First Thursdays Art Walk: Art & Nature Everywhere

LAGUNA BEACH, CA—The ninth annual Art & Nature Festival is almost here, which means First Thursdays Art Walk on November 4th will have Laguna Beach buzzing. In addition to three new exhibitions opening that night inside Laguna Art Museum, other galleries around town are also offering exhibitions with a nod to the natural world.

Kelsey Michaels Fine Art, which is located just across the street from the museum, will be open for Art Walk. "Seamless" is a group show that highlights a slew of work "inspired by the lines of nature as well as the inarguable connectivity surrounding us." Participants, in addition to Carlos Ramirez whose "Caught In a Wave" is pictured above, are Kristina Grace, Liz Jardine, Stacy D’Aguiar, Kimerlee Curyl, Kelsey Irvin, Gary Komarin, Aondrea Maynard, Todd Kenyon, Brandon Reese and Meredith Pardue.

Community Art Project displays works under the rotunda at the Wells Fargo Bank, so for security reasons the gallery isn't open for Art Walk. But you can see "Reframing Nature" during business hours and on Saturday morning.

Laura Stickney and Vilma Mendillo collaborated on three books for the show, each containing poetry related to nature, as well as etchings, aquatints and silkscreens on handmade papers with unique bindings. Sheryl Smith Seltzer's work focuses on light and rhythm in close-ups of plant life and the surf. Patricia Prescott Sueme uses pastels to bring out the subtleties and power found in coastal views.

"Reframing Nature" is now open, and will be up through January 14th, 2022.

Gallery Q at Susi Q Senior Center's Art & Nature show is joyously named, "Celebrating Our Natural World." Artists of all ages answered the call to create works inspired by the physical world we inhabit, including Patsee Ober, Rob Gage and Tom Lamb, among others.

Like CAP, Gallery Q's building closes at 5. So you'll have to visit during the day.

"Celebrating Our Natural World" opened on October 26, and they've already had their first sale. The show runs through December 15th.

Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach will be open to the public on Friday, November 5, from 3:30-7 to view "Colors of Nature." A year's worth of club members' art-making will be on display, capturing shapes, colors and textures found in the natural world.

Opening at Laguna Art Museum on First Thursdays Art Walk are three diverse shows:

The festival's featured video installation "Any-Instant-Whatever" by Rebeca Méndez.

"A Fanciful World: Jessie Arms Botke" includes masterful paintings in oil and watercolor of tropical birds and foliage adorned with gold and silver.

"Sky Space Time Change" includes paintings, prints, sculpture and photography from Laguna Art Museum’s extensive collection of California artists. Inspired by "Any-Instant-Whatever," the show is co-curated by Sharrissa Iqbal and Michael Duncan. The artwork included speaks visually to the interconnections among physical, environmental and cultural systems.

As it is every Art Walk, the museum will be free and open to the public on Thursday November 4, from 6-9 p.m.