BRIEFLY IN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Choral and hand bell concert Dec. 9

Laguna Presbyterian’s Chancel Choir and Agape Bell Choir will present inspirational music for the Christmas season at 4 p.m. Sunday in its Fellowship Hall.

Mark Hayes’ “Magnificat” will be featured along with other Christmas favorites.

The concert is open to all. A suggested donation of $10 will benefit the church renovation, which includes retrofitting for earthquake safety, waterproofing, and replacing the 80-year-old roof.

For further information, contact the church office at (949) 494-7555.

Winter Fantasy closes this Sunday

Visitors will have one last chance to leave their thoughts on the board when the Winter Fantasy, 935 Laguna Canyon Road, runs for its final weekend from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $5.75 for adults, $3 for children 6 to 12 and free to children 5 and younger.

Artist Jo Ellen Byrnes debuted at the Winter Fantasy this year by selling 16 works of art in its opening weekend.

She has put up a message board in her booth asking visitors to “Tell me what you think art is.”

Responses ranged from “a voice that speaks to the soul” to “the mind outside of itself.”

The show offers everything from paintings and handmade scarves to one-on-one art workshops.

Free tours are at noon Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. A real snow field is set up for the kids, who can also partake in the Children’s Holiday Playhouse and Santa’s Cozy Cabin.

For more information, call (949) 494-3030 or visit www.sawdustartfestival.org.

Museum ‘floored’ by generous donation

Laguna Art Museum has recently remodeled its Steele and California galleries with bamboo flooring. However, the Museum still has considerable floor space that needs remodeling.

As a result, the Museum launched the “Floor Me!” Campaign to assist in the completion of the Museum floor project. A donation to this campaign of $19,000 has been made by Paul LeBaron Thiebaud to help meet its goal.

Other support for the flooring campaign has been provided by Leone and Rich Adler, Dennis J. Aigner and Camile Bertolet, Nancy and Chuck Fry, Robert E. Hayden III, Elyse and Bruce Miller, Laura and Lou Rohl, Harriet G. Selna, South Coast Plaza, and Turley-Emett Studio.

Based on the Museum’s exhibition and event schedule, the new floors are expected to be completed in late February.

Film society to screen ‘Blind Dating’

The Laguna Beach Film Society will screen “Blind Dating” at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at South Coast Cinema.

Danny is an intelligent, confident, handsome young man who also happens to be blind; not that he’s letting that hold him back. For the most part, Danny refuses to let his visual impairment get in the way of anything. Danny’s girl-crazy, limo-driving brother Larry is horrified to discover that Danny is not only shy and nervous when it comes to the opposite sex, he’s also a virgin.

Tickets for non-members are $15. For more information, call JoAnne Story at (949) 494-8971 x201.

Cultural arts funding grants available

Applications are currently available for Business Improvement District Cultural Arts Funding.

Applications will be accepted from nonprofit organizations with functioning programs offering events that provide the greatest benefits in meeting the cultural needs of Laguna Beach and its visitors.

The deadline for applications is Feb. 1, 2008. Applications are available at www.lagunabeachcity.net or by e-mailing spoeschl@lagunabeachcity.net.

Shag to lecture at art museum

Josh Agle, better known as Shag, will come to the Laguna Art Museum 1 p.m. Sunday to discuss his exhibition, “Shag: The Flesh Is Willing.”

The show combines two of the artist’s pictorial interests, nudes and purgatory, in an investigation of 50s cocktail culture and the notion of sin.

This exhibition was inspired by a recent trip to the Prado in Madrid, where Shag viewed the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel in person for the first time.

The centerpiece of The Flesh is Willing is a large triptych with the artist’s interpretation of Paradise, Earth and Hell as seen through consumerism and consumption à la America in the 1950s.

Shag also addresses the implementation of punishment and fear, used as a deterrent against indulgences, with three interactive pieces created from vintage arcade games where users can play and determine in advance what their fate will be.

The event is free with museum admission.