In The Arts
Artist Open Studios season ending
The season’s final Artist Open Studios event in Laguna Beach will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, according to a memorandum of weekly updates from the city manager.
Twenty-eight local artists will open their studios to the public, as part of an Arts Commission program funded by the city of Laguna Beach and motels, hotels and inns around town.
There will be free parking and trolley service, departing from the Act V parking lot, 1900 Laguna Canyon Road.
In other city Arts Commission news, on Friday night the commission will screen the last film in its Friday Flicks at the Forum series. “The Red Chapel,” a film about a journalist, performer and comedian who ventures into North Korea, will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Festival of Arts Forum Theatre, 650 Laguna Canyon Road.
Local residents Steve Chadima and Mark Porterfield funded the program, according to the city memorandum.
The Arts Commission also is taking applications for two different artistic competitions.
Through March 13, the commission is accepting pre-registrations for the “Art That’s Small at City Hall” competition. Artists can pre-register by e-mailing their completed application forms to spoeschl@lagunabeachcity.net.
Submitted works must be 12 inches or smaller, and created by artists who are Orange County residents. All pieces for the “Art That’s Small at City Hall” contest should be delivered between 9 and 11 a.m. by March 17 at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave.
Meanwhile, the commission is taking applications for its “2012 Banner Competition.”
Artists are invited to submit designs that are 4 inches by 16 inches, along with a resume, and samples of their previous work.
Winning artists will receive a $2,000 honorarium and a 4-by-16-inch banner that will adorn city lampposts during the summer.
For application forms and rules for both contests, go to the city’s website at https://www.lagunabeachcity.net.
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Laguna artists going to whale fest
At least six Laguna Beach artists will be showing their work in the 2012 ART in the PARK program during the 41st annual Dana Point Festival of Whales, which opens Saturday and runs through the weekend and March 10 and 11.
Laguna-based ceramics artist Robert Jones and 2-D artist Karen Talbot, who makes colored pencil fish, will only be appearing during the first weekend of the show, according to a list provided by festival organizers. Meanwhile, Laguna painter Gregory Lincoln will only be showing his mini paintings at Dana Point on March 10 and 11.
Three other local artists — blown glass specialists Dawn Mariko Spurlock and Muffin Spencer Devlin, and driftwood artist Cary Holt — will be showing their work both weekends.
According to Diane Farney, one of the ART in the PARK organizers, La Jolla-based Rob Baumgart, will be making his first appearance at the Dana Point festival, where he will be showing his whale and turtle pieces that he has crafted out of hoods and other car parts.
Two other Laguna residents have leading roles in organizing the festival: Penny Elia is the festival’s overall coordinator and artist Jackie Gallagher is coordinating the ART in the PARK program.
For more information about the festival, including whale-watching excursions at sea, go to the official website at https://www.fesivalofwhales.org, or call (888) 440-4039.
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In other Laguna arts news...
The local branch of the American Assn. of University Women (AAUW) will host its 25th annual Literary Luncheon on March 17 at the Surf & Sand Resort, 1555 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach.
Four noted women writers — Heidi W. Durrow, Rachel Kushner, Maile Meloy and Danzy Senna — will be the keynote speakers.
Durrow is the author of the novel “The Girl Who Fell from the Sky,” winner of the 2008 Bellwether Prize for Fiction.
Kushner’s novel, “Telex from Cuba,” was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award.
The New York Times named Meloy’s “Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It,” a collection of stories, as one of its 10 Best Books of 2009.
Senna is the author of several books. Her first novel, Caucasia (1998), earned her the Book of the Month Club’s Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction.
The luncheon will start at 11:45 a.m. and go till 2 p.m. Paid reservations postmarked by March 9 cost $80, and those postmarked after March 9 cost $85. The cost includes a $45 tax-deductible donation to the AAUW-Laguna Beach Foundation, which funds scholarships for area students.
Mail your check to Janette Mestre, 2240 Hillview Drive, Laguna Beach, CA 92651. For more information, contact event chair Diane Christopherson at (949) 497-3212, or go to aauw-lagunabeach.org.
Meanwhile, up Coast Highway, the retro band Flashback Heart Attack! will be playing at 9:30 p.m. Saturday nights through March at the White House Restaurant & Nightclub, starting this Saturday.
The White House is at 340 S. Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach.
—Imran Vittachi