Arts Orange County and Orange County Department of Education reunite to present a 37th year of the Imagination Celebration, a countywide festival of arts for families and children. In 2022, most events will be live, in-person events, admission is free or low in cost, and venues and organizations from San Clemente to Fullerton and in between are participating. The complete schedule of events with full details may be found here.

11th Día del Niño Festival Adds Second Venue

Free Admission Days of Performances and Hands-on Workshops for All Ages

Includes Grammy Award winners, community and student artists

After a year hiatus followed by a virtual year, Arts Orange County and Media Arts Santa Ana (MASA) will bring back their OC Día del Niño Festival live and in-person for two days at the OC Fair & Event Center's Imaginology event and a bonus day in Fullerton at Pacific Drive Elementary School. Admission is free to the events. More information may be found here.

This year’s theme, “The Arts Work,” will provide weekly opportunities to explore and establish how the arts work to heal, to build community, to advance justice, to empower youth and to create jobs. Each week will feature theme-based messaging campaigns to create public awareness and webinars featuring panel discussions with thought leaders and practitioners. More information here.

Public Art in OC Now Surpasses 1,000 Works!

New Murals Unveiled in Dana Point, Laguna Beach

Censorship of a recent art exhibition and a new decision requiring corporate review and approval of future exhibitions has led Laguna Beach's Community Arts Project (CAP) to terminate its lease with Wells Fargo Bank in Laguna Beach where it has exhibited art for 20 years.

The bank had recently ended an exhibition of social justice-themed quilts by a prominent artist. CAP moved that exhibition to the Neighborhood Congregational Church.

In an article in the Laguna Beach Independent about CAP's decision, CAP Treasurer Faye Baglin reported that Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach had "previously exited its arrangement with Wells Fargo to display art on the bank’s third floor." Baglin added “Our board found it unreasonable to have our art juried by one Wells Fargo Bank vice president." Read more here in Laguna Beach Independent and in the Daily Pilot.

The U.S. blocked entry of renowned vocalist Alireza Ghorbani, preventing him from appearing at Pacific Symphony's Nowruz celebration concert at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The Iranian artist is a Canadian resident and had a visa to enter, which was suddenly canceled after he was detained and interrogated for several hours at the airport in Toronto. According to the Daily Pilot, Alireza Ardekani, executive director for the Los Angeles-area nonprofit Farhang Foundation, which collaborated with the Pacific Symphony to host the Nowruz event, said "denial of travel likely stemmed from the 49-year-old’s compulsory service decades earlier in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." On short notice, Iranian vocalist Sina Sarlak filled in for Ghorbani. Read more here in the Daily Pilot.

ArtsOC Board Member & Curator of the UCI Southeast Asian Archive Thuy Vo Dang and her co-authors of A People's Guide to Orange County will be featured during the next planned webinar in ArtsOC's "Breaking Through" series, which showcases examples of programs that focus on artists of color in our community. Joining Dang will be Gustavo Arellano, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and Elaine Lewinnek, professor at California State University, Fullerton. Their new book, published by University of California Press, is a guide for visitors and residents alike depicting pieces of history unknown to many and focusing on the experiences of non-white communities. The virtual program will take place on Thursday, May 12, from 12 noon to 1 pm. Admission will be free. More information to come.

We acknowledge with respect our presence on the ancestral lands of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians - Acjachemen Nation and the Tongva People.