The Festival of Arts, celebrating its 87th year, is Laguna’s professionally juried fine art show of paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramics, jewelry, and more from artists around Orange County. The Festival also offers daily activities for art lovers of all ages. The calendar includes nightly live music, guided art tours, art workshops and favorites like Concerts on the Green, Art, Jazz, Wine, and Chocolate, the Festival Runway Fashion Show and Family Art Day.
Informative discussions with the Festival of Arts exhibitors will be held every Wednesday during “Art Talks and Tea,” and families can attend “Art and Story Time” on Mondays, where a different children’s book will be read aloud followed by a hands-on art project. Children under 5 will also be treated to surprise visits from illustrators, book characters and others. The weekly music series, “Tribute Tuesdays” and “Step into the Spotlight,” will return to the Festival as well.
Art classes for adults, teens and children ages 5-12 will be offered along with printmaking, ceramics and multimedia workshops for all ages. Festival artists will lead “Pints, Pinots and Prints” on Fridays, and on Saturdays, “Wine and Painting Nights.”
Over 300 artworks from Orange County school children will be featured in the Junior Art Exhibition and Festivalgoers can support the Artist Fund by purchasing work donated by Festival artists at the Art-to-Go Exhibit.
Visitors can make a reservation at Terra Laguna Beach, formerly Tivoli Too, or purchase food from the new grab-to-go, Intermission by Terra, then stop by the gift shop for Festival mementos.
The Festival of Arts, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, opens on Friday, July 5, and will run through Saturday, Aug. 31. Tickets, $5-$15, can be purchased online at LagunaFestivalofArts.org. Children under 5, military members and Laguna Beach residents may enter for free. A Passport to the Arts includes unlimited admission, all summer to the Festival of Arts, the Sawdust Festival and Laguna Art-A-Fair plus a one-time, all day free parking pass for $29. Order online at LagunaBeachPassport.com.
Blessing of Artists Ceremony Returns Friday
All are invited to attend a non-denominational prayer service on Friday, May 31, at 7 p.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Church Laguna Beach, 1042 Temple Terrace. The event recognizes the talents and gifts that Laguna’s artists share with prayer and blessings. An outdoor reception will follow. For more information, call Angela Ordway at 949-510-6930.
Laguna Playhouse Announces Final Show of Season
“Harvey,” written by Mary Chase and directed by Andrew Barnicle, returns to Laguna Playhouse on Sunday, June 2, starring French Stewart and Vanessa Clair Stewart. The show will open on Sunday, June 2, at 5:30 p.m. and will run through Sunday, June 16.
It is a spring afternoon at the Dowd family home when Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey, a 6-and-a-half-foot tall rabbit, to guests at his sister Veta’s society luncheon. Horrified that the embarrassing family secret is now exposed, Veta decides to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium, but a mistake is made when Veta is committed rather than Elwood.
Performances will be Wednesdays through Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 1 p.m. There will be added performances on Tuesday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, June 9, at 5:30 p.m.; and Thursday, June 13, at 2 p.m. There will be Talk-Backs following the performances on Saturday, June 8, at 2 p.m. and Thursday, June 13, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $60-$85 and can be purchased online at lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling 949-497-2787.
ART4KIDS Receives Foundation Grant
The Festival of Arts Foundation has awarded $2,000 to ART4KIDS, Inc. to provide art materials for Laguna Beach children in distress. Founded in 2001, ART4KIDS, donates art materials to Laguna Beach nonprofits that aid children. This year’s grant funds will be used to provide art materials to Waymakers Teen Shelter, Even Start Boys & Girls Club preschool, Laguna Beach Community Clinic, Laguna Art Museum’s children’s program and Laguna Food Pantry.
The value of the program, which has helped 50,000 children—ill, hospitalized, abused, orphaned, or homeless—is supported by research showing visual art to be one of the most effective modalities for processing trauma.
“ART4KIDS serves children at more than 50 Orange County social service agencies each year. We are striving to meet the demand for donated art materials,” said Pam Schader, founder of the nonprofit. “The message of ART4KIDS is that art is a life skill available to all at difficult times. Therefore, we hope to increase our capacity to include ‘to go’ artpacks for the teen clients at the Waymakers shelter to take with them when they leave. We currently supply one Laguna agency with 45 artpacks per year but they have expressed their need for 250 per week.”
ART4KIDS, Inc. welcomes donors and volunteers to assemble artpacks, work at art booths and workshops, make handmade cards, and identify children in distress. Learn more at www.art4kidsinc.org.
Dual Exhibit Comes to JoAnne Artman Gallery
JoAnne Artman Gallery, 326 North Coast Highway, is proud to present “Flirting with Abstraction.” Referring to the break-up of realism, this dual exhibition brings together artists Anna Kincaide and Matt Devine, who have used the language of abstraction to express ideas and emotions through the creation and destruction of conventional line, scale, and form. To meet the artists at an Art Walk reception from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, RSVP to 949-510-5481 by June 1.
Kincaide’s stylized figurative paintings showcase the idea of ambiguity between our bodies, identities and thoughts. Devine’s sculptures in steel, aluminum and bronze stand in perfect balance as they convey a feeling of aerial lightness that contrasts the materials they are made with.
Tie One on at City Hall
The Artist Fund at Festival of Arts invites the public to a reception at Laguna Beach City Hall, 505 Forest Avenue, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. during Art Walk on Thursday, June 6. Exhibits include a Tie-One-On Retrospective, featuring 40 neckties decorated by Festival exhibitors circa 1999-2005. Also on display are 35 Art-To-Go pieces by current exhibitors, under the theme Full Circle. Visitors may cast votes for favorite works and qualify for a free prize drawing. The exhibit celebrates the organization’s 20th anniversary and runs through June 27 during regular City Hall hours. For more information, visit TheArtistsFund-FoA.org or call 949-612-1949.
New Artist Joins Avran Gallery
Avran Fine Art, 540 South Coast Highway, welcomes kinetic stainless steel sculptor Gary Traczyk to the gallery. The South Florida native is a firefighter and paramedic and learned the art form in college from a friend’s father. He attended New World School of the Arts, holds two bachelor’s degrees and three associate’s degrees. He studied theater and minored in art.
Traczyk believes in giving back through art and is often a guest teacher at Palmetto Middle School through its Visiting Artists program. He also opened the new season of HGTV’s television show “That’s Clever.” His sculptures are inspired by spiritual emotion and expression. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
LGOCA Adds New Work by Doering
“Topsail” a stainless steel sculpture by Randy Doering measuring 80 inches by 18 inches, has arrived at Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art, 611 South Coast Highway. The piece can swivel on its 24-inch by 24-inch base and can be seen daily, along with his other works, from noon to 6 p.m.
