New Web Site to Launch –
The Laguna Beach Visitors & Conference Bureau will be introducing their new Web site by month-end January 2010. Watch for it! Also due to the nature of technology and the rapid growth that goes along with it, we have decided to move into the next realm by launching a mobile site designed to allow visitors to view our Web site while on the run on any mobile phone platform.
Passport to the Arts –
The Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau has again partnered with our three summer art festivals to celebrate the Laguna Beach Passport to the Arts season pass. This $19 Passport allows entry into the three festivals all summer long and a one-time parking pass for the Act V parking lot. The Visitors Bureau has enlisted its membership to offer special discounts upon Passport presentation. Shoppers may purchase Passports online at www.LagunaBeachPassport.com or (during the summer season) at any of the festivals box offices. Anyone who purchases a Passport online before May 15th will be eligible to win a Fall getaway to Laguna Beach!
Casa Surf Project: 10 Designers, 10 Suites, 10 Companies –
La Casa del Camino, an historic boutique hotel, became host to the Riviera Magazine Design series to create the Casa Surf Project. Action sports icons like Billabong Men s and Billabong Women s, Rip Curl, etnies, Roxy, Quiksilver, L* Space, Lost International along with Riviera Magazine and Glaceau teamed with Southern California s finest designers to create the Casa Surf Suites. The redesigned rooms are open; nightly rates are $269 to $369, and a portion of the proceeds from each room are donated to key charities during the first year.
Member Accolades –
Montage Laguna Beach received the AAA Five Diamond Award in 2009. Representing the upper level of the hospitality industry, AAA Five Diamond Award winners make up just 0.28 percent of the 58,000 Diamond Rated lodgings and restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Tabu Grill was awarded a 2010 ZAGAT rating of 29 (out of a possible 30), the highest rating in Southern California two years in a row. ZAGAT s rating system is based on a combined score of food, decor, service and cost. Managing partner Nancy Wilhelm and chef Kevin Jerrold-Jones invigorate the California Contemporary cuisine by emphasizing the use of seasonal ingredients and local purveyors.
Crab Zone will be featured on Best of the Bay as a 2010 nominee for Best Seafood Restaurant in Southern California on the following channels and dates: KTLA: January 10, 2010 at 11:00am; KCAL: January 24, 2010 at 2:00pm. Best of the Bay TV is a half hour television show that is broadcast in eleven Bay Area counties. Best of the Bay TV’s “Best of Television Series” features nominated entities selected by the show producers through industry research and/or nominations received on the Best of the Bay TV Web site.
Newcomer’s Corner
The Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau would like to welcome our newest members!
Di Marca Sunglass Boutique
760 South Coast Hwy
949-715-0962
www.di-marca.com
Di Marca Sunglass Boutique carries authentic designer brand sunglasses and accessories for men and women. You can find the classics such as the Ray-Ban and Maui-Jim as well as the unique fashion forward collections such as Jee-Vice. Located next to Ralph s between Cleo and St. Ann s with complimentary customer parking in the back.
Positive Thought Brand
1751 South Coast Hwy
866-567-5957
www.positivethoughtbrand.com
Positive Thought Brand is an inspirational clothing and gift boutique. They carry one-of-a-kind apparel and an assortment of gifts with positive statements and affirmations. Organic cotton, bamboo and hemp clothing, yoga and workout gear, eco yoga mats and bags, eco grocery bags, soy candles and more!
Saltfineart
1492 South Coast Hwy., #3
949-715-5554
www.saltfineart.com
Specializing in Latin Contemporary Art, featuring artists who have exhibited internationally in museums and galleries across the globe, from master painters to emerging talent. Art, not something superfluous or extra, but basic building block to life, an essential, like salt. Open Wed-Sun 11:00am-5:00pm or by appointment.
Member Reminders
Web Site Presence
Please email any public special events that your business may be having through December 2010 to ashley@lagunabeachinfo.com so it can be posted to the Calendar of Events section on the LBVCB Web site. This also ensures our knowledge of your individual events, so we can pass on accurate information to our Visitors.
Member Benefit: HR On-Call
The Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau offers HR On-Call through our affiliate ManagEase. We have arranged for each member organization to have 6 free calls to this professional assistance service during 2010. The HR Hotline is 888-378-2456. Your authorized managers may call between 8:30am and 5:30pm weekdays, and may also call after hours and on weekends when there is an urgent HR question/situation involving any of your employees. This call center is staffed by senior HR professionals qualified to help with a wide range of issues related to employment law, regulatory requirements, policies, work accidents and payroll regulations, to name a few. The call center can also be used to discuss options for managing employee issues, terminations, leaves of absence, etc.
Just a Reminder
If you are in need of any Visitors Guides, Maps or Dining Guides, please contact the Visitors Bureau at 949-376-0511 or lbvb@lagunabeachinfo.com with your requests. If you have an upcoming event with professionally prepared handouts/brochures, please feel free to deliver them to the Visitors Center for distribution to Laguna Beach hotels.
