Beach art installation approved

Sand will be the medium for artwork at the Laguna Art Museum’s Art and Nature event in November.

The Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday approved the proposed “sand art” component of the weekend event, which will also include commissioned art, a keynote address by historian Kevin Starr, lectures, panel discussions, performances and children’s programs.

“We are hoping the event will grow over the years,” said museum Executive Director Malcolm Warner. “Artists will be coming together with scientists in an interdisciplinary dialogue.”

Artist Jim Denevan will create temporary art on the sand at Main Beach, the sand area at Broadway terminus on Coast Highway and the bowling greens in Heisler Park.

Denevan will use sticks and rakes to draw multiple circles in various sizes in the sand stretching from one end of Main Beach to the other.

Volunteers will surround the circles with small solar lanterns to provide nighttime illumination. Those involved said there will be no danger of fire, and precautions will be taken to prevent the lanterns from being swept away by high tides. All the lanterns will be removed Nov. 10.

“This could be the most exciting and magical part of the project,” Warner said.

Denevan will make periodic repairs to the sand art if it is disturbed as expected by beachgoers walking on it. The design will gradually disappear at the conclusion of the event.

The art will not impede public access to the beach or adversely affect the environment, according to a staff report. Warner said Denevan’s project will not disrupt beach activities.

Most of the installation will be performed the morning of Nov. 9, although Denevan is scheduled to do some preliminary work the previous evening, according to a draft program supplied by the museum.

The project has been vetted by the city and deemed consistent with goals to increase visitor activities by developing special events.

Warner told the city in a letter that Deneven’s “drawing” on Main Beach would reach a wide audience. It will be viewable from the Boardwalk and higher vantage points.

Art and nature are overarching issues in Laguna, said Councilman Robert Whalen.