Corona del Mar Today: Pocket Park beneath Hobie mural is close to opening

Corona del Mar’s newest park is a little pocket park built beneath the Hobie Surf Shop mural.

Construction of the 1,300-square-foot park began in July and is nearly complete. A dedication ceremony is planned for 1 p.m. Dec. 1.

The ceremony will acknowledge the family of Myrtle Cox, who owned the land and donated it to the city for the park, as well as acknowledge the support of the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District and Corona del Mar Residents Assn., according to Newport Beach Public Works Director David Webb.

Mayor Ed Selich first proposed creating the small park in October 2012, and the City Council approved a $78,670 contract with a landscape company in March.

City reports have said the budget for the park was $80,000 to $95,000, including construction contingency funds and other costs. The park will require about $5,000 a year for maintenance.

*

A good way to write to Santa

For the fourth year, Crown Ace Hardware in Corona del Mar will help children connect with Santa Claus via snail mail.

Kids who drop off a letter to Santa by Dec. 1, including a stamped, self-addressed envelope, will receive a reply from Santa himself, according to a company email.

The store has a desk with envelopes and paper so kids can write their letters while at the store, and stamps are available at the register.

Letters then can be placed in a North Pole Express Mailbox inside the store. The letters to Santa do not require a stamp, but if kids want a response, the stamped envelope is required, a sign in the store says.

In previous years, more than 1,000 letters were sent, with responses from the North Pole’s most renowned resident. Crown Ace is located at 3107 East Coast Highway.

*

SCAPE Gallery to host new exhibit

The SCAPE Gallery, 2859 East Coast Highway, will host a new art exhibit, “Accidentally on Purpose,” Dec. 6 to Jan. 5.

“The show will feature printmaking artists from both Northern and Southern California, bringing them together for the first time,” the release said. “This particular exhibit is organized and curated by Sandra Fene Wolfson, a printmaker and artist herself.”

The show will launch the day of the Corona del Mar Christmas Walk, and the gallery will be open that day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The exhibit’s featured artists are Hedy Buzan, Ewa Gavrielov, Nif Hodgson, Nita Kurmins-Gilson, Colleen Premer, Denese Sanders, Sheryl Seltzer, Sieko Tachibana, Kazuko Watanabe, Donna Westermen and Sandra Fene Wolfson.

Many of the printmakers are connected with KALA, a world-renowned printmaking studio in Oakland, and others have been involved with the Laguna Beach Art community and the local community college art scene, the release said.

“Printmaking is a fine art method of making images on paper that supports matrixes such as plates that utilize a press,” the release said. “Each technique, whether etching, woodcut, silk screen, or monotype has its own unique ‘look; that can be explored and manipulated by the artist. Extensive experience, openness to experimentation and discovery results in an artist’s dialogue between intention and process. This is what makes printmaking such a unique art form.”

Corona del Mar Today appears Sundays in the Daily Pilot. Read daily updates at coronadelmartoday.com.