenware.

On the lighter side, there will be painted mailboxes and tepees made for children. Artist Pat Hinz will display her humorous, oddly shaped renditions of such landmarks as the Brown Derby Restaurant and the Point Vicente Lighthouse.

Venetian glass, Thai silk and an American grandfather clock with works made in 1750 will be among offerings at a collectibles booth operated by the Circle, one of the art center’s support group.

Art at Your Fingertips volunteers will have several craft booths offering children an opportunity to be creative for a $1 charge for each activity. “It’s a way for parents to enjoy the fair and yet have their children come with them and do something,” volunteer Christine Easton said.

Among other things, children can paint pumpkins for Halloween, make pins, hair bows and other items from glow-in-the-dark fabric, or take an imaginary trip back to prehistoric times by turning socks into sock-a-saurus hand puppets. Demonstrations by children’s illustrator and cartoonist John Vandeneykel will round out the fair attractions for youngsters.

In the past, the art center has staged its annual festival at nearby Hesse Park or the South Coast Botanic Garden. Even though there is less room at the center, Beggs said having the festival there “promotes what we are.”

He said: “A big complaint from people is that they don’t know what we do here. We’ll have all our spaces, our studios, open so people can see what the center is all about.”

Sculptor and ceramist Jackee Marks, who has displayed work in five past shows, said the event is a great showcase for artists. “It’s a way to see how people feel about your work,” she said. “If you sell only one piece, you know someone likes your stuff.”

What: Art for Fun(d)s Sake.

When: Saturday, Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 W. Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes.

Admission: Free.

Information: 541-2479.