BRIEFLY IN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Gallery opens at Pottery Place

John and Rebecca Barber have opened their Studio Arts Gallery at the Old Pottery Place (located on the site of the former Pottery Shack).

The gallery will highlight Laguna Beach artists. The owners’ goal is to bring a greater awareness to art produced in the Laguna art colony by offering a showcase beyond the short summer festival season. They will also introduce a small number of guest artist exhibitions and lectures.

John is a master glass blower and 27-year exhibitor at the Sawdust Art Festival; he has also spent 25 years at the Festival of Arts. His work has been commissioned by many residential and commercial designers and homeowners, as well as the Montage Resort & Spa.

Rebecca has a history in sales, management, customer service and artist relations, and has transitioned to the Laguna Beach art market. She is also active in many community art organizations.

Studio Arts Gallery will feature daily glass blowing demonstrations at the courtyard’s furnace, exhibiting the creation of hand-blown glass from start to finish. Other exhibiting artists will also demonstrate on weekends and at special events.

The gallery will exhibit all of the various art forms showcased at Laguna’s annual art festivals, including blown, cast and fused glass; ceramics; multimedia; sculpture; mosaics; furniture; jewelry; metal art; garden art; woodworking; painting; limited edition prints; etchings; photography; painted silk and wearable art.

The Old Pottery Place is located at 1200 S. Coast Highway at Brooks Street. The gallery is open seven days a week. For information, call (949) 376-1619 or visit www.studioartslaguna.com.

Reality questioned at Merrill exhibit

Clare Kirkconnell and Christopher McVinish will be featured in an exhibit at the William Merrill Gallery, “Environments of Introspection and Reality,” which opens Saturday with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m.

Kirkconnell was born in Texas and spent a number of years in Mexico City before returning to Houston to finish high school. She continued her education at Palomar College in San Marcos.

Her newest collection of smaller works focuses on the dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. Many of her works are painted with the viewer looking through a windowpane.

McVinish was born and raised in Australia, and taught art in the country’s universities. He began to paint full time in 1991.

In his current series, he plays with the notion of the perception of reality. He juxtaposes elements such as human figures with a constructed scene that only exists within the artist’s imagination.

For more information, call (949) 464-0067 or visit www.williammerrillgallery.com.

“Once on This Island” returns

Generation GAP, the teen theatre arm of the Gallimaufry, will reprise “Once on This Island,” the Caribbean musical based on “The Little Mermaid,” to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Forum Theatre, located on the grounds of the Festival of Arts, 650 Laguna Canyon Rd.

Tickets are $25 for students and $75 general reserved. Additional nonbenefit performances will be Oct. 8, 14 and 15 at 2 p.m.; tickets will be $8 students and $12 general reserved. For information, call (949) 499-5060 or visit www.gallimaufry.info.