Art in the mind of a child

The Laguna Beach Library and Laguna Art Museum will celebrate the power of art this month as part of the annual Orange County Imagination Celebration.

This year’s festival will feature more than 100 events throughout the county; closer to home, the library will hold a free storytelling night and the museum will offer hands-on art workshops.

At the library’s Flights of Fantasy, 7 p.m. April 22, storyteller Lorrie Oshatz will interpret folk tales and fables, weaving comedy and theater into literature.

Free parking is available; the library is at 363 Glenneyre. The event is appropriate for all ages.

Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, will celebrate the “Imagination Powers the Planet” theme with their free Let’s Paint the Planet Green party, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 26.

The event theme explores how art and nature transform the way we think about the environment.

Hands-on workshops for kids ages 5 to 11 will be led by Laguna Outreach for Community Arts members, and will use recycled materials for the construction of eco-friendly art projects.

Participating arts include Colleen Corbett, the creator of the popular Lagoonies animal caricatures, who will teach kids how to make “Colleen’s Cootie Bugs” using cardboard tubes and recycled materials; Sawdust exhibitor Suzette Rosenthal, whose “Creative Collage” station will allow kids to make abstract compositions with colorful bits of paper; Sawdust exhibitor Reem Khalil, a mixed media and fiber artist who will show kids how to recycle materials into cool art pieces; and Mike Tauber, an arts commissioner and local artist who will teach foam sculpting.

The museum will also put on an art treasure hunt, face painting, performances from the Honors Choirs of El Morro and Top of the World Elementary Schools and Gallimaufry Performing Arts, refreshments and treats.

The Laguna Art Museum Arts Council made a donation to keep the event free.

For more information on the countywide Imagination Celebration, visit www.ocimaginationcelebration.org.