Festival ready for public consumption

BARBARA DIAMOND

Family, friends and customers of the Festival of Arts artists and

VIPs got a preview Saturday of the 2004 show.

“It’s beautiful,” festival board member Kathleen Blackburn said.

Exhibitor John Tolle told marketing director Sharbie Higuchi that

the jeweler’s booths were the finest in years -- and he didn’t know a

member of the media was eavesdropping.

“The public is in for feast,” said Tolle, a Laguna Beach jeweler.

“I feel sorry for their husbands.”

Tolle, who has been juried into the festival for 32 years, said

the longer an exhibitor is in the show, the more people expect from

them.

“We have to keep a new, fresh approach if we want to thrill the

public,” Tolle said.

Kate Riegler’s canvases, with boldly outlined shapes in happy

collaboration with color, appear to be a new direction for the

mixed-media painter, but not so, she said.

“My work is always an extension of what I have been doing, but

sometimes I am the only one who knows where I am going,” Riegler

said. “For me, making art is all about the process.”

Visitors to the festival can learn how artists’ work evolves, who

inspires them and what motivates them by taking the Z-plorer Audio

Guide Tour either through a headset or telephone-style speaker,

available for $2 at the exhibit ticket window.

The show features 145 exhibition booths -- not to mention the 300

pieces juried into the Junior Art Exhibit -- and an expanded gift

shop, complete with an ATM.

Some exhibitors were still preparing booths at 6 p.m. Saturday,

with the preview just an hour away.

“I can’t believe it’s already July,” said Rosemary Swimm, wife of

multitalented, prolific artist Tom Swimm.

In addition to the festival, a staged reading of “BED,” the

musical comedy Tom Swimm wrote with C. J. Ver Burg, will be performed

at 2 p.m. July 24 at the Stage Theater in Fullerton.

Speaking of fundraisers, the little gold stars on some exhibitors’

pieces signify that the sale will benefit the festival’s Artist in

Need Fund. The fund also benefits from the annual Tie-One-On, set for

11 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 17.

A special members’ meeting has also been scheduled for that day.

Two by-law changes are being proposed, and members will be asked to

vote on whether the board of directors should canvass the entire

voting membership by mail to make the changes.

The first change would prohibit anyone connected to the festival

from cloning or copying the Pageant of the Masters by any means. The

second change would guarantee that if the festival corporation folds,

the assets, after payment of all debts, would be distributed to

similar nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations.

Preview night always draws a big crowd, and this year was no

exception. Parking was at a premium.

“We couldn’t find a space anywhere, so we went back home and

called a cab,” said Kathy Conway, treasurer of the Laguna Art Museum

and the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Festival board President Anita Mangels greeted visitors at the

entry. Among them: Planning Commissioner Bob Chapman; Faye and

Councilman Wayne Baglin; Councilman Steve Dicterow; photographer Don

Romero; Bette and Ken Anderson; Lyn and former school board member

Tim Carlyle; Arts Commissioners Nancy Beverage, Jan Sattler and Mary

Ferguson and Business Improvement District initiator Sam Goldstein.

COLLECTORS CHOICE

The 15th annual Collectors Choice grossed $65,000 for the Laguna

College of Art and Design.

About 300 art lovers attended the event, which featured works by

115 artists and art donors. Tickets are $100 apiece and entitle

ticket-holders to choose a piece of the donated art if their number

is picked. A few pieces are sold by auction.

Mayor Cheryl Kinsman went home with a piece by Arts Commissioner

Nancy Beverage.

College trustee Terry Smith chaired the event committee. The

committee included Julie Bondi, Catharine Cooper, Anne England, Robin

Fuld, RonDee Kelly, Eric Malabanan, Mary McGeachy, Nancy Milby, Page

Montgomery, Connie Papple, Julie Roach, Danial Walsh and webmaster

Kaleb Wyman -- Malabanan, England and Cooper, a former student at the

college, also contributed art.

Walsh served as master of ceremonies. Kevin Fitzpatrick

entertained.

The event was held in June, shortly before college President Alan

Barkley announced his resignation to take a position in Connecticut

-- a decision that saddened the arts community and others whose

activities or lives were touched by Barkley.

“Oh, no!” said Laguna Canyon Foundation Executive Director Mary

Fegraus when she heard the news. “He really understands what the

[Laguna Coast Wilderness Park] is all about.”

The college has had numerous presidents and names since it was

established in 1961, but its goal has been constant: to prepare its

students for careers in fine art or design, with a curriculum that

emphasizes classical training.

Three college students were commissioned to create the seven oil

paintings unveiled July 1 at the Hotel Laguna Lounge.

Melissa Devine, Dennis McElroy and Matt Talbert completed the

series of cafe scenes, commissioned by hotelier Claes Andersen, under

the direction of George Zebot, chair of illustration at the college.

McElroy and Talbert graduated in May.

Devine earned two degrees in arts in Canada, worked for a San

Francisco publication and created posters for Kiev Classical Ballet

before enrolling at the college. She is majoring in illustration.

Classes for non-degree students are also available, including

stone sculptor taught by Marv Johnson and Joe Sovella. For more

information, call (949) 376-6000.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652, hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite 22;

call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.