Laguna Beach wants a new sheen on arts scene
The Laguna Beach City Council has agreed on one thing: The community’s arts scene needs a shot in the arm.
The council voted last week to investigate ways to accomplish this.
The intent is to boost Laguna’s artsy image and reduce the fragmentation in a city known for its numerous galleries, summer arts festivals and other cultural events.
For the last year, the Cultural Planning Group, a city-hired consultant, has interviewed more than 700 residents and tourists to get a sense of what Laguna’s arts community should aspire to be going forward.
Ideas include enabling more artists to live and work in the pricey beach enclave; drawing more international recognition to the city’s arts scene with high- profile events such as art fairs; increasing the budget for public art pieces; and f inding a way to tie everything together, perhaps with a centralized cultural facility where artists could exhibit their work, share ideas and interact with the public.
Referring to the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Plan, which serves as a framework, Councilman Bob Whalen said: “This is a strong document, and I love the fact that the first goal, and absolutely the right goal, is facilitating and enabling working artists to have thriving careers in Laguna Beach.”
When he began his oneyear mayoral term in December 2014, Whalen had called for an “arts renaissance” in the city.
Council members did not authorize any expenditures toward that end, nor signal support or opposition to a centralized facility.
But some planning and arts commissioners expressed interest in such a facility at a February meeting, which in turn has generated community discussion.
“There are a lot of questions that need to be addressed,” resident Ginger Osborne said. “I don’t think we have fully determined whether we are fully utilizing the facilities we have. At the [ Laguna Beach Community and Susi Q Center] during the night there are rooms that are unused, and the cost of renting those rooms is very high.
“It might be that the city could subsidize or lower the rent on those facilities and others in town. It would be a much cheaper alternative than building a building and having to continually staff that for years to come.”
Laguna’s arts venues include Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Art Museum and the Forum Theatre at the Festival of Arts. There could be a closer look at how those facilities are used.
Photographer Tom Lamb, who has lived in Laguna for more than 30 years, advised the council to consider the plan’s long- term implications.
“It’s going to be our children who enjoy this,” Lamb said. “It’s the future. It isn’t today. We’re looking down the road. It’s not about buildings, it’s about community. It’s about art. Think of this as an overall framework ... we’ll all work on this in the future.”