Six decades of Sawdust: Festival opens with energy, art and community
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Guests passed through the gates of the Sawdust Art Festival and into another world on Tuesday for the invite-only preview night, reconnecting with old friends and greeting new ones at the festival best known for showcasing the town’s local artists.
The foot traffic queued down Frontage Road, taking those assembled away from the downtown area and into a central hub for the creatives of Laguna Beach.
A tradition of art appreciation, shopping and wanderlust on the festival grounds turns 60 years old this summer, longtime exhibitors still around to tell the tales of time.
Jay Grant, president of the festival, stationed at a booth with his wife, Nikki, a jewelry artist and founding member of the Sawdust, marveled at the atmosphere unfolding under the night sky. People packed the grounds, conversation broke out everywhere, and entertainment included aerial dancers and a live musical performance by local band Great North Special.
Craftsmanship extended beyond the items for sale, evident in the towering booths in which artists put their work on display. Steps away from where he stood, Grant could see a flying saucer set aglow by the work of mixed media artist Dr. Neon, himself dressed as a robot from the 1951 film “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
Every year he has exhibited in the festival, Dr. Neon has built his booth around a movie. Some past themes include “Nacho Libre,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Harry Potter,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Ghostbusters,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Pink Flamingos.”
“The Sawdust is like ‘Animal Farm,’” Dr. Neon said. “Some animals are just created more equally than others. I ask people, ‘When you were a kid, did you read “Lord of the Rings?”’ ‘Oh yeah, I read “Lord of the Rings.”’ I said, ‘Did you read “Lord of the Flies?”’ ‘Maybe.’ I go, ‘Well, I lived it.’ I didn’t have to read it. We’re tribal here.
“We always try to outdo [ourselves], but this year has been a spectacular year. Everybody really came out and built some phenomenal booths.”
Is it the energy of a milestone anniversary or the individuality of the artists leading to the over-the-top booths being constructed? Grant believes it could be both.
“A lot of the artists have built two-story booths, have put extra effort in, have given their heart and soul to create an artist village here at the Sawdust that, I think, is better than ever,” Grant said.
Approximately 180 local artists exhibit at the Sawdust Art Festival, working in a variety of mediums that include ceramics, glass, jewelry, painting, sculpture and more.
The festival opened to the public on Friday, with the summer show set to run through Sept. 6. Gates open at 11 a.m. daily. The grounds remain open until 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, with extended hours until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Leading into last year’s Winter Fantasy show, the area experienced significant rainfall, causing the festival to bring in fresh sawdust in an effort to open its winter show on time.
Preceding the summer season, the festival avoided a different kind of disaster, as a CO2 canister explosion prompted evacuations on the grounds earlier this month.
“We had a CO2 canister that exploded next door to the Saloon,” Grant said. “It somehow rusted out in the bottom, and it became a missile projectile. It went through the roof of the Saloon, up through the room above it — through the floor, up through the roof of that room above it — 40 feet in the air, and landed in the middle of the Sawdust, and nobody was hurt. Thank God …
“It was quite an event that we had to evacuate the grounds for six hours. The government came in and made sure everything was good, and we’re OK now.”
Jesse Miller, a mixed media artist, submitted the winning design for the poster commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Sawdust. It focuses heavily on Laguna Beach’s defining geographic features, placing the canyon that is home to many exhibitors at the foreground with a bird’s-eye view of the Pacific Ocean beyond the greenbelt.
Inspired by the work of the late Bill Ogden, a surf artist who designed the 50th anniversary poster for the festival, Miller said a “magical” personal connection made it extra special to have his design chosen this year.
“I looked up to his artwork before I knew him, and then I got a chance to meet him in the mid ’90s, when I was doing surf graphics for the surf companies,” Miller said of his relationship with Ogden. “We got to know each other, and I had my own screen printing and art business at that time. He did some designs for us, and we got to know each other, and we just kind of became comrades in art, and in painting, and just in life, so it was really great to know him and work with him.
“I’ve always had that kind of psychedelic, early ’60s, ’70s vibe in my artwork, which he was a huge part of that influence.”
Amanda Kisiel, whose parents Mark and Sue Winner also exhibit at the Sawdust, is making her debut in the summer show. She exhibited the past three years at Winter Fantasy, but she added her first preview night was “better than expected.”
“It impresses me what kind of community the Sawdust has built here,” Kisiel said. “These artists are family, and everyone uplifts everyone else. Every time I see my parents go through it, and every [winter show], it’s a community effort to get the show up and running, and the energy is always so wonderful.”
Kisiel, who enjoys working in myriad mediums, said she resisted the urge to follow in her parents’ path for some time. She found her way “home,” to the grounds where she grew up coming.
“I would say my parents did give me a choice,” Kisiel said. “I fought it for a very long time. My first career was actually camera operating. I didn’t want to pick up a pen and create things, other than with my camera, for a very long time.
“The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized having an outlet, and that kind of joy that you can create something from nothing, it resonates.”
