In The Arts

Local arts center project launched

Laguna Beach native Gaylen Corbett and her business partner Virginia Repasky are working to create a community arts center in South Orange County.

The two founded the OC Arts Center in 2010 and have launched a fundraising drive, according to Corbett.

Corbett is a graphic designer who grew up in Laguna Beach, and Repasky is an arts professional on the business side.

“There are hundreds of artists living in this area, yet there’s no one central location where they can come together to work, collaborate with other artists and share their talents with the community,” Corbett said in a news release.

They hope to build a 10,000-square-foot facility with enough space for art studios and classes and community art events.

According to Corbett, a number of Laguna Beach artists have come aboard, including plein air painter Cynthia Brittain, who is scheduled to teach a workshop through the OC Arts Center in March, and former Festival of Arts ceramicist Monica Dunham, who will lead the ceramics department.

Corbett owns Gaylen Corbett Design, a firm that specializes in website design, and Repasky is the owner of Art Management, a firm that represents artists on a national level.

The OC Arts Center is considering several locations in San Juan Capistrano for the facility, Corbett said. The group is seeking to raise $5,000 in startup funds by March 8.

For more information, visit https://www.ocartstudio.org or call Corbett at (949) 248-5263.

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Harpist Leah Panos to perform

Leah Panos will perform on the harp in a free chamber music concert from 3 to 4 p.m. March 6 at Laguna College of Art & Design, 2222 Laguna Canyon Road. The eclectic program, sponsored by First Sundays, a project of Laguna Beach Live!, includes music from Debussy, Puccini, Fats Waller and others.

Panos is an artist-in-residence at San Diego State University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in music performance and was honored with the Outstanding Graduate Award in 2006, according to Laguna Beach Live. She has performed in groups and as a solo artist.

For more information, visit https://www.lagunabeachlive.org or call (949) 715-9713.

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Collectors’ Council heads to Ojai

Art lovers who belong to Laguna Art Museum can join the museum’s Contemporary Collectors’ Council on an overnight, two-day art trip to Ojai and Santa Barbara from April 9 to 10.

The group will visit artists’ studios, private collections and museums, according to Johanna Felder, a member of the Collectors’ Council.

Travel will be by Amtrak train from Irvine to Ventura on April 9, with a chartered bus transporting the group to Ojai for art viewing and lunch. The bus will then take the group to a hotel in Santa Barbara, and the tour will continue on April 10, with a 2 p.m. departure and arrival back in Irvine at 6:10 p.m.

The trip costs $290 to $390 per person, including round-trip train fare, charter bus, two lunches, all activities and events, according a news release.

Dinner and lodging is not included, but rooms at a discount rate have been reserved, she added.

Laguna Art Museum Curator of Exhibitions Grace Kook-Anderson will accompany the group.

Those who wish to attend must make a $100 deposit by March 5. For more information, call Felder at (949) 497-4525.

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South African film screening

Laguna Beach’s Friday Flicks at the Forum series will end at 7 p.m. March 4 with a free showing of the documentary, “We Are Together,” about a group of young singers of the Agape Choir at a South African orphanage, according to a news release issued by Sian Poeschl.

The showing will take place at the Forum Theatre on the Festival of Arts grounds, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach.

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Loft begins new workshop series

Mary Gulino’s My Artist Loft is beginning a new series of six-week classes the week of March 7. Classes include Beginning Digital Photography, Intermediate Digital Photography and Adobe Photoshop Elements. One-day workshops and individual lessons are also available, according to a news release.

Gulino will offer a preview of the classes from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the United Methodist Church, 21632 Wesley Drive, Laguna Beach. Gulino will discuss the technical workings of the digital camera, and give tips on taking photographs and show examples of photographs that have been manipulated using Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Advance reservations are required by calling (949) 371-3375 or e-mailing Mary@MyArtistLoft.com. For more information, visit https://www.MyArtistLoft.com.

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‘Art Squared’ reception before Art Walk

Laguna Outreach for Community Arts is holding a reception from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave., for its “Art Squared” exhibition of works created by local community leaders under the tutelage of LOCA artists.

The works will be on view from Thursday through March 17, according to a news release issued to the press by LOCA.

For the Art Squared program, art instructors were paired with local citizens and business owners, primarily non-artists, to make 45 artworks in a square shape, including prints, ceramics, glass, watercolors and oils.

Teaching the classes were Tom Swimm, Jacquie Moffatt, Roger Folk, Sherry Bullard, Mada Leach, Sherry Salito-Forsen, Betty Haight, Linda Velasco, Valerie Gorrell, Carolyn Machado and Sue Linder. Works were created by Laguna Nursery owner Ruben Flores, gallery owner Peter Blake, blogger Cynthia Jenkins, Visitors and Conference Bureau Director Judy Bijlani, among others. The works were donated to LOCA, for use in another event later in the month.

For more information, visit LOCAarts.org, e-mail LOCAarts@yahoo.com, or call (949) 363-4700.

—Compiled by Cindy Frazier