‘B’ Street Pier
1140 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

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Rusty Croft

Sculpting Since: 1997
Location: Carmel, California

When your first project sets a world record, you know you’re onto something big.  Such was the case with Rusty Croft, an Iowa kid who became an ice sculptor in Partyville, sometimes known as Park City, Utah.  Partying came to an end (not exactly) when he was smitten by his bride-to-be.  They emigrated to Carmel, CA, where without ice, Rusty turned to sculpting sand.  (Tough life.)

His first professional gig was in San Diego in 1997 where he worked with an international team creating the world-record setting sculpture, “The Lost City of Atlantis” (a 20-acre recreation of the paradise buried beneath the sea).  He went on to sculpt and win awards all over the world and become one of the preeminent personalities in the art.

Despite his success, Rusty still remembers how intrigued he was when he saw his first sand sculpture. “I was instantly in love,” he recalls.  Now he hopes that his work will inspire and motivate a new generation of sand sculptors. “My motto is ‘dig in and make art,’” he said. “It’s that simple.”

Notable Achievements:

  • 3rd prize, 2014 Sand Sculpting World Cup, Atlantic City, NJ
  • Peoples’ Choice award, 2014 South Padre Island, TX
  • Grand prize and People’s Choice winner, World Masters Class, 2012 U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge
  • With Kirk Rademaker, co-owner of Sand Guys, the sand sculpture and team-builder firm that serves legendary Silicon Valley corporations like Yahoo!, Google and Facebook
  • Co-host of Sand Masters on The Travel Channel
  • Appeared on Good Morning America and featured in Sunset, Phoenix Home and Garden and American Lifestyles Magazines

Website: http://www.sandguys.com

USSSC + DAE is cancelled.

It was our great honor to have produced this iconic event for 8 years.  USA Today had named it to the ‘Top 10 in the Nation’ and American Express called it ‘one of the top 20 seaside festivals in the world’.

Hundreds of millions of media impressions were registered worldwide and over 40,000 attended the festivities each year on the downtown San Diego embarcadero. 

We thank the Master Sand Artists from Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas who created magnificent sculptures from nothing more than sand and water, as well as the artists who work in other media, the entertainers, food providers, sponsors, media, staff, suppliers, volunteers and the Port of San Diego who made the event possible.

Should a title sponsor or new production company wish to bring it back to benefit local non-profits and the Southern California community at large, we will endeavor to help advise as long as we are able. 

For now, enjoy the website from years past.*

Thank you once more.

Joyce and Gordon Summer, Executive Producers

on behalf of Bruce, Tricia, Steve and the entire USSSC team.

This Website sculpted one grain at a time by Web Services Management.