Biggest iPhone Arts Festival Lands in … Santa Monica?

Many artists are claiming the iPhone as their primary tool, and it's not just for photographs.

The L.A. Mobile Arts Festival will open Saturday in Santa Monica, Calif., and feature more than 600 pieces from an artistic community dedicated to making art on mobile devices, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sure the vast majority will be photos, but about 100 pieces will be digital paintings and sculptures.

"This is just a chance to show people that there's a lot more really creative work going on and much more than they might expect that's possible to do with these devices," Daria Polichetti, one of the co-founders of iPhoneArt.com, told the Times.

About 225 mobile artists are expected to come to the festival from around the country and 30 other nations. The festival opens 7 p.m. Saturday and lasts until Aug. 25.

Both Polichetti and co-founder Nathaniel Park, said they started iPhoneArt.com to give a new kind of artist a platform and community.

Don't think this is just about Instagram photos, though. Most of the photographs used have been greatly manipulated with color or even focus. Most photos are abstract or exaggerated for effect, while some artists add elements of design or other images. It's a pity that the home of the iPhone couldn't have hosted such an amazing arts festival, but perhaps now that Santa Monica has shown what can be done -- maybe that will change.