CHASING DOWN THE MUSE:All ready for festival season to begin

The splash of a pelican fishing at the shoreline shakes my mind from work thoughts and brings me smack back into the present. Birds chatter, dogs whine, and a construction saw growls. The soft roar of a boat engine bounces around canyon walls and hillside slopes.

Everyone’s focus is the imminent opening of the festivals and a kind of frenzied and frantic energy permeates everything.

Artists dash to finish construction and add paint to their booths. Invitations have been sent in the previous weeks and the pre-opening parties begin to gather a life of their own. Collectors, friends, family whine if they aren’t invited.

It was the artists that created the character of our town. A retreat, a vacation spot, a marvelous place in which to paint and create, Laguna was defined from its earliest days as a sweet village with art at its core.

As we’ve grown, not as much in size as in reputation, our grand summer exhibitions continue to be the draw of tens of thousands of visitors each summer. Locals complain that there is nowhere to park, that they can’t just drop in for dinner at their favorite restaurant, and that they are trapped by traffic during too many hours each day from coming or going outside the city limits.

But we stay. Not only do we love being here, but strangely, we love to brag about it. When someone asks us where we are from, we proudly say, Laguna Beach, even though MTV has tarnished the perception of our true essence.

We love our artists, our beaches, our award-winning schools, and our eclectic City Council. We love that we can rant about politics, water issues, hedges and trees, paint colors (thankfully, the Design Review Board has no say in booth building at the festivals), and the latest downtown business application.

Staff and crew prepare the grounds, but there is more. The support system for art displays is a show in and onto itself. The food vendors, the supply crews, the public relations departments are all kicked into high gear to provide the infrastructure for the display of art.

This week alone, presses at local printers have been whirring with program sheets, artist directories and free guides. This year, the Festival of Arts celebrates its 75th anniversary, memorializing the first organizational efforts of artists and residents (there were a whopping 300) in 1932.

PR and Marketing Director Sharbie Higuchi has pulled out the marketing stops for this event, which include a mobile exhibit in a special painted bus with FOA artwork that will make stops in Los Angeles and San Diego cities, as well as those in Orange County.

If you are one of the lucky ones with an invitation to the pre-opening parties, celebrate and wish all of our artists a prosperous summer.

If you didn’t get one, don’t worry. These parties are always too crowded, the food a bit of a push-shove mayhem, and it’s nearly impossible to see the artwork for all the folks. Pick a less crowded mid-week day and drink in the art.

In the meantime, smell the sea air, and remember why you chose to be here.