In The Arts

‘Liquescent’ to make splash at Art Star Awards

“Liquescent,” a short art film/documentary made by Roark Gourley, will premiere at the sixth annual Art Star Awards, to be presented by the Laguna Beach Alliance for the Arts (LBaa) on April 1.

The film took a year to make. It is a series of vignettes brought to life on the screen with “innovative modern media techniques,” resulting in a “spectacle for the senses,” according to a news release.

Established in 2002, LBaa is a partnership among 20-plus groups and institutions that have united to advocate for the local arts.

One of LBaa’s members, [seven-degrees], provided Gourley with financial backing for his project through a grant. He is the first recipient of this grant, according to the release.

“It is truly inspiring when a community can come together, even in hard times, to support the arts and artists,” Gourley said in a prepared statement.

“Through the Seven Degrees of Inspiration Grant and the Laguna Beach Alliance for the Arts, we have been able to launch the treatment movie of ‘Liquescent,’ which will now be used to create further funding,” he added. “‘Liquescent’ is an aesthetic dream that would have never launched without this kind of support.”

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Upcoming LOCA classes with McGee

Laguna Outreach for Community ARTS (LOCA) artist September McGee will be teaching a series of classes in March, starting Saturday with a pastel painting class for beginners at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, 20612 Laguna Canyon Road. The cost to register in advance for this class is $20 for adults and $15 for kids ages 6 and up.

Later this month, McGee will be giving classes at two outdoor locations. At Treasure Island beach, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. March 18, she will teach a watercolor class that will feature a docent-led tour of the beach’s tidepools, according to a news release from LOCA. The cost for this class is $35 for adults and $20 for children ages 5 and up.

And, either on March 22 or March 24, McGee with horticulturalist Ruben Flores will lead a Laguna Beach Botanicals art class at Heisler Park. The cost for the class is $25 for people ages 16 and older.

Advance registration for all these classes is required by sending an email to LOCAarts@yahoo.com, going towww.LOCAarts.org or calling (949) 363-4700.

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Free family day at LAM

Families will get special free admission to the Laguna Art Museum this Sunday.

LAM’s free family day is being presented by KMEX Univision 34 in conjunction with the “Victor Hugo Zayas: Mi Obra” exhibition now being shown at the Laguna Beach museum, according to a news release.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., families will have free admission, and children can take part in art projects from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., when a tour of the “Mi Obra” show with Zayas is scheduled.

The museum is at 307 Cliff Drive. For more information, call (949) 494-8971 or go visit https://www.lagunaartmuseum.org.

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Elsewhere in Laguna...

A Dimestories Open Mic reading session for prose writers will happen at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Salt Fine Art Gallery, 1492 S. Coast Hwy. Everyone is welcome but not required to give three-minute readings of their prose. The sign-up time for the event is 5 p.m.

On Wednesday night, as part of its Jazz Wednesdays Winter Series program, Laguna Beach Live! will present the Graham Dechter Trio, with Los Angeles-born guitarist Graham Dechter.

The show in the Laguna Room at the Hotel Laguna, 425 S. Coast Hwy., will start at 6 p.m. The cover charge is $12 online and $15 at the door, according to a news release. Reservations can be made by going to https://www.lagunabeachlive.org.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, the Laguna Beach Film Society will screen “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within,” Brazil’sentry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th annual Academy Awards, at the South Coast Cinema, 162 S. Coast Hwy.

General admission tickets cost $15 at the door, and $20 for food and wine hour at 6 p.m. at the Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive. Film Society members get in free.

And, on the evenings of March 16 and 17, as part of its 15th season, the No Square Theatre will present “MORE OR LOESSER: The Music of Frank Loesser,” the community theater’s second installment in its American Songbook Concert Series.

The 7:30 p.m. shows will be performed at Legion Hall, 384 Legion St. Advance seats cost $20 each, and can be booked by going to https://www.nosquare.org.

—Imran Vittachi