Anita Edman - James Aitchison

Anita Edman: Solana Beach City Hall Gallery (City Government/Arts and Recreation/City Art Gallery)

To call Anita Edman an artist would be like calling a tiger "kitty." She is not a woman who merely dabbles in paint, or raises a small fund for a gallery show, or casually notices a public sculpture. She is a virtual creative vortex; if raw material crosses her path it is funneled into a vision that can only be called artistic exuberance. Whether she be in her garage with her chainsaw and big purple glasses carving totem poles, or at an auction rallying up enthusiasm for a recent acquisition of student banners, or welding car parts into auto-art, she is a true mover and shaker, and anyone who nears her orbit feels the pull. She is a creative force.

What is your vision of the future of the Visual arts for San Diego?

"Times Are Tough? Art in San Diego is not only, alive and well, but in the last couple of years, I have witnessed increasing possibilities and opportunities in the San Diego area for artists in all disciplines. As has been made evident by the history of art, difficult political and economic climates can serve as inspiration and catalysts in energizing and stimulating artists, and the arts in general. Artists are characteristically wonderful innovators and problem solvers. Art, especially public art, has the capacity to empower individual artists to educate and entertain audiences, as well as open awareness to current challenging issues. Given the existing need for new resourceful methods to do almost everything and the besieged global situation, I see a wealth of inventiveness in our future as a direct result of the artists who continually challenge themselves to redefine and reinvent and those judicious communities and visionary organizations that support them."