The arts have been an integral part of Laguna Beach for more than 100 years, distinguishing it from other beach towns in Southern California. From visual arts to theater, opera and ballet, the town was an early adapter of the culture that would later bring it worldwide renown. The Festival of Arts has played an integral role in reinforcing that art colony identity.
“The Festival and Pageant are perhaps the county’s earliest examples of cultural tourism. They have contributed immensely to cementing Laguna Beach’s unique and authentic identity as an important Southern California arts colony in the minds of both residents and visitors,” said Ashley Johnson, president and CEO of Visit Laguna Beach. “The organization’s support of artists, local arts organizations and scholarships for young artists all send the message that this is a place where creative people are valued,” she added.
The Festival was launched in 1932 by struggling local artists hoping to lure visitors from the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The next year, costumed artists appeared in framed ‘living pictures’ to encourage passers-by to stop and see the exhibit. That planted the seed for the more elaborate Pageant of the Masters, which is now inexorably linked with the Festival.
Of course, the Festival might never have occurred if artists like San Franciscan Norman St. Claire hadn’t happened upon the picturesque vacation spot in 1903. His landscapes inspired Plein Air artists like William Wendt and marine artist Frank Cuprien to move to Laguna Beach, setting the stage for the budding arts community. In 1918, artists Edgar Payne and Anna Hills started the Laguna Beach Art Association and gallery to showcase and sell a growing collection of local art. By then, Hollywood had discovered Laguna, with stars like Mickey Rooney, linking the entertainment capital to the seaside town.
The Festival of Arts became a nonprofit corporation in 1934 with the goal to “encourage and promote all appropriate activities conducive to the artistic and cultural development of the community in and about the City of Laguna Beach, California.”
True to its mission, the Festival of Arts has contributed to the growth of other local arts endeavors. Funds generated by the Festival helped support the Community Players, Community Concert Association, Civic Ballet Company (later Ballet Pacifica), Chamber Music Society and Lyric Opera (later Opera Pacific), the School of Art & Design (now Laguna College of Art + Design), and the Festival Chorale. Festival resources also supported some exhibits and weekly art classes at the Art Association Gallery, now the site of the Laguna Art Museum.
In 1989, the Festival of Arts with a $1.5 million donation established the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts Foundation, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, in order to guarantee annual financial support for the arts in Laguna Beach. The FOA Foundation was designed to hold these funds in a permanent endowment. The earnings and income from this endowment would be distributed annually in the form of scholarships to graduates of Laguna Beach High School and as grants to nonprofit art organizations and educational institutions in and about the city of Laguna Beach.
The FOA Foundation now operates independently from the Festival of Arts. In 2007, the Festival of Arts assumed the financial responsibility of the art scholarships, enabling The FOA Foundation to focus on its grant program for local non-profit art organizations. To date, the Festival of Arts along with the Foundation cumulatively has awarded nearly $2.6 million in grants to the art community in Laguna Beach, including funding to the local high school, LOCA Arts Education, The Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna College of Art + Design and many others.
Additionally, the Festival of Arts nurtures a new generation of Laguna Beach artists through its scholarship program. In 1957, the Festival of Arts Scholarship Program was established to provide financial assistance for Laguna Beach High Schools students preparing for careers in various disciplines in the arts. Sally Dunn Reed, a senior graduating from Laguna Beach High, was awarded the very first scholarship of $1,000. To date, the Festival of Arts has awarded over $3 million in college scholarships. Disciplines for which scholarships are awarded are visual arts, film, dance, theater arts, music and writing.
The Festival built the Irvine Bowl, Forum Theater, the new façade and all other buildings at the Irvine Bowl Park after James Irvine and the Pyne Estate donated the land to the Festival in 1941. The Festival of Arts deeded the land to the City of Laguna Beach, but occupies the grounds under a long-term lease and is responsible for maintaining the historic site and its improvements. Over the past 76 years, the Festival has invested millions and millions of dollars into the property. In 2017, the Festival of Arts debuted its new multi-million dollar, award-winning art facility designed by BAUER Architects.
Artist Virginia Woolley initiated children’s art classes at the Festival grounds in the early 1940s and the Anna Mary Beck Junior Art Exhibit at the Festival was started a few years later. Both programs are ongoing today.
Other Laguna Beach art shows have spun off from the Festival of Arts. During the 1960s, a group of artists broke away to form the Sawdust Arts and Crafts Festival after a dispute regarding the Festival of Arts jurying system. A third show, Art-A-Fair, was founded to bring in artworks from nonresident artists through a jurying system. That set the stage for the city to hang its tourism hat on the art festivals that now bring hundreds of thousands of people to town each year. The three Laguna Beach festivals (along with Visit Laguna Beach and the City of Laguna Beach) now work together and created the Passport to the Arts – a pass that gives unlimited admission to all three festivals all summer long.
Today, about 450 artists apply to exhibit each year at the Festival of Arts fine art show, with 140 booths available at the Festival. As a juried show in which artists must submit works of original design, the Festival of Arts carries stringent requirements for exhibitors. Some artists believe that factor brings high-quality patrons to the show. The Festival has been rated one of the top festivals in the nation. Recent accolades include Orange County Register’s Best Place to Buy Original Art, Art Fair Calendar’s Top Five Art Fairs in the West, and Top 5 Art Festivals in the nation voted by USA Today readers.
The 2017 roster of exhibitors includes 140 artists from throughout Orange County. The Festival of Arts provides these artists the ability to gain exposure for their work and the opportunity to display their works to an appreciative crowd.
The show itself brings more to the arts community today than simply sales. Its junior art exhibit highlights budding artists from local public schools; its events spotlight other art forms; and its arts education classes inspires the artist in all of us.
Prestigious awards and achievements are plentiful among the Festival’s artists. Their artworks enrich the private collections of many celebrities, leading art collectors and museums around the world. Many Festival artists have Laguna Beach roots that reach as far and wide as the Festival of Arts itself. And each time they do, it reinforces the reputation of Laguna Beach as an arts capital in Southern California.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL OF ARTS FINE ART SHOW
Celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2017, the Festival of Arts is one of the most highly acclaimed juried fine art shows featuring the artwork of 140 award-winning artists. Patrons may enjoy the work of exhibiting artists, demonstrations and art workshops, daily art tours, live music, special events, on-site restaurants and much more in the newly renovated facility. For a full listing of events, visit LagunaFestivalofArts.org.
The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters are sponsored in part by Southern California Acura Dealers, Fidelity Investments, KOST Radio 103.5, and the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.
DATES & TIMES
July 5 – August 31, 2017
Open daily from 10am – 11:30pm
Early closing August 26 at 1:30pm
TICKET INFORMATION
General Admission: Weekdays $8, Weekends $12
Students & Seniors: Weekdays $5, Weekends $8
Free Admission for Children 12 and under, Military, and Laguna Beach Residents.
Passport to the Arts:
A special promotion (funded in part by Bank of America): Passport to the Arts for only $24. Includes unlimited admission all summer long to the Festival of Arts, the Sawdust Art Festival and Laguna Art-A-Fair. Enjoy works of art by more than 500 artists, 300 hands-on workshops, dozens of special events, plus a one time, all-day free parking pass with each Passport purchased. Order online at www.LagunaBeachPassport.com. Passports also available for purchase on-site at each festival location during the summer. Offer excludes Pageant of the Masters.
LOCATION
Festival of Arts Grounds
650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
FOR INFORMATION & TICKETS
(800) 487-3378
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Media contact:
Sharbie Higuchi
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
