Cannery Village area of Newport Beach flourishes with local artists

Some say that youth is in the eye of the beholder, but maybe it’s in the eye of the paint brush holder.

Marilyn Poliquin has been the owner of Cannery Paints, an art studio in the Cannery Village area of Newport Beach, for decades now.

Three times a week, she hosts art classes. Newcomers are welcome, but these women are very much her friends.

Since it’s the holidays, the studio has a “Santa wall” featuring paintings of Jolly Old St. Nick. All paintings were done by the Cannery painters and are available for purchase.

Poliquin, who holds an art degree from UC Irvine, turns 90 years old next month. But she doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

“We have a lot of fun,” Poliquin said Tuesday, as a handful of her art students worked on their craft. “I love the Cannery Village. It’s the last of old Newport, I think. That and Balboa Island. Newport is changing.”

Cannery Paints seems timeless. The woman next door to Poliquin on one side, Wendy Johnson, is also 89 years old. She runs the “South of France” studio.

“I lost my youth on this street,” Johnson said with a smile. “I have been here 35 years, and I love it. It’s kind of arty, like New York … I think we should call this, ‘The Colony.’ It’s a destination.”

A Christmas gallery of paintings created by student artists at Cannery Paints in Newport Beach.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

More painters are within easy walking distance. Carole Akins has her studio right next door. And on the other side of the 31st Street business are several other women painters, locals like Janet Bludau, Deborah Harold, Linda Wooters and Ilona Martin.

Jan McCarthy moved from Los Angeles about a year ago to join the artist space.

Harold started painting at Cannery Paints more than three decades ago, she said.

“I learned how to paint there,” she said. “I wandered in, and Marilyn invited me to stay and paint. I said, ‘I don’t know how to paint.’ She said, ‘You don’t have to know how to paint.’ She gave me brushes and paints and a canvas, and I did this little still-life. I took it home and my kids said, ‘You did that?’ I’ve been painting ever since. I was going through a divorce. It was a bad time in my life, and Marilyn just took me under her wing.”

Harold added that she feels fortunate to have a space in the community. She previously had a gallery in Corona del Mar.

“[Cannery Village] is sort of a gem that’s revealing itself,” Harold said. “It’s got a great vibe. It’s still got the old Newport funkiness, yet it’s become really chic and hip. That’s the word on the street; that’s what I hear.”

Last weekend, the neighborhood artists had a sort of open house, with a flea market out in front.

Cannery Paints in Newport Beach features Christmas paintings.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

The sense of community is part of what attracted Noah Blom to the area. Blom, a native of Newport Beach and member of the City Council, opened ARC Butcher & Baker restaurant in Cannery Village in 2019 with his wife Marin. The couple also recently opened ARC Bottle Shop in the area, on 30th Street.

Blom said that Cannery Village reminds him of the Funk Zone in Santa Barbara, an old light-industrial area close to the waterfront.

“It’s one of those few areas of Newport Beach that has a cool growth potential,” he said. “It’s not already inundated with housing and angry neighbors … The culture can start building in. I think it’s only going to get better. People are putting good money into it.

“Our desire right now isn’t to just rip it down and build more workspaces. It’s like, what can we do to preserve some of the cool culture and style.”

Blom added that Cannery Village is almost like a secret area of Newport Beach.

“There’s not many secret places in Newport, but no one turns left when they’re going down Newport Boulevard,” he said. “They all turn right to go to the beach. It’s become kind of a neat little destination.”

Poliquin, who said she has lived in her house on the Balboa Peninsula for about 55 years, enjoys the camaraderie with her painters.

And she doesn’t mind sharing her age. She pointed out that Rita Moreno, who turns 90 on Dec. 11, is starring in the Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation of “West Side Story.”

“We’ve had a lot of people pass through here,” she said, glancing around the room at five painters in the studio on Tuesday morning. “These are the ones that have the staying power.”

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