Green Laguna Beach
Guest Column – By Joanne Situ Allen and Max Isles California residents use 19 billion single use bags annually with a less than 5% recycling rate. In September 2009, the Laguna Beach City Council voted to move ahead with the process to ban or “tax” single use carryout bags, which have negative impacts on our planet:
* Most plastic single use carryout bags are made from petroleum byproducts that do not decompose.
* The littering of plastic bag affects the quality of our beaches and blocks storm drains.
* Plastic bags kill and injure millions of birds and marine animals each year due to ingestion and entanglement.
As businesses in the city, we can help to improve our local quality of life and reduce the use of natural resources with one simple act. Promote the use of reusable bags! Cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Malibu, and Santa Monica are already working to reduce single use carryout bags. Encouraging customers to use reusable bags reduce operational costs, build customer loyalty and help the planet.
Guest Columnist –
Joanne Situ Allen, Sustainability Strategy Consultant
B.A. in Geography, Environmental Studies
MBA in Sustainability Management
Monthly Art Walk
February 4, March 4
First Thursday s Art Walk
6:00-9:00pm
Admission: Free
949-683-6871
www.firstthursdaysartwalk.com
Join 40 member galleries throughout Laguna Beach on the First Thursday of EVERY month for a festive and cultural evening. Free shuttles to participating gallery locations starting at 6:15 p.m. from the Laguna Art Museum (corner PCH and Cliff Dr.) or Bluebird Center (1590 S. Coast Highway). Shuttles run until 8:45 p.m.
Special Events
February 4 12th Anniversary Celebration
5:00-6:00pm – City of Laguna Beach presents: Unveiling and Dedication of At That Moment , bronze sculpture by Louis Longi a part of the City of Laguna Beach Art in Public Places Rotating Sculpture Program: Heisler Park Walkway – 211 N. Coast Highway – Back Entrance Inn at Laguna. A reception following the dedication at Inn at Laguna Beach.
March 4
5:00-6:00pm – Community Art Project presents: Outdoor Sculpture Dedication – Divers Cove by Mike Tauber at Wells Fargo Bank – 260 Ocean Avenue. Reception following at Studio Arts Gallery.
Laguna Beach Music Festival
January 18-24
8th Annual Laguna Beach Music Festival: Exploring Music in Film
Festival headquarters: Hotel Laguna, 425 S. Coast Hwy.
Concert venue: Laguna Beach Artists Theater, 625 Park Avenue
www.lagunabeachmusicfestival.com
In 2010, through workshops, seminars and performance, the impact of music in film is explored. The unique centerpiece of the Festival is new, commissioned music from the exclusively edited version of The Living Sea by Greg MacGillivray, a two-time Academy-award nominated American IMAX director and cinematographer. This festival is brought to you by Laguna Beach Live! and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.
Theater
The Laguna Playhouse
606 Laguna Canyon Road
949-497-2787, ext 1
www.lagunaplayhouse.com
January 12 – February 7
Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone
Internationally acclaimed Hershey Felder personifies the America s Composer and renders an intimate portrait of musical legend, George Gershwin. This multi-award-winning production of Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone, is a musical event for all to experience and ignites an entirely new inside perspective of the historic composer s early background, personal life and artistic genius. With sold-out performances around the globe, this is a musical sensation along with a few surprises not to be missed!
Monsieur Chopin
Feb 25 – March 7
Created by the same team that brought George Gershwin Alone to life, Monsieur Chopin begins at Fr d ric Chopin s salon at 9 Square d Orl ans in Paris. Monsieur Chopin will teach a piano lesson that actually took place on March 4, 1848, just days after the February 1848 revolution. As the piano lesson unfolds, he reveals secrets about the art of the piano and composition, as well as secrets about himself. Considered by his contemporaries, and now by history, as the true Poet of the Piano, Monsieur Chopin features some of the pianist-composer s most beautiful and enduring music.
March 9-11
The Secret Life of Girls
An honest unflinching dramatization of teen-girl angst and the tumultuous, destructive world of girls bullying. Based upon interviews with girls on the giving and receiving end of bullying, the play highlights the impact of cyberbullying, the facilitation of mean-spirited behaviors through the use of cell phones, instant messaging, email and chat rooms.
March 16- April 11
The Second City: Can You Be More Pacific?
The internationally acclaimed sketch-comedy company, The Second City, has custom crafted a production for The Laguna Playhouse to lampoon our beloved Laguna Beach and Orange County. This show promises to deliver an avalanche of laughs that will highlight the most comedic and relevant elements of what it means to be behind the Orange Curtain. If you have lived in Orange County for any length of time, you will see yourself, your neighbor or your favorite plastic surgeon highlighted on stage for a good ribbing. From real housewives to finding sand in all the wrong places, this California adventure is a comedy ride that can t be missed and won t require a toll road. This regionally fashioned production is the sixth of its kind, and celebrates the comedic troupe s successful history of zany comedy and fosters such talented legends as John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Amy Poehler and today’s ever-successful Tina Fey.
