Cove supporters use restorative power of art

Luis Pena

On an overcast morning, artists, patrons and ocean lovers appeared to

lend a hand at preserving one of Orange County’s historic beachfront

communities.

The purpose of Sunday’s Plein Air Art and Environmental Fair was

to raise funds for the Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove’s restoration

project and education campaign and to celebrate the organization’s

restoration efforts during the past four years. There was more than

$250,000 in art up for sale, and more than 50 local artists and 18

environmental groups were in attendance.

“We really haven’t had a really aggressive membership program or

fund-raising campaign because it’s been a department of one, and we

are now restructuring for the future and really trying to raise funds

for printing materials for education uses,” said Laura Davick,

president and founder of the Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove. We’ve

been basically funding all of these brochures that you see here out

of pocket for the last several years.”

The truly remarkable thing about what ARCC is doing right now is

the educational program that is currently in development, said David

Rohn, vice president of ARCC.

“There’s some really exciting programs, and we are just now in the

process of designing those with some internationally known curriculum

development people that are also donating their time,” Rohn said.

When Crystal Cove is restored, it will be an affordable rustic

place for individuals and families to come and enjoy, said Ken

Kramer, superintendent for Crystal Cove. So far, $12 million has been

allocated by the state for the restoration project, he said.

“The public input process, which we’ve been in for a year and a

half, ever since state parks got off of the ill-fated resort track,

and the public made it real clear that this was their state park and

we agree with that and that if it were to be accessible to the

general public, it has to be affordable,” Kramer said.

The outdoor multipurpose commons area, cultural center and a park

and marine research center are priority areas that ARCC is trying to

raise funds for, Davick said.

“Our organization is trying to raise funds so once these cottages

have been restored, we’re then able to equip them and finish off the

project by putting in decking, etc., to really get them up and

running so we can open these areas up to the public,” she said.

In October, the state will start the restoration and reuse project

of Crystal Cove’s historic district. To coincide with the state

park’s restoration project, ARCC will change its name to the Crystal

Cove Alliance because the organization’s efforts to rescue the park

from becoming a beachfront resort were successful. Now, its main

focus will be to restore Crystal Cove as a nonprofit association for

the Crystal Cove State Park Historic District.

The artists in attendance were proud of their part in fund-raising

to support the restoration.

“I’m here to support the idea of fund-raising for Crystal Cove

because this place has tremendous heart and most artists [in

attendance] have been painting it for many years and to have a

portion of the proceeds of our sales go to the rehab of the cottages

is certainly a privilege,” local artist Richard Kent said.

Local artist Jim Woodark was excited about being invited to attend

the fair.

“I was invited to participate, so I was excited about that because

there are a lot of good artists that are participating and I wanted

to get a chance to compete with everybody,” Woodark said. “Plus, it’s

a great place to paint. There are all of these unique-looking scenes

that you don’t get at other places around Southern California.”

Stacy Holder of Newport Beach supports Crystal Cove so much that

she walked down from her home to view and purchase artwork.

“I love the Crystal Cove artwork, and we walk down Crystal Cove

all the time and [the painting I purchased] has a sentimental meaning

to me,” Holder said.

Brent Rosenbaum came all the way from Los Angeles to support the

Crystal Cove restoration effort.

“I think it’s a very important aspect to maintain the rich

cultural beach history of Southern California that is vanishing

rapidly under the developers heels and anything to help out to

maintain a certain quality and way of life in this county is

commended,” Rosenbaum said.

Pam Lawrence-Horwitz from Laguna Beach is happy that the cottages

are being preserved and restored.

“I’m delighted that they’re saving these old cottages, because I

think that they have a very important history, a lot of charm and

picturesque,” she said.

The goal of the event was to raise at least $100,000 toward ARCC’s

restoration and education efforts.

* LUIS PENA is the news assistant and may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at luis.pena@latimes.com.