Mastering a Summer Art Form

Putting together the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach is no Sunday walk in the park. Take, for instance, “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” Where does the Georges Seurat painting end and the live models begin? That’s part of the fun with the “living pictures,” for which famous works of art are craftily re-created year after year as life-size portraits with real people.

But the pageant is just one of the attractions at the Orange County beach town’s Festival of Arts, which begins Friday and runs through Aug. 31. About 160 painters, sculptors, ceramists, jewelers, photographers and other artists will display and sell their work throughout the summer festival, accompanied by jazz and ethnic bands and chamber ensembles. Art workshops, junior exhibits, demonstrations and free art tours are also planned.

The festival grounds are open daily 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Admission is $3; seniors and students, $2. The pageant is staged nightly (8:30 p.m.) beginning Sunday at Irvine Bowl Park, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tickets are $15 to $40. Pageant tickets: (800) 487-3378. City shuttle buses run continuously, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Festival information: (714) 494-1145.