In the Arts: Local art museum will offer free admission Sunday

The Laguna Art Museum is offering free admission from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The venue — at 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach — will be participating in the Assn. of Art Museum Directors’ Art Museum Day, which also corresponds with International Museum Day.

Guests will be able to take interactive docent-guided tours at the top of every hour until 4 p.m. and make prints inspired by “Wayne Thiebaud: American Memories” and sculptures based on “ex·pose: dana harel.”

Additionally, Helen Polins-Jones, Sally Eastwood and Sarah Vanderveen will be on site from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to sign copies of their book, “101 Things to Love About Laguna Beach.”

Reservations are not required. For more information, contact Curator of Education Marinta Skupin at (949) 494-8971, Ext. 201.

Meanwhile, the museum will host “Dana Harel in Conversation with Amir H. Fallah” at 7 p.m. May 22.

Harel was born in Tel Aviv, and “ex·pose: dana harel” marks her first museum exhibition in the United States. She received a bachelor’s degree from the California College of Arts and Crafts, and her pieces have been highlighted in various solo and group exhibitions.

In “Between Dreams and Nightmares,” San Francisco-based Harel has put together mixed media drawings that showcase her relationship with male family members and ties to military life. The show also includes “Wrestling with God,” a large-scale drawing reminiscent of Jacob grappling with an angel in the Book of Genesis.

Her friend and fellow artist, Fallah, was born in Tehran and studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art and UCLA. His aesthetic boasts personal influences, art history, pop culture and more, and his work can be seen in the Salsali Private Museum in Dubai, among other places.

Tickets are free for members. Others need only pay museum admission, which is $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.

For more information, visit https://www.lagunaartmuseum.org or call (949) 494-8971, Ext. 203.

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Laguna College of Art + Design will hold its commencement ceremony at 4 p.m. May 19.

According to Laura Patrick, the college registrar, the graduating class of 2014 comprises 89 bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates — the most in LCAD’s history.

Charity Oetgen, co-founder of Artists Inspiring Raindrops, a group that helps nonprofits raise funds by selling donated art, will be the student commencement speaker. Bob Hurley, founder of clothing company Hurley, has also been invited to address attendees. The main campus is at 2222 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach.

For more information, visit https://www.lcad.edu.

— Rhea Mahbubani