ARTS NOTES : Talking, Touching and Touring Along With ‘Morphosis’

The Laguna Art Museum will hold a lecture series, architectural tour and parent-and-child workshop in conjunction with its exhibit “Morphosis: Making Architecture,” on view March 29 through June 9.

On April 11, Kenneth Breisch of the department of history and theory at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-Arch) in Santa Monica will speak on the “myth” of Southern California and its influence on regional architecture. On April 18, David Gebhard, professor of art history at UC Santa Barbara, will offer historical commentary on the work of major Southern California architects Rudolf Schindler and Richard Neutra.

On May 9, Thom Mayne of Morphosis and his partner Michael Rotondi will talk about the firm’s work featured in the exhibit. Finally, on May 16, architecture critic Aaron Betsky, author of “Violated Perfection,” will offer commentary on the Morphosis approach.

All lectures will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the museum, at 307 Cliff Drive in Laguna Beach. General admission is $24 for the series, and $90 for the series plus a tour April 28 of Los Angeles spaces designed by Morphosis, led by the firm’s archivist Janet Sager. The tour, limited to 38 people, stops for lunch (included in the ticket price) at 72 Market Street, a Venice restaurant designed by Morphosis.

Reservations for the lecture series and tour must be made by April 15; call the museum’s education department at (714) 494-8971. Single lecture tickets will be sold at the door, subject to availability, for $10 apiece.

A hands-on workshop for 8- to 12-year-olds and their parents will be offered April 13 from 11 am. to 1 p.m. Steve Kielty, a Sci-Arch graduate, will lead the session, which costs $5 per person. Reservations are required: call the education department at (714) 494-8971.

IRVINE--Pete Bixler has won the Art of Irvine Contest held by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. He received a $500 honorarium at a private City Hall reception Thursday night for his work, “Spirit of Irvine,” chosen from 26 entries in a contest open to all who live or work in Irvine. Poster reprints of Bixler’s design, which incorporates 12 motifs symbolizing different aspects of the city, will be for sale at the Chamber of Commerce office and at gift shops in Irvine hotels.

Jurors included Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan; Stan Wolcott, president of the Chamber of Commerce; Phyllis Lutjeans, curator of the UC Irvine Fine Arts Gallery; Jenny Monbouquette , corporate arts consultant; Michelle Carter of Market Art; Roger Clayton, executive vice president of Sedgwick James Inc., and artist Tracy Taylor.

COSTA MESA--Performance artist Rachel Rosenthal will speak on a panel about ecology May 11 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Orange Coast College. The discussion is one in a yearlong series of events held in conjunction with last year’s Earth Day coordinated by Artists Contributing to the Solution, a group of environmentally concerned artists. Also on the panel will be a Jungian analyst, a scientist/artist and a professor of American Indian studies. It will be preceded by “Despair and Empowerment,” a workshop on ecological activism, from 9 a.m. to noon. Admission to each session is $5. Reservations are required. Information: (714) 549-4989 or (714) 891-5555.