‘Bad art’ is thoughtless label

Is Laguna Beach the home of “bad art?”

That cheap, unthoughtful, but unfortunately popular description of

this city has often made its way into the printed word and reared its

head again in a recent article about the city.

We see it enough and we need to say, “Enough.”

Laguna is a city with a lot of art, and sure, some of it is bad.

Many just think it’s all plein air and Wyland. Some love those styles

and some can call it bad art if they want, but it’s just not an

accurate description of the city as a whole.

Some of the art is for the pop crowd, some is for the casual

tourist and some is for true patrons of art who know their history

and can appreciate quality work.

There’s art from all over the world along with local work that is

creative, thought provoking, exciting and or beautiful.

People who just take a walk through town or are prone to believing

those clever writers with their denigrating quips about Laguna don’t

have a good idea of what this city has to offer artistically.

You can’t just visit the Sawdust Festival or Festival of Arts and

think you’ve seen it all.

There are juried exhibits such as the Art-A-Fair, and we have

internationally acclaimed local artists such as Fitz Maurice and

Marlo Bartels, whose mosaics and functional art pieces have been

featured in “House and Garden” and “Architectural Digest.”

Flippant folk need to keep in mind that with such a wide variety

of styles to offer, it is impossible to lump all of Laguna’s art into

one category, especially under the easy and unresearched descriptor

of “bad.”