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The Sawdust Art Festival, also known as The Sawdust or The Sawdust Festival, is an
In 1965, a group of
“Price Of Respect:Sawdust Festival Loses Rebel Image”
''Los Angeles Times,'' 26 July 1985. This group held their first exhibit in 1965 on the vacant Peacock lot near Park Avenue in Laguna; it was called "The Rejects Festival" by some in the media and at the FOA.Sawdust websit
“Sawdust Festival History”
Retrieved 4 June 2015.Daniella Walsh
"A Storied Past : Laguna Art Festivals"
''Laguna Beach Magazine,'' May/June 2012. The group held their second showing in 1967 on the Kronquist lot in north Laguna. In 1968, the festival moved to its present three-acre site on Laguna Canyon Road, across the street from the established FOA. At this location, Sawdust artists began building, "wildly conceived, mostly wood-built quasi-dwellings, which were heavy on the rustic theme, with no two alike." They also built a wooden, fort-like gate, and spread sawdust or wood chips onto the bare ground. While the festival in its early days had a carnival atmosphere, with streakers and religious fanatics preaching amid the booths, it was sparsely attended. Admission was initially free; but it was raised to 25 cents in the early 1970s, “only after some locals came to chant and preach rather than look,” according to an early exhibitor.Ashley Powers
“Sawdust Festival Sheds Hippie Daze”
''Los Angeles Times,'' 28 June 2003.
Attendance grew and reached a peak of 350,000 in the early 1970s. By the mid-1980s, the home-made booths, gate, and sawdust remained, but as the festival became more respectable, attendance fell to around 250,000.
In 1985, the Sawdust spent $60,000 for a new front facade, a mock-up of the nearby Hotel Laguna and three other Laguna buildings. Later, Sawdust management erected a permanent, Bavarian style facade.
The Sawdust's “Benevolence Fund,” started in 1987, is a non-profit organization, assisting artists living in Laguna Beach who have, “suffered a catastrophic event, making them unable to work." This fund holds yearly fundraisers.
By the late 1980s, the Sawdust was becoming a bigger tourist attraction than the Festival of Arts.
By 2003, the festival had acquired professional management, was charging $5.50 for admission, had about 200,000 visitors a season, and new artists were only allowed to exhibit if they were Laguna Beach residents.
By 2015, the Sawdust joined Laguna's other two festivals in offering one admission ticket for all three events. Also, by 2015, several artist/exhibitors have been at the festival since its early days; they include Doug Miller, Nikki Grant,Rhea Mahbubani
“Anything Goes at Sawdust”
''Coastline Pilot,'' 26 June 2013. Dion Wright and David Nelson. 2020 & thereafter saw strict measures against the
Sawdust Art Festival
Art festivals in the United States Culture of Laguna Beach, California Arts festivals in California Festivals in Orange County, California Laguna Beach, California Orange County, California culture Orange County, California articles needing infoboxes
The Sawdust Art Festival, also known as The Sawdust or The Sawdust Festival, is an art festival
An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lite ...
held annually from late June through August in Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservat ...
. The festival features handicrafts
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
as well as traditional fine art
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
. It is non-juried, but exhibitors are required to be Laguna Beach residents. About 200,000 visitors attend each year. The Sawdust also hosts an annual Winter Fantasy art fair in mid-November through December, which is open to non-resident exhibitors.
Description
The Sawdust Art Festival is an annual art festival, held inLaguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservat ...
from the end of June to the end of August. There is also a “Sawdust Winter Fantasy” festival, running weekends from mid-November through December, and open to non-resident exhibitors.
As the only non-juried art festival in Laguna, the Sawdust displays paintings, sculpture, printmaking, photography, glass, ceramics, jewelry, woodwork, furniture, textiles, clothing and mixed media. The festival also features glassblowing demonstrations, ceramic center, art workshops, a children's art booth, outdoor cafes, a saloon and a variety of live musical entertainment.
As of 2014, the festival was drawing about 200,000 visitors each year.
History
In 1965, a group of hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
-type artists were dissatisfied with the nearby Laguna Beach Festival of Arts (FOA) and its jury system
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury trials are used in a significant ...
, which they viewed as rigged and part of The Establishment
''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific ...
.Herman Wong“Price Of Respect:Sawdust Festival Loses Rebel Image”
''Los Angeles Times,'' 26 July 1985. This group held their first exhibit in 1965 on the vacant Peacock lot near Park Avenue in Laguna; it was called "The Rejects Festival" by some in the media and at the FOA.Sawdust websit
“Sawdust Festival History”
Retrieved 4 June 2015.Daniella Walsh
"A Storied Past : Laguna Art Festivals"
''Laguna Beach Magazine,'' May/June 2012. The group held their second showing in 1967 on the Kronquist lot in north Laguna. In 1968, the festival moved to its present three-acre site on Laguna Canyon Road, across the street from the established FOA. At this location, Sawdust artists began building, "wildly conceived, mostly wood-built quasi-dwellings, which were heavy on the rustic theme, with no two alike." They also built a wooden, fort-like gate, and spread sawdust or wood chips onto the bare ground. While the festival in its early days had a carnival atmosphere, with streakers and religious fanatics preaching amid the booths, it was sparsely attended. Admission was initially free; but it was raised to 25 cents in the early 1970s, “only after some locals came to chant and preach rather than look,” according to an early exhibitor.Ashley Powers
“Sawdust Festival Sheds Hippie Daze”
''Los Angeles Times,'' 28 June 2003.
Attendance grew and reached a peak of 350,000 in the early 1970s. By the mid-1980s, the home-made booths, gate, and sawdust remained, but as the festival became more respectable, attendance fell to around 250,000.
In 1985, the Sawdust spent $60,000 for a new front facade, a mock-up of the nearby Hotel Laguna and three other Laguna buildings. Later, Sawdust management erected a permanent, Bavarian style facade.
The Sawdust's “Benevolence Fund,” started in 1987, is a non-profit organization, assisting artists living in Laguna Beach who have, “suffered a catastrophic event, making them unable to work." This fund holds yearly fundraisers.
By the late 1980s, the Sawdust was becoming a bigger tourist attraction than the Festival of Arts.
By 2003, the festival had acquired professional management, was charging $5.50 for admission, had about 200,000 visitors a season, and new artists were only allowed to exhibit if they were Laguna Beach residents.
By 2015, the Sawdust joined Laguna's other two festivals in offering one admission ticket for all three events. Also, by 2015, several artist/exhibitors have been at the festival since its early days; they include Doug Miller, Nikki Grant,Rhea Mahbubani“Anything Goes at Sawdust”
''Coastline Pilot,'' 26 June 2013. Dion Wright and David Nelson. 2020 & thereafter saw strict measures against the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, including wearing masks and enforcing social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
.
References
{{reflist, 2 * * * *External links
Sawdust Art Festival
Art festivals in the United States Culture of Laguna Beach, California Arts festivals in California Festivals in Orange County, California Laguna Beach, California Orange County, California culture Orange County, California articles needing infoboxes