The origin of the San Diego Festival of Arts doesn’t have much to do with art at all. It all started with an idea … and a pelican.

After Sue Erhardt, who had lost her leg in a water skiing accident, had a reawakening learning to snow ski on the slopes of the San Juan Mountains, she wanted other people with disabilities to have access to the same life-changing experience. She enlisted the help of her husband, Ross, a member of the Torrey Pines Kiwanis, to convince his fellow club members to contribute to this worthwhile cause.

For the first few years, the Kiwanis group sold candy to raise money to send people for adaptive ski lessons on the powdery peaks of Durango, Colorado. Then a new member, noted photographer Dallas Clites, suggested a charitable art show. Clites had previously used his work to illustrate the dangers of pesticide DDT on wildlife, specifically the brown pelican, and snapped his now iconic photo of a revitalized pelican soaring like a phoenix from the ashes for the Festival’s inaugural poster.

The first iteration of the San Diego Festival of the Arts in 1987, then called the Golden Triangle Festival of the Arts, was little more than a small exhibition and taco bar. It grew into the successful La Jolla Festival of the Arts and has expanded its reach even more as the San Diego Festival of the Arts.

Proceeds from the Festival have sent more than 500 differently abled San Diegans to Durango with all travel expenses paid. The Festival has also benefitted dozens of nonprofit organizations including San Diego City Schools Adaptive Physical Education, St. Madeline Sophie’s Center, Challenged Sailors, and the Wheelchair Dance Organization Program. Since its founding, the Festival has raised more than $2.5 million and impacted about 40,000 people.