Laguna Art Museum was set to kick-off the ninth annual Art & Nature Festival on Thursday, including the installation of three new exhibitions inspired by the natural world.
Art & Nature’s featured installation “Any-Instant-Whatever” opened to the public during the First Thursdays Art Walk. Artist Rebeca Méndez created a multimedia experience capturing a cloud-rich Los Angeles sky projected onto a wall about the size of a movie theater screen. The looped video is accompanied by a haunting soundtrack composed by Drew Schnurr from playing crystal bowls filled with water.
Méndez’s work will be on display through April 2022.
“We’re thrilled to welcome back art lovers and families to the museum for this year’s Art & Nature,” said Julie Perlin Lee, Executive Director of the Laguna Art Museum. “Art is for everyone and we love to see families spending their time together experiencing our exhibitions.”
The festival also includes the exhibition A Fanciful World: Jessie Arms Botke and Sky Space Time Change. Primarily active in the 1930s, Botke’s artwork adorned with gold and silver leaf was inspired by Japanese design and European landscapes.
The focal point of the exhibit is a 29-foot-long mural, depicting various species of birds, which was once displayed in the Oaks Hotel in Ojai, Calif.
At 7 p.m. on Friday, Daniel Lewis, Dibner Senior Curator for the History of Science & Technology at the Huntington Library, Art Museum & Botanical Gardens, will give this year’s Art & Nature Keynote Lecture on John James Audubon. Tickets are $25 for museum members and $30 for non-members, and can be purchased at lagunaartmuseum.org.
The Art & Nature Gala scheduled for Nov. 6 at Sherman Library and Gardens is sold out.
Lastly, the Art & Nature Family Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 14. The event will include fun, hands-on activities and educational stations throughout the museum that explore art, climate, science, animal welfare, and environmental education. Admission to the Family Festival is free.
