LAGUNA BEACH : Artwork Stolen From Arts Festival

Thieves took a large, $1,600 painting from the Festival of Arts earlier this week, forcing officials to tighten security at the outdoor gallery.

Artists say the theft is the first time such a large painting has been taken from the festival, where thousands of pieces of art are on display.

Artist Paige Oden said she was stunned to learn that her uninsured 3-foot by 4-foot rendition of the Madonna and Child had vanished sometime between midnight and 7 a.m. Monday.

“It’s like double whammy bad karma because it’s a religious work they stole,” Oden said Thursday. “I feel they just knocked the wind out of my fun for the summer, not to mention my wallet.”

Festival officials met with about a dozen artists Wednesday to assure them that security has been increased around the 161 exhibits, which include paintings, ceramics, jewelry and photographs.

“This sort of incident is very unusual,” festival spokesman Tim Wilcox said Thursday. “These grounds are gated. There are (locked) turnstiles up front and there’s always someone there. We’re frankly puzzled.”

While praising festival security as “top notch,” artist Pat Sparkuhl, a festival exhibitor since 1979, said the incident has made artists feel more vulnerable.

“I think what we’re realizing now is the festival is not immune to what’s going on in society,” he said.

Wilcox said security guards are now making more frequent sweeps of the gated grounds, especially during off-hours. Five or six guards are on the grounds at a time, he said.

Oden said she was especially saddened by the loss because the painting, entitled “Madonna and Child in Thought” was part of a body of work she created in response to the unexpected death last year of her father, Richard Oden, who had been chairman of the art department at Cal State Long Beach.

“The fact that someone has it, that someone’s hanging it up,” she said. “I would do anything to get it back.”

Created with acrylics, colored pencils, pastels and gold leaf, the artwork depicts a mother in profile, eyes downcast, with a child on her back. The child is looking straight at the viewer. It was framed and covered with glass.

Police say they have no suspects in the case.