Laguna Beach arts group back with ‘Natural Flow’ after Wells Fargo fiasco
Since Community Art Project broke ties in April with Wells Fargo of Laguna Beach — over the prospect of corporate censorship, following an exhibition bank officials deemed controversial — the nonprofit’s curators have been finding new venues all over town.
The opening Thursday of “Natural Flow,” an exhibition at the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center during the city’s First Thursdays Art Walk, marked the group’s official return to the city’s art scene and what CAP member Faye Baglin described as a new chapter for the arts organization.
“We feel like we’ve really landed,” Baglin said Thursday. “It took us a bit of time to find some new exhibition spaces, but we’re happy to have found the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center.”
On display through Dec. 1, “Natural Flow” features 40 pieces from six local artists that examine the relationships between elements in nature through contemporary and traditional paintings, sculpture and mixed-media work.
From Marianne Champlin’s plein air oil paintings to the vivid acrylic Expressionist works of Adrienne Fayne to contemplations on the movement of water from Paul Gardner, the pieces capture the movement and patterns found in outdoor environments.
The exhibition also includes abstract aerial photography from Tom Lamb, who provides a bird’s eye view of nature’s majesty, along with photos and wood sculptures from Troy Poeschl.
Lesli Bonanni has debuted a series of eye-catching works created in a style she says she discovered by happenstance in 2015, while working with textured paper coated in pulverized cork, and has since come to call “GritScript.”
The San Clemente artist realized with the application of water, the material took on new properties and could be manipulated into patterns and scenes resembling abstracted landscapes.
“What happened in front of me was literally like magic. The water started mixing with the paper and it completely morphed,” she recalled. “From that moment on I was totally obsessed.”
Although Bonanni has spent the last several years perfecting the unique artform, Thursday’s show represented its first real airing in public.
“It’s just a big experiment,” she said. “I want to hear from people who come — the good the bad and the ugly.”
Baglin said Community Art Project members had lined up the artists for “Natural Flow” earlier this year and were poised to showcase their works in the gallery space of the Wells Fargo building at 260 Ocean Ave. before the two entities parted ways, ending a 20-year collaboration.
The dispute occurred after bank officials deemed some pieces in a human rights-themed show by Black artist Allyson Allen, “Piece-ful Protest,” too controversial for display. They attempted to amend a licensing agreement with CAP, requiring artwork be reviewed by a Wells Fargo vice president 15 days ahead of an exhibit’s opening.
The arts organization balked, deciding instead to terminate its agreement with the bank branch on April 30.
“We realized it would be too cumbersome to work with them,” Baglin recalled Thursday. “It just presented too many obstacles. We’re here to support the artists — that’s our primary goal.”
Rick Conkey, who founded the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center in 2018, was among several community arts groups that offered to host Allen’s work, which Wells Fargo demanded be removed from the premises.
“It was a travesty,” Conkey recalled of the bank’s reaction. “I just wanted to offer as much support as possible to show the town is willing to show provocative art. [We’re] all about presenting artists who have something to say — that’s what art is all about.”
Although CAP found a backup venue at Laguna’s Neighborhood Congregational Church, the nonprofit’s members continued to build relationships with Conkey and others. Now, spring and summer shows are being planned for the Suzi Q Center and City Hall, respectively.
“We’re back on our feet, and we’re very happy and grateful to the community,” Baglin said Thursday. “It will be fascinating to see how our first year goes — it feels good.”
“Natural Flow” opened Thursday and runs through Dec. 1 with viewings on Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center, 235 Forest Ave. For more, visit caplaguna.org or lbculturalartscenter.org.
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