On Thursday, July 11, Live! at the Museum will present the unique and dynamic Firebird Balalaika Quintet.
Performing on the round-bodied domra, triangular-shaped balalaikas, and the bayan/accordion, Firebird’s repertoire ranges from traditional Russian, Ukrainian, and Eastern European songs to well-known classics and original compositions. Expect lyrical melodies echoing from the steppes of Russia, energetic rhythms from the Carpathians, fiery Gypsy dances, chimes of Moscow cathedrals, and harmonies of the Caucasus.
Live! at the Museum, a special collaboration of Laguna Beach Live! and Laguna Art Museum, takes place the second Thursday of each month from 7-8 p.m. The concert is free to museum members and to non-members with museum admission.
Pre-reservations are available online through the museum’s website, or at 949.494.8971 x 203. These seats are held until 6:50 p.m. Additional seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information about the series, visit www.lagunabeachlive.org or call 949-715-9713.
Sandstone Takes Part in Saturday Art Walk
The work of eight Southern California artists, including abstract expressionist oil paintings by Jong Ro and non-objective abstract paintings by Ann Kim, is on display at Sandstone Gallery, 384 North Coast Highway. The exhibits “Stream of Consciousness” by Jong Ro and “Dreamscapes” by Ann Kim will be featured on a special Art Walk Day, Saturday, July 6.
Book Signing with Artist David Solomon
Forest & Ocean Gallery will hold a special book signing event for the release of “David Solomon: 50 Years an Artist,” on July 11 from 6-8 p.m. Meet the artist and the author, his daughter Gaylen Solomon Corbett. The book chronicles Solomon’s career from his early beginnings in East L.A. to his discovery of Laguna Beach in the early 1970s, through to the present day. Plein air history, photos and stories by other local artists are also included. Selected works by David Solomon will be on display and for sale. Forest & Ocean Gallery is located at 480 Ocean Avenue. For more information, call 949-371-3313.
No Square Theatre Announces Summer Shows
Kids Take the Stage in ‘Bugsy Malone’
Child actors will take over the stage at No Square Theatre when the gangster movie spoof, “Bugsy Malone,” opens on Friday, July 12. The guns are fake, but the fun is real in this parody based on the book by Alan Parker, with music by Paul Williams. The story loosely draws from people and events in the prohibition era, including characters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran. No Square youth education director Ella Wyatt directs Bugsy Malone, with music direction by Susan Thoren. Rebecca Butkivich and Rylee Bullington are the choreographers. The show stars Will Briggs, Lula Buckle, Nico Camacho, Grace Gilchrist and Jonah Goldstein. Performances are Friday, Saturday, Sunday – July 12, 13, 14 and 19, 20, 21. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7 p.m. and Sundays are at 2 p.m. Children’s tickets, $12, and adult tickets, $25-$35, are available online at nosquare.org.
‘Heathers the Musical’ Coming to No Square
Tickets are also on sale for “Heathers the Musical,” opening at No Square Theatre on Friday, July 26. The darkly comical rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy, is produced by Bree Burgess Rosen and directed by Joe Lauderdale and Ella Wyatt, with choreography by Ellen Prince. The show plays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 26-28 and Aug. 2, 3, 4. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $35. The show deals with bullying, teen suicide and other themes not suitable for young children. It’s R-rated for mature audiences. No Square Theatre is in the Legion Hall at 384 Legion Street.
LCAD Exhibits Work from Artist in Residence Workshop
Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) partnered with Dawson Cole Fine Art to hold an exhibition celebrating Jim Lamb’s Summer Artist in Residence workshop at LCAD. The exhibition, Jim Lamb Summer Sessions, highlighted works by the artist, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA) and select students from LCAD. Rosemary Swimm, executive director of LPAPA, presented a historical perspective on the impact art has made throughout Laguna Beach and California’s history. The event took place at Dawson Cole Fine Art & Sculpture Garden, on Glenneyre Street in Laguna. “Thanks to our long partnership with Dawson Cole Fine Art, we are honored to bring a painter with such significant talent as Jim Lamb to LCAD as our Summer-Artist-In-Residence,” said LCAD President Jonathan Burke at the event on June 22.
During his residency, Lamb taught a two-week, plein air landscape course with more than 20 students painting in various locations throughout Laguna Beach. “It was not to be the goal of the class to produce finished works of art, but rather to be involved together in the process of solving problems during the creative process: from the viewing and selection of the subject through to the application of the paint to the canvas,” Lamb said.
Three LCAD students exhibited their work: Taylor Olives, an LCAD senior majoring in Game Art; Angelica Spears, 2018 LCAD BFA in Drawing & Painting alumna; and Laguna Beach resident Ray Weston, who is a regular participant in LCAD’s Community Education classes.
Lamb is currently a member of the Northwest Rendezvous Group of Artists, California Art Club, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, and Plein Air Painters of Washington. The Dawson Cole Fine Art Gallery represents his landscape paintings.
American sculptor Richard MacDonald, and Ariane MacDonald, principal of Dawson Cole Fine Art, are patrons of LCAD. Richard MacDonald teaches a semester-long master class and received an honorary doctorate from LCAD in 2015.
“We would like to thank LCAD who provided a unique opportunity to host renowned painter Jim Lamb…This experience gave many young, talented students inspiration from a mentor and a chance to advance their plein air skills in an historic context, which goes back to Laguna Beach’s beginnings,” said Ariane MacDonald.
Josh Sunga, an LCAD junior majoring in Game Art took the class. “I had taken a semester course on plein air painting, but I wanted to explore it further,” he said. “Game art is all about fantasy and your imagination, but painting en plein air challenged my skills.”
