2009 Sawdust Festival, Laguna Beach CA

Sawdust Art Festival

935 Laguna Canyon Rd.
Laguna Beach, CA. 92651

Phone: 949.494.3030

Fax: 949.494.7390

Email: questions@sawdustartfestival.org

The Sawdust Art Festival is truly a local event. All artists exhibiting in the festival are residents of Laguna Beach.

Unlike some other non-profit organizations dedicated to the arts, the Sawdust Art Festival’s administration is made up of exhibiting members. Each year, exhibiting artists are elected as members of the Board of Directors.

In addition, booth locations are determined by an annual lottery, usually held in February.

Because the show is non-juried, enthusiastic amateurs display their work along with accomplished veteran artists, providing the spice and variety that make every show different from the last.

In keeping with the spirit of its beginnings, the Sawdust Art Festival intends to be different from other art shows, visualizing itself as an artists’ “happening” rather than a stuffy exhibit.

To that end, the artists themselves build a unique village of individual booths from the ground up each summer.

The architectural designs are as varied and interesting as the work they showcase. Once the booths are finished, the sawdust goes down, the landscaping goes in, music fills the air and once again the Sawdust Art Festival magically returns for another summer.

It is truly a unique experience in the arts that brings visitors back year after year.

———-

Julie Setterholm, Mixed Media was working on one of her lovely jewelry hangers and took the time to talk to me about how she makes them and bronze she uses.

The booth that impressed me the most was Kirk Milette Jewelry – gorgeous pieces in the most beautiful Abalone Pearls, Golden South Seas (spherical and baroque) this is a talented artist! The artist doesn’t allow photos so you will have to let the mermaid atop the Abalone pearl to tempt you to the Festival to see his elegant designs.

From the top: The front gates; there is art outside the gates as well as inside – water feature by Larry Gill http://larrygillartist.com; the “Greek Island Grille has a whimsical mosaic wall; Just inside the gates the Jewelry by MerriJane Morrison booth is staffed by the artist’s charming mother; Raymond Don Caruso offers lovely scrimshaw and shark tooth (Calif. collected) necklaces; Water Features and Wire Sculpture by Ed Chatlin echatlin@cox.net; Feathers Custom Clothing.

The following posts highlight some of the artists that impressed me…