Laguna Art Museum is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway. It was previously known as the Laguna Beach Art Association and the Laguna Beach Museum of Art.
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History
The museum's history begins with the creation of Laguna Beach Art Association by local artists in 1918. Using funds raised by artists, Edgar Payne, who became the first president in 1920, converted an old town pavilion into an art gallery to exhibit members' artwork for sale. With fundraising largely attributable to the efforts of the artist Anna Hills, members opened a fireproof, custom-built gallery designed by the noted Los Angeles architect Myron Hunt in 1929. Meanwhile, LBAA had begun offering art classes for both children and adults. In order to expand, the Association doubled the size of its original building in 1951. By growing the size of the permanent collections and increasing the quality of exhibitions, LBAA gradually began to operate as a museum. As a result, it became the Laguna Beach Museum of Art in 1972. It changed its name to Laguna Art Museum in 1986, and a new building opened which completed the building as it now stands.
In 2016, the Laguna Beach City Council approved a matching grant program to issue $1 million to Laguna Art Museum over next 4 years. The museum shows works from its permanent collections, temporary exhibitions, and presents an array of programs, including Art & Nature, Film Night, Family Art Studios, and more.
Laguna Beach Art Museum Video
Collections
The museum's permanent collection, which consist of more than 3,500 artworks in various forms from the early 19th century to the present day, focuses only on California art. Significant examples from all periods of California art are represented.
Collections from the 19th and early 20th centuries include artists such as Anna Hills, William A. Coulter, Edwin Deakin, Ferdinand Deppe, Thomas Hill, George Hurrell, Ferdinand Deppe, Joseph Kleitsch, Edgar Payne, Granville Redmond, Julian Rix, and William Wendt. Contemporary artists include, Peter Krasnow, Helen Lundeberg, Wayne Thiebaud, Judy Chicago, John Altoon, Robert Arneson, Frank Cuprien, Francis De Erdely, Tony DeLap, Manny Farber, Oskar Fischinger, Llyn Foulkes, Sam Francis, George Herms, Craig Kauffman, Roger Kuntz, John McCracken, and DeWain Valentine.
Past Exhibitions
Exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum change every three to four months. Some examples of past exhibitions include:
- Miss Hills of Laguna Beach- Anna Althea Hills: Art, Education, Community (Oct. 16, 2016 - Jan. 15, 2017) displayed over 60 of Hills's paintings along with china decorated by Hills, small artifacts and numerous letters and photographs. The artworks were related to her life and work in Laguna Beach.
- Peter Krasnow: Maverick Modernist (June 26 - Sept. 25, 2016) premiered the first museum survey of Krasnow's artworks in nearly 40 years. It included around 50 paintings as well as 20 sculptures.
- Helen Lundeberg: A Retrospective (Feb. 21 - May 30, 2016) was the first comprehensive exhibition of artworks from the co-founder of the post-surrealism, Helen Lundeberg, since her death in 1999. It featured over 60 paintings and gave a systematic survey of Lundeberg's career from 1930s.
- Wayne Thiebaud: American Memories (Feb. 23 - June 1, 2014) was contained retrospective with still lifes, landscapes and cityscapes. Thiebaud selected artworks on his own in the survey of his career from 1959 to 2014.
- WoW: Emergent Media Phenomenon (June 14 - Oct. 4, 2009) comprised original works on paper by Blizzard Entertainment, artworks based on the culture of WoW by fourteen artists among the world, machinima and more than 145 pieces fan art. Participating artists included Chris Metzen, Sam Didier (a.k.a., Samwise), Chris Robinson, Justin Thavirat, and Roman Kenney; Aram Bartholl; Jorg Dubin; RSG; Jacqueline Goss; Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn, Tale of Tales; Cyril Kuhn; Antoinette LaFarge; Mashallah Design and Linda Kostowski; Robert Nideffer and Alex Szeto; Airyka Rockefeller; Anne-Marie Schleiner; Eddo Stern; The Third Faction; and Zeng Han.
- Roger Kuntz: The shadow between Representation and Abstraction (Mar. 15 - May 24, 2009) displayed 63 paintings, 21 works on paper and 12 small bronze sculptures from all phases of Kuntz's 25-year career. It was the first major showing of the artist's work since his death. Named one of Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight's Top 10 most fascinating museum exhibitions in the nation for 2009.
- William Wendt: In Nature's Temple: The Life and Art of William Wendt (Nov. 9, 2008 - Feb. 8, 2009) was the first full-scale retrospective on the art of William Wendt, who represents the essential nature of California Impressionism both stylistically and ideologically. It featured 61 paintings.
Programs
The museum offers diverse programs to serve audiences of all ages, from the local school district to the most underserved communities without access to art education. The museum provides free- of-charge School Tours which attracts more than 2,000 K-12 students and teachers annually from all over Orange County, including cities such as Santa Ana, where the museum provides educational outreach programs. In addition, other youth-oriented activities include the monthly Family Art Studio and Elements of Art Summer Camps. The number of children attending these diverse programs increase every year as schools recognize the unique educational value.
Laguna Art Museum also provides Docent-guided Tours. What's more, there are various art education programs for adults which serves 10,000 people from around the area annually. Events include First Thursday Art Walks, music concerts presented in partnership with Laguna Beach Live!, film screenings relating to the exhibitions on view and reflecting the museum's focus on California, lectures in conjunction with exhibitions, and other mission related programs.
Art & Nature is another noteworthy annual event. Inspirited by the gorgeous landscape, the museum hosts an annual weekend conference and festival to explore the relationship between art and nature. Art & Nature began in 2013. The multidisciplinary exploration combines art and the natural world by providing an outdoor art installation and nature-themed exhibitions along with a keynote lecture, a panel discussion with artists and environmentalists, and a free Family Festival.
The event serves a number of purposes: to provide a festival of art and ideas for the community; to inspire artists; to find and develop connections between art and science; to raise awareness of environmental issues; and to celebrate Laguna Beach as a center for the appreciation of art and nature.
The first Art & Nature took place in 2013.
Annual Events also included Art Auction: California Cool and Palette to Palate. Laguna Art Museum's Art Auction is one of the longest running art auctions in California and one of Orange County's most exciting art and social experiences. The art auction launched in 1983, and gradually became an important source of fundraising for education programs and exhibitions.
Palette to Palate, which started in 2006, is an annual event which combines art and dining. The funds raised support K-12 school tours as well as exhibitions.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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