In The Arts

Printmaking class for beginners

The Laguna Outreach for Community Arts on Saturday morning will put on a printmaking class for beginners at the Laguna Nursery.

The 9:30 to 11 a.m. class will revolve around California natives and succulents, which will be introduced to the students by horticulturalist Ruben Flores. Instructor Sheryl Seltzer, a printmaking specialist, will teach the class, LOCA officials said in a news release. LOCA is a nonprofit coalition of artists, art educators and advocates that promotes arts education for people in the Laguna Beach area.

Supplies will be included and students will be able to go home with a completed print, the release said. Advanced registration is compulsory for the session, which costs $25 per student ages 16 and older. Those who are interested in signing up can register by going to https://www.LOCAarts.org, by sending an email to LOCAarts@yahoo.com, or phoning (949) 363-4700.

The Laguna Nursery is at 1370 S. Coast Hwy.

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New shows at Soka University

Opening receptions for two new exhibitions at Soka University, including a photographic show highlighting the wilderness in and around Laguna, will take place on the evening of Jan. 26 at the Aliso Viejo campus.

The simultaneous receptions are scheduled from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Founders Hall Art Gallery at Soka, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo.

Ron Chilcote’s show, “The Laguna Wilderness: Images and Impressions” features photographs taken by him over a 15-year period in the local wilderness. In his artist’s statement, Chilcote said that many years of working in environmental conservation with the Laguna Greenbelt inspired him to put together the exhibit, which runs through May 11.

“As an activist photographer, I frequently take my camera into the field where it is possible to find peace and spirituality and to discover how to shape a commitment not only to preserving what is left of pristine nature but to finding the positive values of human existence,” according to Chilcote’s statement.

“My convictions have been shaped by personal experience, and my imagery seeks to capture the beauty that endures to the present...,” he went on.

Chilcote’s photographs will be shown on the gallery’s second floor, while the other art show, “Cathy Breslaw: Transitions,” will be displayed on the first floor. The show by Breslaw, who is a visual artist working in different genres, will also run through May 11.

“Making art has been a continuous thread throughout my life,” Breslaw said in her artist’s statement. “Punctuated by the joy and reverence I have for nature and a relentless curiosity about the world around me, my work combines painting, drawing and sculpture....”

Admission to both shows is free. For more information, go to https://www.soka.edu.

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Fourteen years of Art Walk

The First Thursdays Art Walk will mark its 14th anniversary during next month’s Art Walk in Laguna Beach, Art Walk officials said in a news release.

“If you haven’t been on the Art Walk in a while or never have been, dust off your walking shoes, join Laguna’s cultural art scene and help us celebrate,” Rebecca Barber, the president of First Thursdays Art Walk, said in a prepared statement, referring to the Art Walk coming up Feb. 2.

The Art Walk, scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m., as usual will offer free trolley rides around the circuit of galleries participating in the coordinated open house event. A pre-Art Walk event will take place at 5 p.m. that evening at City Hall, where an exhibit of paintings and artistic works from a trip to the British Isles by Laguna College of Art & Design students will be shown. City Hall is at 505 Forest Ave.

For a shuttle map and list of local galleries participating in the Art Walk, go to https://www.firstthursdaysartwalk.com.

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Public artists’ reception is Jan. 28

A public reception for 10 artists whose work is part of the “CARS” exhibition at the Wells Fargo Bank, at 260 Ocean Ave., Laguna Beach, will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 28, in the building’s second floor Community Art Project Gallery.

The artists taking part in the show are Bill Atkins, Bruce Barr, Bradford Salamon, Rick Graves, Tome Lamb, Mak Jacobucci, Rob Gage, Bill Drysdale, Mike Micklich and Gerald Schwartz, according to a news release.

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More art classes on tap

LOCA will also present a “Watercolor Workshop with Geri Medway” at the Susi Q gallery in Laguna Beach during the afternoons of the first two Wednesdays in February.

The two sessions will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 at Susi Q, which is at the Laguna Beach Community Center, 380 Third St. The classes for people ages 50 and older cost $30 for both sessions and include materials, according to a news release.

Students are encouraged to bring an old toothbrush.

To sign up for the classes, call Patty Quilter at (949) 464-9535.

—Imran Vittachi