In The Arts

Wright marks 50 years at festivals

Dion Wright, master welder and one of the Sawdust Art Festival’s original founders, completed his 50th season in the Laguna Beach art festivals Sunday, closing day of the Sawdust’s 2009 summer season.

Having started his festival career at the Festival of Arts when he was juried into the 1959 show, Wright eventually joined the Sawdust’s group of founding members and helped create a non-juried art festival.

Since the Sawdust’s inception in 1966, Wright has exhibited almost every years at the Sawdust (with the exception of one absentee year in 1974), selling his welded sculptures in a conjoined booth space with his wife, Ruth Wright, since 1981. Although he no longer lives in Laguna Beach “” a requirement of Sawdust exhibitors “” Wright has been “grandfathered” into the show by having lived and exhibited in Laguna Beach for a sufficient amount of years, and returns each summer to Laguna Beach from his current residence in Arizona.

Wright derives his art from nature and has developed two stylistic lines of work, one of which is fabricating from scratch, the other is using silverware to assemble pieces. Currently, he is working on a large civic project for a foundation based in Arizona. He has sculpted a life-sized “mountain lion” piece to be molded from 40 mountain lion sculptures, which will be painted by 40 different artists and installed in various public locations throughout Flagstaff. The original mountain lion is scheduled to exhibit at next year’s Sawdust summer show, if not yet sold.

Ecofest planned at Lumberyard

Endangered Planet Foundation’s one earth

one dream Ecofest will take place Oct. 3 and 4 at the Lumberyard Mall, 384 Forest Ave.

The free event is open to the public and includes guest speakers, eco exhibits, interactive seminars, art displays, films, live entertainment and more.

Daily exhibitors include Art Miles Mural Project (EcoMile/Pyramid/Murals), SEEDS Arts & Education, the Organic Cellar Wine Tasting, Endangered Planet Gallery, and Southern California Edison.

For more information, call (949) 497-5690, or visit www.1e1d.org.

Renner photographs shown at Artist Eye

Artist Eye Laguna Gallery will feature fine art images by Laguna Beach photographer Paul Renner through Sept. 30.

Born and raised in Tanzania, Renner spent his childhood exploring Africa in the Serengeti Plains and Ngorongoro Crater regions. Living among the native African tribes, he learned Swahili and the art of tracking and observing animals in their natural habitats.

As a teenager, he explored the Lake Nakuru region and Great Rift Valley in East Africa with his Brownie Box camera “” capturing the diversity of animal and bird life and the beauty of the rugged landscape.

Renner leads private photo safaris to Africa, and conducts photography workshops in Laguna Beach.

Artist Eye Laguna Gallery features the works of 18 Southern California artists in a variety of media including watercolor, oil, mixed media, photography, sculpture, and jewelry.

The gallery is at 1294 S. Coast Hwy., Suite A. For more information, call (949) 497-5898 or visit www.artisteyelagunagallery.com.

Laguna Beach juried exhibition seeks art

All Orange County artists age 18 or older are invited to submit two-dimensional work to the city of Laguna Beach 2009 Juried Fine Art Exhibition, taking place at City Hall from Oct. 19 to Nov. 25. Prizes will be awarded.

Work must be original and executed within the past two years and not have been previously exhibited at City Hall. Framed work measuring no more than 36 square inches and a non-refundable entry fee of $20 for up to three entries must accompany submissions. Checks should be made payable to: City of Laguna Beach.

The deadline for CD submission, check and entry form is Sept. 11. Submissions must be sent to the Cultural Arts Department, City of Laguna Beach, 505 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach, CA 92651

The juror for the show is Grace Kook-Anderson, curator of exhibitions at Laguna Art Museum.