Museum Exhibitions
Laguna Art Museum
307 Cliff Drive
Open daily; 11:00am-5:00pm
Admission: $10 general; $8 seniors, students and military; under 12 free.
949-494-8971
www.lagunaartmuseum.org
Now thru January 17
Collecting California
‘Collecting California’ focuses on individual collectors and some of the important gifts they have made. Works of art given by Nancy Dustin Wall Moure (the art historian who has pioneered the History of California Art and who wrote the book California Art: 450 Years of Painting and Other Media), Carl S. Dentzel (founder of the Southwest Museum), Mickey and Ruth Gribin (collectors, trustees, and patrons of contemporary Southern California art since the 1960s), Stuart and Judy Spence (trustees, theorists, benefactors of cutting edge Los Angeles art), are among some of the collectors on which ‘Collecting California’ will focus.
Now thru January 17
Jeremy Fish: Weathering the Storm
This is the first museum exhibition for San Francisco-based artist Jeremy Fish. Fish has an installation with symbols and characters that he has been developing over the last ten years. Fish’s iconography generally consists of a fairytale world inhabited by beavers, skulls, and birds which he has developed in part as a response to the influence that popular culture, cartooning, and literature (like the Brothers Grimm) has had on him. In 2006, Fish worked with Nike Skateboarding and designed the Air Classic Shoe. Fish has also collaborated with hip-hop artist Aesop Rock for the album ‘The Next Best Thing.’
February 6
Auction 100
Admission: $125 for Museum Members, $150 for Non-Members
Questions or tickets: Call Dawn Minegar at 949-494-8971 x203
Auction 100, presented by Laguna Art Museum, will take place Saturday, February 6, 2010, and will feature 100 works of art from 100 premier California artists. Art Auction Preview: You are invited to preview the exhibition from January 30-February 5 at Laguna Art Museum. Auction: The auction will take place on Saturday, February 6, from 6:00-10:00pm. A buffet, cocktails, music and curbside valet parking are included with ther price of admission. Post-Auction: Any unsold works will be available in a post-auction event on Sunday, February 7.
February 20- May 16
OsCene 2010
The OsCene is a survey exhibition drawn from artists working in all media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, multi-media installations, video, architecture, performance, and design. The survey will focus on artists based in Orange County and Long Beach. OsCene 2004 was the first survey of Orange County artists in over 20 years. OsCene 2010 will be curated by Grace Kook-Anderson, curator of exhibitions at Laguna Art Museum.
College Exhibitions
Laguna College of Art + Design
College Gallery, 2222 Laguna Canyon Road
Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm, Sat 9:00am-3:00pm
Admission: Free
949-376-6000
www.lagunacollege.edu
January 7- 16
The Splendor of Spanish Art
Works inspired by the 2009 summer study abroad program that toured Spain. Laguna College students chronicle their European travels with works reflective of their visits to museums and historical sites.
January 21 – February 13
Dressed2Kill
A juried student competition featuring concept art designs of costume and fashion for video game play.
February 18- March 11
Works by William Stout
William Stout’s vast career spans thirty years in the field of visual entertainment, his work includes: books, comics, movie, music art, murals, and much more. He has worked on over 30 feature films and is considered one of the top designers in the field of themed entertainment design with clients that include Disney, Universal Studios, Steven Spielberg and LucasFilm.
March 14 21
Color It Orange
Annual juried youth art exhibition of Orange County public and private school students from kindergarten through grade 12. The exhibition encourages and celebrates youth art and creativity. Over 4,500 juried entries are expected from genres that include drawings, paintings, sculpture, prints, and photography by hundreds of students, with more than 600 exceptional pieces exhibited in the main gallery and campus studios.
All About the Arts…
February 6, March 6
First Saturdays – Artists Open Studios
11:00am – 4:00pm
949-497-0722
http://www.lagunabeachcity.net/arts/aos800.jpg
Enjoy a rare opportunity to visit with 26 professional artists in private working studios in Laguna Beach. Talk with artists in their working environment and gain insight about their inspiration and technique.
February 14, March 7 & 21
Laguna Craft Guild, Main Beach Cobblestones
10:00am-dusk
www.lagunacraftguild.org
The Laguna Craft Guild exhibits in downtown Laguna Beach on the cobblestone of Main Beach. They represent a variety of art mediums; potters, glassblowers, textile artists, jewelers and many others as well. Come on down and visit them on a Sunday afternoon!
Winery Events
February 5, March 5
Monthly Tasting Party
Laguna Canyon Winery, 2133 Laguna Canyon Road
6:00-9:00pm
Admission: $35 per person
949-715-9463
www.lagunacanyonwinery.com/events/monthly_tasting.php
Enjoy a monthly tasting party with fine wine, hot food & live music.
Submitted By;
Ashley Johnson
