glow

Jesse and I walked down to the beach last Saturday night for "Glow Santa Monica." The event is held every other year and, this time, featured 20 temporary art installations on the Santa Monica Beach that were on display from 7pm to 3am. There was quite a variety of projects but the best ones were interactive and drew in the crowd. Here are some pictures and videos!

A little weird, but fun to watch - the soap suds were coming out of the top of the lifeguard shack at a rate determined by data gathered by the movement of the crowd...or something. I just hope the suds were environmentally-friendly. :)

Bella Luna - you can see a girl's face in the "moon." She was in a little tent singing karaoke songs about the moon.

Dinner at the India Jones food truck.

Images of dogs projected on the side of the "Hot Dog Stick" food stand. Whaaaat?!

A glowing (of course) tunnel from the boardwalk to the beach.

A video of the tunnel and Bella Luna, as well as of a different installation with giant hands projected on the sand. Oh, but I would turn down the volume for the first one - screaming kids.

art in laguna beach

A few weeks ago, Jesse and I went to Laguna Beach to check out the art festivals and the Pageant of the Masters. Laguna Beach has been a haven for artists since the early 1900s, and I believe the first art festival was established in the 1930s. Today, there are three art festivals that last for the whole summer, as well as a lot of art galleries. The downtown area is right on the ocean, and there is a very nice beach in town. There are beautiful coves on either side of the town, but I haven't had a chance to see those yet (next time). This time, we were focused on the art festivals.

We went to the Sawdust Art and Craft Festival first. It was casual and accessible. The prices were great. The art? A little mediocre. Later on, we went to the Festival of Arts. There was a lot to love here. But the prices reflected that (of course). There, it was more about enjoying the creativity and skill of the artists who were represented.

We ended the night by going to the Pageant of the Masters - a theater performance that involves the re-creation of artistic masterpieces using elaborate sets and live performers. The first two displays, I swore there were no real people on the sets (there were). It was pretty unbelievable. Next time, I think I would get closer seats. And dress warmer. One of my favorite parts of the event was that it was held in a beautiful amphitheater in a very pretty wooded area, but being that close to the ocean, it was a bit chilly.

Sawdust Festival

Festival of Arts

The beach in town

By Mia Moore (one of my favorites)

By April Rader (Jesse liked this piece a lot)