Not just another Elvis sighting

Veronica Duran

SOUTH COAST PLAZA -- Sales soared at the Orange County Museum of Art

store in South Coast Plaza Monday, as Elvis fans bought up clocks,

T-shirts, calendars and other memorabilia on the 22nd anniversary of The

King’s death.

Since mid-June, the art museum, on San Clemente Drive in Newport Beach,

has displayed an exhibit titled: “How Great Thou Art,” with photos from

Graceland by Ralph Burns. And the museum’s South Coast Plaza shop has

carried the Elvis memorabilia.

But Monday was the biggest sales day since the opening of the exhibit,

said Brian Langston, director of marketing and public relations.

The black and white photographs of Elvis Presley fans that adorn the

walls of the museum have attracted hundreds of people since the June 19

opening, Langston said.

Some people, he said, go to the art museum just to view Burns’

photos.”People were impressed with the degree of reverence depicted in

the photographs,” Langston said.

But of course, crowds attend the exhibit out of respect for Presley and

“respect for the power of an icon like Elvis to inspire love and

adoration so many years after his death,” Langston said.

Jennifer Wells, a Laguna Beach resident who attended the exhibit’s

kickoff, said she was fascinated with the cult of Elvis and Graceland and

even more fascinated to see how people arrived at Graceland in droves.

“[The exhibit] is less about Elvis and more about the types of people who

make the pilgrimage to Graceland,” Wells said. “It was humorous and had a

voyeuristic quality to it.”The museum, which displays a variety of art

topics, changes the theme every two months.

“We try to provide a variety of aesthetic experiences to South Coast

Plaza visitors,” Vine said.

About 200,000 people show up every year for the shows at South Coast

Plaza, Langston said.

“How Great Thou Art,” will be on display until Aug. 22.