Laguna Beach's Festival Of Arts Welcomes 4 New Pieces, Artists

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — A decades-old festival in Laguna Beach will welcome fresh faces and new works this month.

The Festival of Arts, which just turned 90 this summer, has acquiesced four new pieces from four longtime exhibiting artists, who will be able to showcase their art in the festival's permanent collection. The collection houses more than 1,000 diverse pieces valued for their rich cultural and historical significance.

Works from Molly Hutchings, Chris Bliss, Ray Brown and Carolyn Machado will contribute works to join more than 1,000 two-dimensional and three-dimensional pieces featured within the gallery, with some works dating back to the early 1900’s.

"We are honored to add their unique perspectives and exceptional talents to the Festival’s collection," Festival of Arts Exhibits Director Christine Georgantas wrote in a statement.

Pieces in the permanent collection are meant to show how the festival rose to prominence in Southern California, be a time capsule of art from the last century.

The new pieces include Hutchings' "Raven," a watercolor painting; a photograph titled "Times Square Saturday Night" by Chris Bliss, a charcoal drawing called "Great Gray Day" by Ray Brown, and a mixed media assemblage dubbed "Passing Time" by Carolyn Machado.

Hutchings has been showcasing and selling her paintings at the festival for 29 years.

"Molly has developed a style that has become a signature; complicated, yet delicate, and with each facet clearly rendered," said Pat Sparkuhl, permanent art collection curator.

Bliss, like Hutchings, has been an exhibitor at the festival for more than 25 years, offering both fine art and commercial photography.

"His photograph 'Times Square Saturday Night' is a strong example of Bliss’s ability to capture the vitality and color, while also capsulating a moment in time through the show titles on the Marquees," according to a release from the festival.

Brown's "Great Gray Day" is meant to convey his experiences in the wilderness and being out in the field.

"'Great Gray Day' combines the innocence of an owl enduring the extreme elements that surround it, illustrating an atmosphere that expresses strength and determination," according to the festival.

Machado has also been showing her art at the festival for more than 25 years. Her assemblage pieces are constructed with recycled materials.

"This particular work shows Carolyn’s abilities to take a narrow vertical structure and create a complex totemic-like composition," Sparkuhl said.