BRIEFLY IN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

College faculty, alumni featured in design manual

Faculty and alumni works by Benjamin Myers, Pamela Rouzer, Maggie Rossoni, Matt Smith and Marcia Lisanto of Laguna College of Art & Design have been featured in the 2007 edition of “Design Elements -- A Graphic Style Manual.”

The collection, compiled by Timothy Samara, is published annually and serves as an industry resource for graphic design professionals.

The comprehensive book includes hundreds of tips and examples for designers, intended to hone skills that contribute to successful careers.

Of the more than 100 designers and 1,000 items featured, Laguna College of Art & Design is one of only five colleges represented.

All other works are submissions from worldwide professional design firms.

New art show to open at City Hall May 7

An exhibition of 10 works by 10 Festival of Arts, Sawdust Art Festival and Art-A-Fair artists will open at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave., on May 7.

For more information, call (949) 497-3311.

Keef Ward uses recycled materials in artwork

San Francisco painter and sculptor Keef Ward arrives at Endangered Planet Gallery on May 3 with a new show titled “Re: Cycle,” an exploration in art creation using recycled canvases and new sculptures crafted from recycled materials.

Ward has exhibited in the San Francisco area over the past decade, and was previously featured in Laguna in a one-man show at the former Little Gallery in 2004.

His new Laguna Beach show features more than a dozen new acrylic and collage works on recycled canvases.

The show opens Thursday, and a reception is scheduled from 6:30-9 p.m., as part of First Thursdays Art Walk. The exhibition runs through July 27.

Endangered Planet Gallery is located in The Lumberyard Mall at 384 Forest Ave., Suite 13. For more information, call (949) 497-5690 or visit endangeredplanet.org.

Indian Territory relocates western gallery

Len Wood’s Indian Territory has moved its Western Fine Art Gallery from the Bluebird Centre, where it opened just last year, to a space directly north of the main gallery at 305 N. Coast Highway.

The grand opening is scheduled for the first weekend in May.

Wood said most of his clients preferred being able to see both galleries without having to travel by car between them.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. An online catalog of the current inventory may be seen at www.indianterritory.com.

Fred Hope holds third annual spring show

Artist Fred Hope will hold his third annual spring showing of new and recent work with guest artist Colleen Veltz on May 5 and 6 at the Laguna Canyon Artists Studios complex, 3275 Laguna Canyon Rd.

An artist reception is planned from 5 to 9 p.m. May 5, and the show will remain open for viewing from noon to 6 p.m. the following day, as well as by appointment on May 6.

For more information, call (949) 887-1605 or visit www.fredhope.com.

Museum joins free May admission program

Bank of America and MBNA cardholders will be able to visit the Laguna Art Museum for free in May.

The museum has been selected as one of 25 museums in California to participate in Bank of America’s Museums on Us program.

The program allows anyone with a Bank of America credit or check card or MBNA credit card, plus one guest, to enter 86 cultural institutions nationwide.

Attendees will also be able to enjoy the museum’s current exhibitions: East Coast/West Coast and Beyond, featuring the paintings of Impressionist artist Colin Campbell Cooper (1858-1937); and Jeremy Kidd -- Fictional Realities, in which Los Angeles based artist Kidd presents new large-scale cityscape photographs composed from a patchwork of hundreds of digital images.

Other participating institutions include the Orange Country Museum of Art, the Guggenheim in New York, and theSan Diego Museum of Art.

For more information on the program, visit www.bankofamerica.com/museums.

For more information on Laguna Art Museum, visit www.lagunaartmuseum.org.

Airport seeks artists for solo exhibitions

John Wayne Airport is seeking submittal packets from visual artists for solo-style exhibitions in the airport’s Community Focus Program.

Orange County based nonprofits and arts and cultural organizations are encouraged to apply. The submittal deadline is July 31.

The Community Focus Program exhibitions are located on the upper level of the Airport prior to security screening and are available for the public to view.

The Community Focus Program displays consist of six Plexiglas-covered exhibition cases. Two are 5 feet tall by 8 feet long by 6 inches deep. Four are slanted table-top style cases, 35 inches high by 80 inches long by 4 inches deep.

Each exhibition slot is for approximately 60 days and is free to the exhibiting artists.

Artists that qualify for consideration should be either born in Orange County; raised in Orange County; educated in Orange County; work or have worked in Orange County; own property in Orange County; or live in Orange County.

For submittal packet details, contact Jeffrey Frisch, Coordinator, John Wayne Airport Arts Program at jfrisch@ocair.com or (949) 252-5124. Applicants will be notified by October 31 if their art has been selected.

‘Verdi’ world premiere at Laguna Playhouse

As their final play of the 2006-2007 season, the Laguna Playhouse will present the world premiere production of “The Verdi Girls,” by Irish playwright Bernard Farrell, May 29 through July 1.

The play was commissioned through a gift to The Laguna Playhouse by Suzanne and James Mellor, and is directed by Andrew Barnicle.

In the play, opera aficionados from around the world reunite in Milan for its annual Verdi Weekend, marked by a command performance at La Scala Opera House, thought-provoking lectures and the highlight of the visit “” the fiercely competitive Verdi Quiz.

But some participants have more on their agenda, as they turn the event into a comic drama rivaling those by their operatic idol.

This is Farrell’s first play to premiere in America. Farrell’s characters in “The Verdi Girls” have a variety of nationalities: two are American, one is Italian, one is Canadian, two are English, and one Irish.

Tickets will run from $25 to $65. Previews from May 29 to June 1; the opening night gala will be June 2. Regular performances will run from June 3 to July 1, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday evenings and at 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call (949) 497-2787 or visit www.LagunaPlayhouse.com.