La Jolla Surf: Culture, Art, Craft
February 8 - May 25, 2025
Opening Reception at La Jolla Historical Society:
Friday, February 7, 5:00-7:00PM
La Jolla Surf: Culture, Art, Craft will introduce audiences to some of the artists, surfers and surfboard builders that have lived in or passed through La Jolla during their lives. By way of a short film created specifically for this exhibition, visitors will meet a few of the ocean lovers, oddballs, outcasts, poets and geniuses that focused their lives on a small patch of ocean near where they decided to live in order to keep surfing. The interviews in the film will reveal experiences, circumstances and decisions that resulted in a lifetime spent in the ocean mastering, appreciating and falling in love with an activity that’s been called a sport, a lifestyle and a religion.
La Jolla Surf also invites viewers into the world of surfing through iconic photography by Roy Porello, Jeff Divine, and Ron Church, original artwork by award winning designer John van Hamersveld, and surf boards from the greatest shapers in the region. Through the extensive, original interview footage with local surfers created by Curator John Durant, visitors will hear firsthand accounts of how the surfing community developed, how it has evolved over time, and the powerful connection to, and appreciation of the ocean and nature that surfing engenders.
About the curator: John Durant has been a professional photographer based in Southern California since 1978. A graduate of UC San Diego, John is a life-long surfer and has worked as a photographer for Rusty Surfboards, Gordon & Smith Surfboards, Bing, Larry Mabile and Dennis Murphy. John has written about surfing and some of the more interesting characters that have populated surf culture for The Surfer's Journal, The LA Times, and San Diego Magazine.
Funding for this exhibition generously provided by Richard VandeNoord, Matt and Nancy Browar, Suzanne Conlon, Abby and Ray Weiss, and Seonaid and Barry Bielinski. Additional support provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and Members of the La Jolla Historical Society.
