College names interim president Helene Garrison has...

College names interim president

Helene Garrison has been appointed interim president of Laguna

College of Art and Design, effective August 2004. President Alan

Barkley is leaving Laguna Beach at the end of August to be the dean

of Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Connecticut.

Garrison is one of the founding faculty at the college. She has

designed academic programs and directed the local Western Assn. of

Schools and Colleges accreditation report.

During the past 15 years, as dean of liberal arts, Garrison

developed the liberal arts program at the college.

Student participation in liberal arts courses has increased

four-fold over the past seven years. Garrison designed and teaches

Laguna College’s “Senior Capstone” course.

Garrison received her bachelor’s degree in French literature from

UC Irvine, and her master’s in art history from UCLA. She completed

her doctorate in art history, with a specialization in the medieval

period, at UCLA in 1984.

Sawdust award winners announced

Sawdust Art Festival’s “Best of the Best” awards have been

announced. Each summer, the art and the booth designs are judged and

given awards. Usually the judging is done internally, but this year,

judges from throughout the Orange County art community judged to

bring a new perspective.

Board member and exhibitor Eleanor Henry organized the award

program and announced the categories and winners. Best New Exhibitor:

Jamie Jensen, ceramics; Best Returning Exhibitor: Bruce Freund,

hand-blown glass; Best Booth Design: Brett Keast and Ket Youngstead;

Best Overall Exhibitor: Kristina Ross, painting.

The Sawdust Art Festival is open daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through

Sept. 5. Tickets are $6.50 adults; $5.50 for seniors 65 and over; $2

for children 12 and younger. A season pass is available for $12 and

an annual pass to the winter and summer shows is $16. For information

go to https://www.sawdustart

festival.org or call (949)494-3030.

Hawaiian Cultural Day at Festival

The Festival of Arts continues to offer guests cultural

experiences that blend with art. This time it’s with Hawaiian

Cultural Day from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The special event features the culture’s traditions through fine

art, hands-on crafts, music and other Hawaiian influences that are

showcased through demonstrations.

All event activities are free with admission. There will be

Hawaiian music by Joe Aki and the Poi Pounders, hula dancing, and lei

kui, a lei making technique using needle and string.

A collection of Hawaiian gourds will be on display as will an

exhibit of vintage Hawaiian shirts. In addition, Hawaiian films that

celebrate dance, crafts and culture will be shown in the Forum

Theatre.

Tickets to the festival are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and

students. Laguna residents get free admission, as do children 12 and

younger.

Festival of Arts is at 650 Laguna Canyon Road. For information,

call (949) 494-1145.

Summer exhibit at Laguna Playhouse

The Laguna Playhouse’s Carl Broderick Gallery, which typically

features a rotating schedule of works by local artists, is hosting a

summer-long exhibit entitled “Designing the Show: Sketches and

Costumes from Recent Laguna Playhouse Productions.” Organized by

Playhouse resident designer Dwight Richard Odle, the exhibit features

the work of four designers: Noel Taylor, Ann Sheffield, Julie Keen

Leavenworth and Odle.

The productions represented by the display include “The Constant

Wife,” “Harvey,” “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “James and the

Giant Peach,” “Enter the Guardsman,” “Babes in Toyland,” “Beauty and

the Beast” and “Travels with My Aunt.”

Taylor, the first costume designer ever to be honored with an Emmy

Award, has designed more than 100 Broadway productions.

The gallery is open and free for ticket holders to “Forever Plaid”

prior to the show and at intermission. For information, call (949)

497-ARTS.

Playhouse adds ‘Lovers’ nights

The Laguna Playhouse has added “Chocolate Lovers” nights to its

roster this season.

Before each of the seven plays, theater lovers who also love

chocolate can gather for dessert, coffee and conversation. Tickets

for the full seven-play “Chocolate Lovers” series are $350 per person

or $53 each event. Prices include the food and a reserved-seat ticket

to the play.

The first dessert of this series precedes the 7:30 p.m.

performance on Aug. 4 of the musical “Forever Plaid.”

The Playhouse offers several other special series for

theatergoers. For information, call (949) 497-ARTS.

No Square to present ‘Babes in Arms’

Bree Burgess Rosen will direct the Rodgers and Hart musical,

“Babes in Arms,” that is being performed Aug. 6 through 8. The

musical score includes “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” “Where or

When,” “My Funny Valentine,” “Lady is a Tramp,” and others.

Valentine White will be played by No Square’s 2004 scholarship

winner, Christian Mariner. Alex Murrel and Jesse Fair play the

love/hate duo Terry and Gus. Ken Jillson, the creator, writer and

star of “Splash,” is playing the “hack southern playwright” and will

be making his No Square debut.

Also starring are members of the youth theater program of No

Square -- the “Square Roots.” Adam Hemming co-directs and is the

musical director, and Vanessa Schneller is the choreographer.

“Babes in Arms” will be performed at the Artists’ Theatre at 625

Park Ave. Showtime is at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m.

Sunday. Tickets are $18 for adults, and seniors and children are $12.

To order tickets online go to https://www.nosquare.org or call (949)

497-1950.

Museum seeking artists and designers

Laguna Art Museum is seeking Orange County artists and designers

working in all media for “The OsCene in Contemporary Art and

Culture,” exhibit that will show Nov. 7 through February.

It will be a survey exhibition of Orange County artists working in

all media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography,

multi-media installations, video/film, sound/music, architecture and

design.

Work produced within the last two years is sought.

Send a resume or biography, an artist statement, and materials in

any format that best present the work, and enclose a self addressed

stamped envelope with enough postage for the return of materials. Do

not send originals.

Studio visits will be scheduled from August to early October. Send

materials to: Curatorial Department, The OsCene, Laguna Art Museum,

307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.

Gallimaufry performs ‘42nd Street’

The new performing arts company Gallimaufry founded by Steve

Josephson is performing the musical “42nd Street,” directed by Pat

Warren and choreography by Tod A. Kubo.

Performances are today and Saturday at 8 p.m. with a second

matinee performance at 2 p.m. at the Artists’ Theatre, 625 Park Ave.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for seniors, students and

children.

For information about Gallimaufry performances and upcoming

events, call (949) 499-5060 or go to https://www.gallimaufry.com.