“The 101 Artists’ Colony seeks to foster an awareness of all forms of art and encourage the interaction between the artist and the community at large.” So reads the home page of the colony’s Web site. It further tells us that this is done by showcasing art in all forms — music, dance and theater.

Founded in 1998 and known as a “jewel in the community,” the colony supports Full Moon Poets and holds slams at the La Paloma Theater twice yearly. It also entertains to a packed house at a Friends First Wednesday program each year in the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Branch Library.

The colony has been housed in several sites in Encinitas but currently is homeless, so the community is being deprived of enjoying the wonderful artwork that the members produce.

I became acquainted with the colony during the Cardiff Chamber Hansen/Machado Surf Days. President Danny Salzhandler, a supreme volunteer, brought a booth to the event. I, who cannot draw a straight line with a ruler, was drawn to his friendly group and soon became a volunteer at Art Banner Project events.

The Banner Project, which is in its 10th year, originated in Encinitas and is presented by the colony, Cardiff 101 Chamber, Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association and for the first time, Leucadia 101 will have artists participating.

There are 101 banners this year, eight of them painted by Cardiff-by-the-Sea artists. The one that of course takes my eye was done by artist Arthur Bygollie and it is of our beautiful Cardiff-by the Sea Branch Library with the Torrey pines — which may soon be a memory — prominently in the foreground.

Banners were unveiled in an impressive ceremony Jan. 27 in the former Coast Dispatch building in Encinitas. Since that time, they have hung along Highway 101 from Leucadia to Cardiff-by-the-Sea’s Restaurant Row as well as in the Cardiff Town Center parking lot. On May 18, they will be offered at a live auction in the Cardiff Town Center Courtyard beginning at 2 p.m. Auctioneer Rich Houk makes for a lively afternoon and it is an event not to be missed so mark your calendars. Refreshments will be served. If anyone would like to help hanging banners that day, please contact Danny at (760) 845-8456.

For more information, check the Web site, www.artistscolony.com. Bids are being taken now by calling DEMA at (760) 943-1950.

The 101 Artists Colony, talented artists in our midst including Danny Salzhandler and Arthur Bygollie, make Cardiff-by-the-Sea an extremely pleasant, talented place to call home.