Surf & Skate Silent Auction Friday to Benefit Venice Family Clinic

The second annual Venice Art Walk Surf & Skate silent auction and party Friday will kick off the long-running Venice Art Walk & Auction in support of the Venice Family Clinic, the largest free medical clinic in the country.

The Surf & Skate auction is free and open to the public from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Track 16, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave. in Santa Monica.

The event will feature live music, refreshments and some of the finest talent in the art community.

An auction will be held to bid on one-of-a-kind creations designed from re-used, recycled and recreated skate decks and also surfboards that have been "tatted" with designs. More than 70 artists have contributed works, including surfboard shapers Jeffrey Sudzin of Om Surfboards, Dan Cobley of DANC Surfboards, Jose Barahona of Barahona Surfboards and surfboard tattoo artists from Black Diamond Tattoo.

The exhibition and silent auction is being presented by 585 Boardriders, the new Quiksilver concept store at 585 Venice Blvd. Quiksilver surfboard artist Kristi McKnight also will have a board up for bidding. Other artists include "Block" Cesario Montano, Alejandro Gehry, Natalie Arnoldi among more.

The non-profit Venice Family Clinic was founded in 1970 by doctors Philip Rossman and Mayer B. Davidson and served more than 25,000 patients in the 2011 fiscal year. The clinic serves people who are poor and who have no private health insurance. In 2011, 64 percent of their patients did not have health insurance; 29 percent were children and 15 percent were homeless.

The group has an annual budget of $23.8 million and more than 2,200 volunteers, including 534 physicians.

The Surf & Skate auction and party will be the opener for the 34th annual Venice Art Walk & Auction, which will be hosted by Google. The art walk features artists and architects who open their homes and studios and artwork donated by more than 400 artists. The May 19-20 Venice Art Walk & Auctions raises over $600,000 annually and all proceeds fund the clinic's health care services.

Here is the schedule of upcoming tours and the auction:

Art & Architecture Tour: East & West of Lincoln Avenue: May 19, Noon to 4 p.m.
Art & Architecture Tour: Ocean Front Walk & Windward Circle: May 20, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Studio Tour: Venture into Venice Artist Studio Tour: May 20, Noon to 4 p.m.
Silent Art Auction hosted by Google: May 20, Noon to 7:30 p.m., Auction Closes at 6 p.m.