New Laguna committee will explore designs for public art at Village Entrance

Public art may be coming to highlight Laguna Beach’s Village Entrance project.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to create a committee to look into designs and concepts for public artworks at the project site, in what’s currently the Forest/Laguna Canyon parking lot off Laguna Canyon Road near Forest Avenue.

The five-person committee will be composed of Mayor Kelly Boyd, Councilman Bob Whalen, two city arts commissioners and a planning commissioner.

The council also appropriated an additional $100,000 toward the effort, bringing the total to $180,000, which will fund an artist honorarium.

City officials envision the site containing a new multiuse facility, a kind of outdoor bandstand or plaza capable of hosting performances and small events.

The Arts Commission has recommended narrowing the artist candidates who have large-scale, public art experience to three: Mark Fornes, Arne Quinze and Janet Echelman. The city doesn’t plan to invite bids from the general public, though city officials said the chosen artist may not be one of those three.

Some Laguna residents expressed worry about large-scale art in the Village Entrance.

Rosemary Boyd of Village Laguna called the effort “poor prioritizing.” She worried about installing an oversize “shiny new project” by one of the recommended “high-powered artists.”

“We have artists in town,” she said. “Why aren’t we using town artists to do these things?”

BRADLEY ZINT is a contributor to Times Community News.