Event held Nov. 12-15
The sand-sculpting champions of the 11th annual Siesta Key Crystal Classic International Sand Sculpting Festival have been declared, organizers announced.
The event, which was held Nov. 12-15, “drew thousands to Siesta Public Beach,” a news release says.
Awards were presented on Nov. 14 to the winning doubles teams and solo master sand sculptors, the release adds. Eight doubles teams and eight solo artists competed.
The honorees are as follows:
- 1st Place Doubles — ($6,000) Skull Duggery by team sculptors Karen Fralich and Dan Belcher.
- 2nd Place Doubles — ($3,000) Twas the Tide Before… by Matt Long and Brian Wigelsworth. (Wigelsworth is one of the founders of the Crystal Classic.)
- 3rd Place Doubles — ($2,000) Hand Me Down Genes by Matt Deibert and Ian Deibert.
- 1st Place Solo — ($3,000) A Rose Without Thorns by Thomas Koet.
- 2nd Place Solo — ($1,500) — Angel of Death by Chris Guinto.
- 3rd Place Solo — ($1,000) — Let the Light In by Rick Mungeam.
- Sculptors’ Choice Artist Team — Skull Duggery by Karen Fralich and Dan Belcher.
- Sculptors’ Choice Solo Artist — A Rose Without Thorns by Thomas Koet.
- People’s Choice: Solo — ($1,000) A Rose Without Thorns by Thomas Koet; People’s Choice Doubles — ($2,000) Brian Wigelsworth and Matt Long, Twas the Tide Before…
“A portion of the proceeds from this year’s Siesta Key Crystal Classic will benefit scholarships at Ringling College of Art and Design and will assist talented, creative students so that they may be able to pursue their dreams of higher education in art and design,” the release notes.
The Siesta Key Crystal Classic is presented by the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce. The event’s mission is to promote tourism, local businesses and the visual arts “via the production of one of the most unique sculpture festivals held in the world on the #1 beach in the U.S.,” the release adds.