In The Arts

Two new faces on LCAD board

The Laguna College of Art & Design’s board of trustees has elected two new members, Suzanne Chonette and Nancy Bushnell, officials announced this week.

Chonette graduated with a bachelor’s in 1990 from the Art Institute of Southern California, which later became LCAD, and she is a pastel and oil painter now showing at the Desert Art Center in Palm Springs, according to a news release from LCAD.

She also has been involved in important functions with organizations such as the American Heart Assn., the Guilds of the Performing Arts Center, Bowers Museum, Children’s Hospital of Orange County and the Assistance League of Santa Ana, the release noted.

For her part, Bushnell has a double-major bachelor’s in the humanities and Spanish from Pitzer College in Claremont, a teaching credential from USC, as well as a master’s in international management from the American Graduate School of Management in Glendale, Ariz., according to the release.

She has lived in Laguna Beach since 1976 and has sat on the Pitzer College board of directors and the boards of Human Options, Sally’s Fund and Laguna Art Museum. She and her late husband, David Bushnell, have also supported the Laguna Playhouse and the Friendship Shelter, the release said.

Bushnell now sits on the board of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

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LAM opens LCAD fine arts student exhibit

The Laguna Art Museum on Saturday opened an exhibition of representational art pieces created by students in the Laguna College of Art & Design’s Master of Fine Arts program in Painting and Drawing, which will run through May 27.

The museum is hosting the MFA ’12 exhibit on its lower level galleries. Admission to the show will be free, LAM officials said in a news release.

Some of the students’ works include: “Cult of Beauty-Capitulation,” a 36- by 48-inch oil on canvas painting by Regina Jacobson; “Mentor (Aaron Smith)” a 36- by 46-inch oil and charcoal on canvas by Junghwa Hong; and “Unquestioned Cultural Conditioning,” a 75- by 79-inch charcoal on paper piece by Rachel Edwards.

The Laguna Art Museum is at 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. For more information, visit lagunaartmuseum.org.

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Plein Air juried show coming up

Through May 16, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Assn. is accepting entries for its 8th annual “Best of Plein Air” Juried Show, which will take place at [seven-degrees] in Laguna Beach from June 7 through June 27.

An awards ceremony will take place there at 7 p.m. on June 7, during the First Thursdays Art Walk for the month of June.

According to guidelines listed on the association’s website, to be eligible for the show, submitted art pieces must not violate copyright laws; entries must be original and have been done within the past 24 months without supervision by an instructor; measure (unframed) no larger than 16 inches by 20 inches; be no smaller (unframed) than 8 inches by 10 inches; and be ready to exhibit.

For more information, contact show coordinator Rosemary Swimm at (949) 376-3635 or (949) 584-9162, email to info@lpapa.org or visit https://www.lpapa.org.

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Oscar-nominated live-action shorts to screen next week

On May 17, the Laguna Beach Film Society will present a screening of five live-action shorts that were nominated in that category for the 2012 Academy Awards: “Pentecost” by Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane, “Raju” by Max Zäehle and Stefan Gieren, “Time Freak” by Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey, “The Shore” by Terry George and Oorlagh George, and “Tuba Atlantic” by Hallvar Witzø.

The films will be screened at 7 p.m. at South Coast Cinema, 162 S. Coast Hwy. A pre-screening reception will take place at 6 p.m. at the Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive. Entry to the reception and screening are free for Film Society members. Nonmembers pay $20 for both the reception and screening, or $15 for the screening only.

For more information, call JoAnne Story at (949) 494-8971 ext. 201.

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OCMA to extend hours for Diebenkorn show

The popularity and acclaim of its exhibition of paintings from Richard Diebenkorn’s “Ocean Park Series” will keep the Orange County Museum of Art open late for the show’s closing weekend.

Because the exhibit has broken daily attendance records and received widespread critical acclaim, OCMA officials this week announced they will extend the museum’s public hours till 7 p.m. and add more tours for the Diebenkorn show on the weekend of May 25 to 27.

The museum at 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, normally stays open till 5 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. OCMA also has a policy of closing to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays, and will be closed on Memorial Day, said OCMA spokeswoman Kirsten Schmidt.

For more information, visit https://www.ocma.net.

—Imran Vittachi