Semi-Pro Sculptors

These artists' journey has not just begun, but their skills continue to strengthen with each carving of a sandcastle they create and each competition in which they spend time building out an artistry of sand. You won't want to miss watching these semi-pro artists transform into excellence right before your eyes with unbelievable talent create sand sculptures worth remembering.

Darrell O'Connor

"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." During the week I work as a computer systems analyst with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals supporting and implementing Enterprise Software from German Software Company SAP. I live in Wilmington Delaware, but for the past 30-plus years, I've spent summer weekends playing in the mid 80's in Rehoboth Beach Delaware. While I didn't place in that first competition, I continued to compete locally eventually winning the Rehoboth contest 9 times. In 2014 I ventured outside of Delaware and met master sculptor Matt Long at his pro-am contest in Wildwood Crest New Jersey and a quick friendship developed over a mutual love of building castles in sand. After years of trial and error sculpting, my castles became exponentially better now that I had someone to critique my work and show me new techniques. It was Matt who suggested that I enter the amateur contest at the Siesta Key Crystal Classic in Florida where I met Albert Lucio Jr who encouraged me to come to Texas to compete in the amateur contest at Texas SandFest. The vibe at SandFest was like nothing I had experienced before, and my sand life was changed forever when Albert invited me to compete as a semi-pro in 2021. Needless to say, the opportunity to meet and sculpt in the same gallery with Master Sculptors that I've admired from afar for years has been one of the highlights of my 30-plus years of sand play. I've created castles for numerous beach weddings and marriage proposals and lent my skills to several Delaware fundraisers and festivals including the Delaware State Fair, the Rehoboth Beach Sea Witch Festival, the Children's Beach House Annual BBQ, the Dewey Beach Summer Vibes Festival, the Bridgeville Apple-Scrapple Festival, the Dover Days Festival, Great Delaware Pumpkin Carve, Big Draw Art Festival and the annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics.

Jim Butler

Growing up in southern Califoria, many of my earliest memories are of days at the beach, making drip sandcastles and moats. I guess building things was in my veins because I'm now an architect and master sand sculptor. My significant sand creations started in 2005 when I participated in a local charity event in Olympia, Washington. I helped amateur teams plan and build competitive sculptures. That got me hooked on sand on a big scale. A good friend and I established our own master sand carving team, Form Finders. Ever since we've been competing on Pacific NW beaches for the past 16 years. Our team makes it a point to bring on new people who want to learn the art of sand and get better. There are always new techniques to learn and I enjoy pushing myself to try challenging subjects. I hope you enjoy all the sculptures on display! Love the sand between my toes which brings

Joon Park

Joon Park was born in 1997 and started helping carry buckets at the beach at contests back when he was 17 during the year 2015-2019. Over the next few years, Joon started sculpting and started doing it every day at the start of 2019 until this day. He has made sculptures for Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, Google and even for Taylor Swift. He has travelled across the world sculpting and has made sculptures for the Royal Family in Dubai. Joon has worked with YouTube star Vertasium for their videos. He has also done workshops for groups as large as 50 by himself as team-building exercises to help promote synergy without the companies. Joon travels around making sculptures for festivals and conventions throughout America. He has been using his free time to make YouTube/ TikTok/Instagram videos and has amassed a following of close to 400K across these platforms in the past year. Joon posts anime, sand sculptures and daily videos of what he does at his job as a full-time sand sculptor.

Leonard Gonzales

It all started more than 30 years ago on Imperial Beach (IB) California. In the 80's, IB was home to the US Open Sandcastle Competition, one of the largest events in the Country for decades. In grade school at the time, Leonard's family and friends created the "IB Posse" amateur sculpting team. Over the years, the Posse climbed to the top of the Masters competition. They claimed many championships and awards through the 90's and early 2000's. As competition formats changed, the team has had to adapt which now opened up to individual sculpting events. In 2021, Leonard and teammate Mark Durazo were featured in the inaugural season of CBC's Race Against the Tide television show. This is Leonard's fourth year at SandFest. So far, he has received a 2nd and two 3rd place awards in the Semi-Pro category. Maybe this will be the year for the elusive 1st Place award!

Marc Mangia

I was born and raised, and live in Columbus, OH. At a young age I started working with my hands assembling and taking apart anything and everything. As a teenage, I started working with my dad in the construction business as a carpenter and I continue today working as a carpenter and running the business. After many years of playing in the sand, using my carpentry skills, talking with some of the Masters and watching how they work with the sand, my love for sand sculpting has grown! In November 2012, I entered my first competition where I placed 1st in the amateur division at the Fort Myers Beach American sand sculpting championship. I have several first and second-place finishes in the semi-pro division and I plan to keep honing my skills, learning and having fun playing in the sand!

Mitch Guerrero

Mitch is going on his 9th year as a sand sculptor and his 6th year as a Pro-am sculptor. This will be his third season at his favorite contest ever - Texas SandFest! Mitch has decided to take his passion for art and sand sculpting and make it his full-time career in 2024. In October of 2023, he decided to walk away from a 23-year desk job as a senior website designer to pursue his love for this art form and his love for art in general. When he is not competing, Mitch likes to teach sandcastle lessons to tourists on Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, Florida. As a 4th generation artist, he also loves to draw, paint and use clay to create sculptures. He is currently learning more about sculpting and art under the tutelage of master clay sculptor Keith M Christopher. Famous artist and painter Norman Rockwell once said, "The essence of art is not perfection, but the expression of the human spirit." No doubt 2024 will be a year of artistic growth and expressing his spirit through sand sculptures and other mediums.

Thomas Brown

Thomas Brown, born in 1976 in Muscle Shoals, AL and hailing from Louisville, KY is a versatile mixed-media artist. Transitioning from clay, stone, wood and metal sculptures, he entered the realm of ice sculptures when he embraced the vibrant chaos of New York City in 2008. Brown's art harmoniously blends his Southern roots with NYC's dynamic energy. As a principal ice sculptor at Oklahoma Studio, he has had the pleasure of carving in many of NYC's iconic landmarks and collaborating with artists internationally and across the USA for the past 16 years. His expertise also encompasses ephemeral works and experimental music, contributing to a unique artistic portfolio. Over the last decade, he has frequently collaborated with musicians to create album and video art and create sculptures as a live performance for music festivals. Key accomplishments include his participation in a televised sand sculpture contest on Canada's CBC Network "Race Against the Tide-Season 3" in 2022, leading to large-scale projects in the Netherlands and Quebec City's Ice Hotel. Brown, was also a 3-time competitor and 2-time winner on Food Network's "Iron Chef America", showcasing his artistic prowess alonside culinary legends Morimoto and Bobby Flay. His favorite episode is the "Eggnog Challenge" from 2009. In 2020, Brown began making miniature sculptures from the seeds of avocados...mostly portraits of folks' beloved pets. This has since expanded into architectural wood carving. His latest work of animal heads will be permanently displayed at the Frank Thomas Restaurant in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. for inquiries and more information, contact Thomas Brown at ThomasBrownAffair@gmail.com and explore his art on Instagram @thomasbrownaffair

Thomas Earing

Usually found in a tree, Thomas Earing can occasionally be found carving wood and ice. Now adding sand to his repertoire as a repeat attendee of Texas SandFest. With a passion for making cool stuff and hard work, he looks forward to providing an appealing productions on the beautiful beach of Port Aransas.