In The Arts

Murray and son to exhibit works

Endangered Planet Gallery owner Charles Michael Murray will showcase his own works of art alongside that of his son, Oliver, at the gallery through Jan. 15. An opening reception will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday during First Thursdays Art Walk.

The show coincides with the 20th anniversary of the legendary Walk to Save Laguna Canyon on Nov. 11, 1989, the largest Orange County environmental gathering. The origins of Endangered Planet images Tembo, Shalom and Exanimo will be on display along with photographs highlighting the Walk that led to the city’s acquisition of the first parcel of Laguna Laurel, then an Irvine Co. development.

Murray, who helped organize the protest, was educated at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, and his career includes many years in commercial photography and graphic design, now focusing on sustainable graphic and Web design solutions.

Included in the exhibit are the still-life collages known as the American Professional Football Legend Series. As part of the America’s 100 Professions, each of the framed 33-by-43-inch pieces is hand-colored and represents a past era in the football profession.

The works have been featured at the Super Bowl, Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas, the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the Four Seasons Newport Beach, and Universal Studios Hollywood.

Oliver will be presenting his “eco-spin” art, made of recycled materials. Endangered Planet Gallery is at 384 Forest Ave., Gallery 13.

For more information visit www.EndangeredPlanet.org or telephone (949) 497-5690.

Guitarist Zimmer to perform at college

Laguna Beach Live! will present a free afternoon of art and music at the Laguna College of Art & Design on Sunday. Classical guitarist Lee Zimmer will perform from 3 to 4:30 p.m. and an exhibit at the College Art Gallery opens at 2 p.m. The college is at 2222 Laguna Canyon Road, and has ample parking.

Zimmer has performed and taught guitar for most of his life. He heads guitar studies at La Sierra and California Baptist universities, and is in charge of curriculum development at the Fender Center for the Performing Arts where he teaches guitar, bass and band classes.

First Sundays is funded by the lodging establishments and city of Laguna Beach and contributions from the audience.

The series continues Dec. 6 with AlmaDuo, flute and guitar. For more information, visit www.lagunabeachlive.org.

Eagle to lead ‘Connections’

Southern California Artists Assn. invites all artists to join the “Connections” program from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Laguna Beach painter and gallery manager John Eagle will lead a discussion about marketing artwork. Eagle will pose a series of questions about what your aims are, helping you to set your objectives.

With your goals determined, he will suggest some techniques to establish production, placement and sales. Cost is $5. The Southern California Artists Assn. Studio is at 3251 Laguna Canyon Road, No. F3. For more information, visit www.socalartists.org.

MY HERO film festival scheduled

The 2009 My Hero Media Award will be presented to Erin Gruwell, John Tu and Daniel Anker, producers and director of “Voices Unbound: The Story of the Freedom Writers,” in recognition of their efforts to promote peace and tolerance through film.

Academy Award nominee director Daniel Anker reviewed more than 500 hours of footage following the journey of the Freedom Writers from their classroom in Long Beach to Washington, D.C., to Bosnia. Cameras were on hand to record student visits with Holocaust survivors at the site of concentration camps in Europe, as well as Anne Frank’s friend Miep Gies’ classroom visit in Long Beach.

The fifth annual My Hero Film Festival will present short films honoring heroes from around the world, and among the awards will be the Ron Kovic Peacemaker Award and the Dan Eldon Activist Award.

Dan Eldon was an activist, artist and photojournalist who was killed at the age of 22 while working as a photojournalist in Somalia. Finalists for the Dan Eldon award include:

?”The Rossport Five,” a documentary about Shell Oil Co. by John Antonelli;

?”V-Ecuador,” a documentary about Chevron by John Antonelli; and

?”A Positive End,” a film by Ron Osgood, about an Iraq war veteran’s activism in the Veterans Against War coalition.

The My Hero Project is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to honoring those working to make a positive difference in the world. The festival is free and open to the public. The screening and awards ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. at the Norris Theater at the USC School for Cinematic Arts. To view official selections for the 2009 Film Festival, visit www.myhero.com. To reserve a spot for the festival, visit www.myhero.com/RSVP.

‘Chopsticks & Forks’ comes to college

LCAD is announcing the culmination of an international collaboration with the Communication University in China by launching concurrent exhibitions in Beijing and Laguna Beach.

The Chopsticks & Forks sister exhibition in Laguna Beach will be Nov. 11 to Dec. 19 at the college gallery, 2222 Laguna Canyon Road.

The collaborative exhibition is the product of professors Xun Chi, Xuefu Wu and Pat Vining of the participating colleges. Graphic design students have fused multiple layers of meaning to communicate a metaphorical message.

This collaborative project was designed and led by Chi and involved input from Wu and Vining supporting the artistic and creative communication between the East and the West.

The objective was to challenge each other in the first phase and collaborate with each other during the second phase.

The Chopsticks & Forks project led to three rounds of collaboration and generated more than 100 finished works.

Stone-carving workshop set

A six-week stone-carving class, taught by master stone carvers Marvin Johnson and Joseph Sovella, will begin Nov. 7 and run through Dec. 19 (except Nov. 18) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The classes take place outside at LCAD, 2222 Laguna Canyon Road. Cost for the six-week workshop is $210 and includes basic tools and a practice stone.

Additional resources to purchase specialty stone are available.

To register or receive additional information, visit www.lagunacollege.edu.

No experience is necessary. Sovella has taught at Laguna College since 1986 and Johnson since 1992.

“Laguna is where my artistic energy is constantly stimulated,” Sovella said.

Johnson holds a master’s of fine arts in sculpture and studied at the Boston Museum School as well as receiving his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Whittier College.

He was a foundry pattern maker in the mid-’60s and designed parts for Barbie Dolls; sculpted civil war soldiers for diorama in Gettysburg; was a clay modeler at General Motors; and developed a line of jewelry made of tropical hardwood.

His work has been widely exhibited including New England Sculptor’s Assn., Boston; National Orange Show; Bahrum B. Gallery in Laguna Beach as well as in private collections throughout California.

Fall Women Artists Event at club

The Laguna Beach Woman’s Club will present its annual Fall Women Artists Event from noon to 5 p.m. Nov. 7, at the Laguna Beach Woman’s Club, 286 St Ann’s Drive.

Any female artist interested in participating should contact event chairwoman Kimberly Salter at (949) 230-1169 or kimsalter@cox.net.

Heisler writings sought for project

The Laguna Beach Arts Commission is seeking short stories and poems as part of the public art component of the Heisler Park renovation project.

The selected short story/poetry will be published in the call for artists and may provide the inspiration for artists who could include the work in its entirety or communicated visually or aesthetically in designs for the public art works.

Anyone 18 and older who lives in Laguna Beach may submit a maximum of 500 words relating to Laguna Beach, its community or personalities, be inspiring and relate in some way to the park.

The deadline is Jan. 15.

The first-place winner will receive $2,000; second place will receive $750; and third place will receive $250.

The competition will be judged by the Arts Commission, with final approval by the City Council.