Judges' choice: A 6-foot-tall contemporary interpretation of a phoenix earned Jim Helms, 60, first place in the Recycled Art division of the Exhibition of Art. The three-dimensional sculpture, “Rising From the Ashes,” was crafted with the required 80 percent recycled materials.

Background: The Fallbrook dentist used materials from the Valley Oaks Mobile Home Park, where more than 100 homes burned during the Rice Canyon fire in October. He used melted aluminum, glass shards, porcelain, fibers, copper and other metal.

How he got started: Helms began taking sculpting classes in 2000.

Comment: “Dentistry takes eye-hand coordination, but it's more engineering. The creative side takes eye-hand coordination, but you have to be more creative and imaginative.”

Tip for learning more: Take classes where you can find them. Helms takes his at the Fallbrook Art Campus.

TODAY'S PICKS

Grandstand Stage: Reggae Festival with Steel Pulse, Pato Banton & the Mystic Roots Band and more at 1 p.m.; free with fair admission.

Summer of Sports Exhibit: Surf Day with California Surf Museum founder Jan Schmauss, noon; surf-film producer Ira Opper, 1 p.m.; photographers Jon Steele and Don Balch, 2 p.m.

Highlights: bottle calf feeding, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:30, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. at AgriFair; ostrich and camel racing, noon, 2, 4 and 6 p.m. at Chevrolet Del Mar Arena; Tribal Seeds, 9 p.m. at Coors Light Rock On Stage.

FAIR FACTS

Through July 6 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. Closed June 16 and 23. Gates are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Admission: adults, $12; seniors 62 and older, $6; children 6 to 12, $6; children 5 and younger, free.

Information: (858) 793-5555; (858) 755-1161; www.sdfair.com/fair.

On-site parking: cars and motorcycles, $9; recreational vehicles, $15; preferred parking, $15. No motor homes.

Off-site parking: free, with shuttles from 9 a.m. to midnight. Del Mar Horsepark, 14550 El Camino Real, daily; MiraCosta College San Elijo campus and Torrey Pines High School, weekends and July 4.

Public transportation: hourly buses to and from Escondido Transit Center. A shuttle between the Solana Beach train station and the fair leaves every 25 minutes. Passengers with a Breeze bus or Coaster train ticket receive a $1.75 fair admission discount at the west gate. Information: (760) 966-6500 or www.gonctd.com

NEWSROOM AT THE FAIR

The San Diego Union-Tribune's  Newsroom at the Fair exhibit is in the Paddock Lounge next to Plaza de Mexico near the Grandstand entrance.

Meet Dean Calbreath, business columnist, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Explore the technology that brings you the daily newspaper, Today's Local News,  Enlace,  multimedia site SignOnSanDiego.com and AmplifySD.com, the all-San Diego music online radio station.

Tune in to “U-T in the Community” and “Community Spotlight” on SignOn Radio LIVE, hosted by Drew Schlosberg on Tuesdays and Fridays (except July 4).

Online: For fair news and information, go to fair. uniontrib.com