BRIEFLY IN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Arts finalists to discuss works

Finalists in the 1900 Laguna Canyon Road and Crescent Bay Point Park art competitions will present to the Arts Commission at their 5 p.m. Feb. 26 meeting, to be held in Council chambers, City Hall, 505 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach.

Artist team John Barber and Louis Longi, the sole finalist for the Art in Public Places component at 1900 Laguna Canyon Road’s planned maintenance yard and public parking facility, will present a model and proposal for their “Usher In” and “Beacon” elements. The pieces are comprised of bronze and glass.

The City Council is scheduled to review the commission’s recommendation on March 6.

Terry Thornsley, selected as the sole finalist for the Crescent Bay Point Park sculpture competition, will present a model and discuss his “Laguna Locals” proposal, which features a sea lion and cormorant.

For more information, call (949) 497-0722.

Fair submissions see increase

Art-A-Fair saw a 20% increase in the number of submissions for its 41st season, which will run from June 29 to Sept. 2.

The Feb. 11 jury day was attended by 150 artists, who brought their two- and three-dimensional media through the rain to be judged. Many more submissions were sent through the mail.

The judging was based on conception, execution and presentation; artists from Laguna to Tokyo submitted work for consideration.

The festival has planned several changes for this year, including the introduction of an international theme and updates to the grounds. It is the only summer festival in Laguna to allow the work of international artists.

For more information on Art-A-Fair, visit www.art-a-fair.com

Art Escapes continues into March

Laguna Outreach for Community Arts continues its Art Escapes Monday workshop series into March with the teachings of Jacquie Moffett and Mada Leach.

On March 5 and 12, Moffett will teach a two-week outdoor watercolor painting class in the Aliso Creek Inn’s canyon area; the first week will involve site sketching and planning a painting, and the second will develop the sketches into a watercolor under Moffett’s instruction.

On March 19, Leach will lead a hands-on class in papermaking and casting papers into molds; students will take home both paper and casts.

The following week, she will demonstrate and lead a workshop in marbleizing and in creating paste papers for collage projects.

Classes are located at the Aliso Creek Inn, 31106 So. Coast Highway, and are held from 9 a.m. to noon. There is a $35 per class fee, which includes materials; space is limited to 12 students per class.

Pre-registration is required to guarantee a space; call (949) 363-4700 for more information.

Festival exhibitor deadline near

The Festival of Arts invites artists to submit slides of their best work and a completed application form to the Festival of Arts by Wednesday. Applicants may download an application form from www.lagunafestivalofarts.org or call (949) 464-4234 to request one.

The festival accepts applications from artists residing in the following cities: Aliso Viejo, Balboa, Balboa Island, Capistrano Beach, Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest (El Toro), Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. Artists must be able to show that they have resided in one of the aforementioned cities for at least one year. Jurying fees are $30 per medium submitted.

The first jurying phase is scheduled for March 10, when slides will be reviewed. Selected applicants will be invited to proceed to phase two, the physical jurying process, slated for March 24.

For more information, visit www.foapom.org.

Sandow Birk film premiere March 15

The Laguna Beach Film Society will present a West Coast premiere of “Dante’s Inferno,” the new film from Sean Meredith and Sandow Birk, at 7 p.m. March 15 at the South Coast Cinema. A film society member reception will be at the Wells Fargo Community Room at 6 p.m., with a coffee, dessert and wine film discussion to follow, open to the public.

Meredith’s last film was “In Smog and Thunder,” a mockumentary of the war between Northern California (San Francisco) and Southern California (Los Angeles).

Birk exhibited at the Laguna Art Museum in 2000.

Both Meredith and Sandow will be attendance at the March presentation of “Dante’s Inferno,” based on Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy.”

Dante (Dermot Mulroney) is lead on this journey by the ghost of Virgil (voiced by James Cromwell), a former Roman poet, on the various levels of hell. The film is depicted in modern puppetry.

Tickets are $15 at the door, or free to film society members. For more information, call (949) 494-5872, ext. 201, visit www.lagunaart.org, or e-mail lagunafilmsociety@ hotmail.com.