Artist Suspended From Sawdust Festival

Robert Wyland, the Laguna Beach marine artist known for his “whaling wall” murals, was suspended from exhibiting in the Sawdust Festival for “disciplinary reasons,” a festival official said Saturday.

Festival rules require that everything an artist sells be made by that artist, media relations coordinator Tina Arana said. In Wyland’s case, she said, there were problems “with him proving that he had actually made” jewelry that was on sale last year in his booth.

“We suspended him for this year. He’s on probation next year,” said Suzanne Esko, secretary of the board of directors of the artist-run summer festival that opened Saturday in Laguna Beach. “In our mind, it’s not for public debate or discussion.”

Wyland said his suspension--voted last September by the festival’s nine-member board and upheld Tuesday by the grievance committee--stemmed from charges that he did not make the gold whale- and dolphin-shaped charms sold last summer in the booth where he also sold whale and dolphin paintings.

“They have no proof,” said Wyland, who has shown his marine paintings at the Sawdust Festival the past six years. “I have every single drawing of every single piece of gold I did.”

He said repeated attempts to demonstrate his abilities were rejected because of “politics”--a personal vendetta by board members who may be jealous of his success.

Nevertheless, he said he removed the jewelry from his booth last summer after the complaints because “I didn’t want the headaches.”

Wyland has painted 15 murals called “whaling walls,” including one in Japan. He said he once sold a painting at the festival for $20,000 and has had “$30,000 days” at the Sawdust. “Most people don’t have $30,000 shows,” he said.

“People say, hey, if someone comes in here and spends $10,000 on a Wyland, they won’t spend it on something else.”

He said his lawyer will file a lawsuit Tuesday against the Sawdust Festival and its directors.

As a last resort, he said he will ask for an emergency general meeting of the festival’s 200 artist members to vote on whether to allow him in the show.