Laguna Arts Festivals Show Their Drawing Power on 30th Birthday

With a Dixieland band setting the mood, the Sawdust Festival opened Thursday for its 30th season.

“Everything’s fresh and new. The artists are excited,” spokeswoman Theresa Marino said as the arts-and-crafts fair’s first visitors of the day strolled onto the grounds.

The Art-A-Fair festival next door, also celebrating its 30th year, opened to the public Thursday too, after a private Wednesday night preview.

“I think we had the best first night we’ve ever had,” said Sally Goldberg, the Art-A-Fair’s vice president. “The economy is doing better, and I think people are becoming more interested in buying and seeing artwork.”

The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters open across the street on July 7.

The two festivals that later became known as the Sawdust Festival and the Art-A-Fair came into being after a group of disgruntled artists seeking a place to display their work apart from the Festival of Arts began setting up easels on a dirt lot in the 300 block of North Coast Highway. The artists tossed sawdust onto the ground to protect their work from dust, giving birth to the name: Sawdust Festival.

“We were the lunatic fringe for sure . . . when we started this thing on the lot out here,” said Dion Wright, a metal sculptor who at 58 is one of the Sawdust Festival’s pioneers. “It’s grown up and become a legitimate forum, a survivor in a very tough game.”

Historians differ somewhat regarding precisely how and why that group split, but some of the artists wanted to continue a juried show, while a more rebellious and free-spirited group preferred a more unstructured option.

So, some of the artists packed up their sawdust and moved to 935 Laguna Canyon Road, the site of the current Sawdust Festival. After moving about five times, the group that had become known as the Art-A-Fair wound up next door.

In some ways, Wright said, the Sawdust Festival remains as it always was--a tightly knit community of artists determined to continue a celebration that includes building their own display booths each year.

In other ways it has changed. The artists’ initial spirit of rebellion has been tempered over the past three decades, he said, while the artwork has evolved.

“The pressure of the marketplace competition has taken the place of the jury,” Wright said. “Everybody’s getting better all the time because they have to, to get people to want their product.”

The Sawdust is considered an arts and crafts festival, while both the Festival of Arts and the Art-A-Fair are juried art shows that emphasize fine arts. The Festival of Arts features original art only, while the Art-A-Fair allows the sale of reproductions.

Sawdust Festival exhibitor Wright said the difference between the neighboring art shows is that “we’re more experimental and craftier; they’re more coffee table and upscale.”

City officials and business leaders say the three festivals, all perched at the edge of the downtown area, are a boon to business.

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said he does not know how much in sales tax revenue the festivals generate for the city, but there is no question they are an economic asset, drawing visitors who spend money elsewhere in town, including feeding the city’s parking meters.

Sande [cq] St. John, co-president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the art shows actually kick off the summer season for the city and the benefit radiates throughout Laguna Beach.

“Once those festivals open, that’s it, that is the summer,” St. John said Thursday. “The town has to welcome it because it’s a big boon to the whole town; everybody benefits, south and north.”

Spokespeople from the three festivals say they had a combined attendance last year of about 650,000 people.

On the other hand, the crowds don’t make life any easier for motorists, who during these festival months must navigate roadways that are even more clogged than usual.

“It’s so crowded here with visitors going to the festivals that local people don’t like to come into town,” St. John said. “The festivals are busy from morning to night.”

General admission to the Sawdust Festival is $5; seniors, $4; children 6 to 12, $1. Youngsters 5 and younger are admitted free if accompanied by an adult. The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, closing at 6 p.m. on July 4 and Aug. 25.

The Art-A-Fair also runs daily through Aug. 25. Its hours are Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Art-A-Fair charges no admission from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Otherwise, the general admission charge is $3.50; seniors and members of the military, $2.50; and children younger than 12, free.

Both festivals include activities for children.