IN THE ARTS

‘Midsummer’s Green Day’ at Sawdust

The 2008 Sawdust Art Festival is presenting “A Midsummer’s Green Day” from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Activities throughout the day will educate visitors on sustainability with a variety of programs, including:

?Architecture for Humanity. Justin Botros, environmental architect will represent Architecture for Humanity, speaking on green architecture and design with a grid-coloring project from noon until 5 p.m.

?Chris Prelitz. Prelitz is the Sawdust’s sustainability consultant and will be sharing ways to save money, water and energy while making better eco-choices along with some “green myth busting.” He will present on the main entertainment deck at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

?Endangered Planet Foundation. The local non-profit organization will host two art activities near the waterfall and Main Entertainment Deck from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Visitors can contribute to the “Patching the Environment” Art Miles Mural Project, by painting on 11-by-11-inch canvas squares, which can then be added to the collective mural art piece at the “Autumnal Green Festival” Symposium on Oct. 3 to 5 on the Festival of Arts grounds. Participants can use their mini-mural canvas squares as a free family pass into the festival in October.

A “Whirled Peace” Pinwheel Project will allow visitors to create paper pinwheels, decorated with symbols of harmony and unity, and allow participants to join the worldwide “Pinwheels for Peace” event Sept. 21.

?Green Thumbs Tour. Sawdust artist and exhibitor Eleanor Henry will lead two tours detailing the festival’s landscaping and natural environment, including the historic eucalyptus grove and diverse hillside vegetation at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Meet in front of the information booth.

?Paper Making. Anne Gundersen and Chris Krach-Bastian will hold a paper-making class at the Sawdust Studio from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

?Peace Planes. Young visitors can make “peace planes” out of recycled materials and decorate them with symbols of unity and peace at the Children’s Art Spot from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Bring in your own cereal box to make your peace plane.

?Sirius Computers. E-waste recycling will be offered by Sirius Computers. Visitors can contribute electronic recyclables and e-waste, including computers, cellphones, printers, and other electronics to two collection centers at the festival.

For large items, such as computer towers and monitors, a van will be available in front of the festival grounds and visitors can drive up to the van directly to donate heavy e-waste pieces prior to parking. For small items, like cellphones, chargers and computer mice, visitors can donate to the Sirius e-waste collection bin set up at the front of the festival grounds.

The Sawdust Art Festival is open daily at 935 Laguna Canyon Road from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Aug. 31. For more information call (949) 494-3030 or visit www.SawdustArtFestival. org.

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Chatlin reception at Endangered Planet

Endangered Planet Gallery is offering a glimpse at Ed Chatlin’s environmental art prints and sculpture, “The Way of Nature ““ Force and Spirit.” Chatlin taught for many years at the Laguna College of Art and Design, where he began inventing works of art that act like nature. In addition to “Earth Totem,” a nine-foot tall totem pole-like sculpture, a series of paintings entitled “Nature Warriors” will be on exhibit. The artist uses a leaf, an eagle feather, or a zigzag line as vocabulary to express the dynamics of nature and invite the observer to rethink nature, the environment and self.

Endangered Planet is located at 384 Forest Ave., Gallery 13. An artist reception will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday. The exhibit runs through Sept. 17. For more information, visit www.EndangeredPlanet.org

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Leonard Kaplan tribute Wednesday

Friends, acquaintances, and family of Leonard Kaplan are invited to Laguna Art Museum to see a few works of his art, hear about his life, and toast to his memory at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Artist and antique dealer Kaplan, one of the last artists to have worked in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Project Administration, died April 15, following complications from a fall he took in his Laguna Beach home. He was 86.

A retrospective of his work, titled “Waking Dreams,” was mounted at the Laguna Art Museum in 2003. Kaplan’s oral biography is archived in the Smithsonian Institute’s Archive of American Artists.

For more information, contact Adam Kaplan at adamkaplan@cox.net.

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Laguna Beach Live! in ‘Best’ honors

The First Sundays series of free chamber music concerts at the Laguna College of Art & Design has been selected for a “Best of OC 2008” award by Orange Coast Magazine. Laguna Beach Live! was recognized as the “Best Free Event” in the Culture category noting the performances were in “an intimate setting that’s the perfect way to relax before a busy week.”

First Sundays is a joint project of Laguna Beach Live! and Laguna College of Art & Design and is partially funded by a grant from the of Laguna Beach Community Assistance Fund.

The afternoon concerts are held on First Sundays, October through May, except January. The Triada Guitar Trio opens the series on Oct. 5. For more information, visit www.lagunabeaclive.org.

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Lanny Morgan to perform Sept. 3

Jazz Wednesdays will present bebop alto soloist Lanny Morgan in the Rose Garden from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 3 in the Rose Garden at the Hotel Laguna, 425 S. Coast Hwy.

Morgan has been a leader of his own group and a solo performer in the U.S. and abroad since 1969, playing major jazz clubs and festivals and guesting as soloist/clinician at colleges and universities.

In the 1990s, he was one of Natalie Cole’s regular support players, which included fellow jazz veterans such as Harold Jones and Jim Hughart, during her “Unforgettable” years.

Cover charge is $10 and doors open at 5:15 p.m. Call (949) 715-9713 for reservations for groups of eight or more. For more information, visit www.lagunabeachlive.org.