Beachcombers can discover treasures at annual art show

The Beachcombers Fine Art Show hit the half-century mark last year and now returns for the 51st annual event this weekend.
The South Padre Island Convention Centre will be the place to be for art on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Artists from Texas and Mexico come together each year to display and sell their work at one of the largest art shows in South Texas. The show is sponsored by the Harlingen Art Forum.
More than 100 artists will be displaying their work that will include ceramics, drawings, glass, paintings, photographs, precious metals and stones, sculptures, ships models and woodwork. A $3 per person admission at the door helps support the Harlingen Art Forum’s children’s art education classes and artist workshops, college scholarship programs, and D’Arte Centre Gallery.
The longest-running fine art show in Texas began in the late 1950s when a group of Rio Grande Valley artists held an On The Beach art show at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island.
That first summer show was put together just for fun by a small group of artistic friends. It became an annual tradition, moving from the sand and sun into the now-demolished cabanas, then to the long-gone pavilion, and finally to the convention center.
The list of artists has grown and expanded over the years to bring classic and contemporary art to the attention of Valley people.
One of the features of the show is that new artists can be seen alongside those who have been exhibiting for years, so people expecting to see the works of their favorite artists are sometimes pleasantly surprised to “discover” the work of a newcomer at the same show.