BEST BETS Thursday 7/12

11am

Art

Catch painters at work outdoors throughout town today during the third annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational, a seven-day art competition featuring 50 contemporary American artists. They share a long tradition with California Impressionist painters such as Edgar Payne, Granville Redmond and William Wendt, painting landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes on site. Activities tied to the competition include a public art forum tonight called “Sideways” with artist Wayne Thiebaud and art scholar Gene Cooper at the Laguna Art Museum; a two-hour Quick Draw contest; a gala dinner and awards ceremony on Saturday at the museum; and, a public exhibit of the plein air paintings on Sunday.

* 3rd annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational, citywide and at Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. “Sideways” program, 8 p.m. today, free. Quick Draw, 10 a.m.-noon Friday, free, Heisler Park, next to the museum. Gala dinner and awards, 6-10 p.m. Saturday, $125 to $135 per person. Exhibit, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, free.

Pop

8:30pm

The influential riot grrrl group Bratmobile broke up (onstage!) in 1994, but the trio is back in full gear following its 1998 reunion, with the current album “Ladies, Women and Girls,” adding keyboards and other new touches to the aggro foundation. Joining B-Mob in Southern Cal is DeFacto, the “dub” side project of At the Drive-In’s Omar Rodriguez and Cedric Bixler.

* Bratmobile, with DeFacto, Chain Reaction, 1652 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim. 8:30 p.m. $8. (714) 635-6067. Also Saturday at the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $8. (310) 276-6168.