Art in all types of media, entertainment, food, pet adoptions, silent auctions and more are coming to Girard Avenue in just a matter of weeks as part of the 28th annual La Jolla Art & Wine Festival.
The free, family-friendly festival the runs the weekend of Oct. 10-11 will feature part-time San Diegan Doug Merskin as its 2026 featured artist and mark a return to La Jolla for one of the newest exhibitors, as part of a lineup that features approximatley 170 artists.
Merskin is a mixed-media artist with studios in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. and Oceanside. His work combines mineral pigments, acrylic paints and metallic powders across three dimensional forms to create what he describes as “art with a flow.”
He explained, “My art has contours, waves and curvatures to the face so it looks like moving water or moving sky or earth elements that actually fit with … art with a flow. My work is like statement pieces. I have a very large-scale booth, very high walls, and my pieces have large scales.”
Florida and San Diego artist Doug Merskin is the featured artist for the 2026 La Jolla Art & Wine Festival. (Provided by Doug Merskin)
Merskin is no stranger to the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival. This year marks his eighth time participating and his first as the featured artist. He said he is “very much happy and appreciative” for the honor, which is given to one artist every year.
“Doug’s work immediately grabs your attention because it’s unlike anything you’d expect,” La Jolla Art & Wine Festival executive director Abraham Musto said. “His intricate process, vibrant color palette and ability to create movement within every piece embody the creativity and originality that make the festival such a unique experience. We’re thrilled to welcome him as this year’s featured artist.”
Event founder Sherry Ahern added, “He’s been featured for the most beautiful things that he makes and … his colors, the vibrancy (of his work) and his raw talent.”
Merskin’s booth at the festival will embrace technology, too, with “an art-placer AI system” that shows customers how his pieces would fit on their walls.
Another one of the artists participating in this year’s festival is Irvine resident and UC San Diego alumna Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan.
While earning her electrical engineering degree at UCSD from 2007-2009, art was not on Gopalakrishnan’s radar. At that time, she recalled being “very academically-oriented” and focused on a long-lasting engineering career.
“You’ll have these weekends where you have no time to get out of your room because you have so much work to finish,” Gopalakrishnan said of her days at UCSD. “(At the same time, by being in San Diego) you live in a place that’s so beautiful you can’t help but get out and enjoy it. So it was an interesting balance I was trying to maintain. I loved every bit of it.”
Years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she picked up oil painting as a hobby. By 2024, her previous practice of semiconductor chip designer was in the rearview mirror and she was fully pursuing art.
“It seems very surreal, because when I first landed in La Jolla … my dream was only tech,” Gopalakrishnan said. “I just wanted to retire as an engineer. Coming back and knowing that it’ll be near UCSD — where I got my degree in electrical engineering and I had a completely different dream and now I’m living a completely different life — I don’t know what to think of it. It feels very good, but it also brings some emotion. It’s my first city I lived in as an immigrant, the first place I got my masters degree and my first job.”
Beyond the wide array of art exhibitionists, the festival will also feature a handful of activities and entertainment.
On Saturday, Home Depot will host a variety of projects for children in the Geppetto’s Toys Family Art Center on Wall Street at Girard Avenue. On Sunday, there will be a petting zoo with llamas, bunnies, chickens and rabbits. The family friendly area will also feature dancing classes, robotics activities, arts and crafts, performances, storytime, face painting, and more.
The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival draws thousands to Girard Avenue in La Jolla over the weekend of Oct. 11-12. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)
Cover bands Pop Vinyl and Full Strength will headline music performances on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Other performers include The Rosin Box Project, a contemporary ballet company, on both days; and Paging the 90s, a cover band set to perform Saturday.
Admission to the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival is free, but tickets are required for the wine and beer garden, where guests 21 years old and older can enjoy regional and international wines, San Diego craft beers, handcrafted spirits, and more. Tickets are available individually (one per tasting) or within the following packages:
• $70 for general admission including five tasting tickets for beer, wine, spirits or non-alcoholic beverages
• $80 for general admission plus, including eight tasting tickets
• $95 for VIP admission, including 10 tasting tickets
Tickets will be available at the door according to their availability. Advance tickets are recommended.
Proceeds from the event support underfunded programs at La Jolla’s public schools such as art, music, science, physical education, technology and on-site medical care. Since its inception, the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival has donated more than $1,700,000 to these schools.
Learn more at ljawf.com.