Taking flight

SUZIE HARRISON

A number of new butterfly species have migrated from Laguna Beach and

landed at Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach with the help of local

artists.

The butterflies’ flight patterns are as definitive as their

mission -- a phenomenon known as the Butterfly Initiative.

Celebrating its inaugural year, the KOCE --TV’s Butterfly

Initiative was instigated to ignite the imagination and foster

creativity in communities through a series of projects.

The first of these outreach endeavors is called the Arts and

Science Legacy, which will facilitate the creation of Orange County’s

first endowment for arts and science education in schools.

To support that goal, many Laguna Beach residents were among 50

area artists who stepped up to the philanthropic plate and created

butterfly sculptures that were auctioned at a fundraiser event March

4.

Laguna artists who participated are Olivia Batchelder, her

daughter Erica Batchelder, Pat Whiteside Phillips, Mike Tauber and

Michele Taylor as a team, James Koch, Nick Hernandez, Angela

Cunningham, Brad Howe, Lynn Kubasek, Ron Pastucha, Wyland, Marty

Gray, J. Kamin Fine Arts gallery artists Jacqueline Kamin, her

daughter Stacy Kamin and Nairi Bagdagulyan and Jonathan Burke --

Laguna Beach College of Art and Design Dean of Fine Arts.

In October, artists selected either a 24-inch or 60-inch metal

butterfly sculpture donated by KOCE to use as their canvas. However,

artists donated all the materials and time it took to create their

piece.

The intensive process the artists used to create these works could

easily be assimilated to the butterfly metaphor of egg, to pupae, to

chrysalis to butterfly, as their own works went through a

metamorphosis to become spectacular pieces of one-of-a-kind original

art. Showcased in Rogers Garden, these butterflies in nature are an

ethereal sight.

Olivia Batchelder said she chose to create the larger size piece,

but was uninspired at first with the aluminum canvas.

“It sat in my driveway for two months before conception,”

Batchelder said. “I knew it was going to be a garden sculpture and

the materials needed to be long lasting.”

Batchelder used mosaic, cement, tiles and glass. She visited her

old mentor who used to be a mosaic artist in the 1950s. He allowed

her to purchase large, beautifully colorful, hand-made ceramic tiles

at ‘50’s prices.

“I smashed them with a hammer and broke them into pieces,”

Batchelder said. “I stained the grout black with black dye.”

Batchelder’s butterfly weighed 350 pounds. She chose not to mount

her piece, and instead it leaned against rocks. The lighting, she

said, complemented her sculpture.

Whiteside Phillips said she got involved because she believes that

the arts are a major form of communication and expression.

“Art leaps over language barriers and becomes a universal language

of its own,” she said. “It is vital to maintain the art in schools

for all levels.”

Some butterfly sculptures are still available for purchase and are

on exhibit throughout the month. For information about the Butterfly

Initiative or the Arts and Science Legacy Project call Jaimee C.

Niles at (714) 895-0815 or go to https://www.butterfly initiative.org.