LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR STEPPING DOWN

Ann E. Wareham announced that she is departing her position as Artistic Director of the Laguna Playhouse. She will stay through the end of this calendar year to assist with the transition. Comments Wareham, “It has been a tremendous honor to be able to guide the Laguna Playhouse over this past decade and to serve the extraordinary arts community of Laguna Beach. It is such a vibrant and truly special place and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity.” President of the Board of Directors Glenn Gray adds, “Over the past 11 years, Annie has been instrumental in the artistic growth and vision of the Playhouse. The staff, crew, Playhouse donors and Board of Directors join me in wishing Ann nothing but the best as she embarks on her next journey.” 

VOICE OF OC'S NORBERTO SANTANA, JR

NAMED PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR

Norberto Santana, Jr. has been honored as the best publisher in the nation amongst small newsrooms in the 2021 Local Journalism Awards.

Independent judges for the contest recognized Santana for Voice of OC’s continued success, saying:

“Voice of OC is one of the standard bearers of nonprofit journalism. The clean, sharp site articulates its mission well and documents the impact of their work, which is considerable. Voice of OC has robust and comprehensive content and uses savvy social media outreach and smart refinement of the tech stack to reach their audience."

The LION Local Journalism Awards recognize excellence in journalism and business amongst local independent online news publishers and especially look to honor journalists “who rise above the ordinary.”

Santa Ana to Participate in Arts and Economic Prosperity Study

After several months of United Artists of Santa Ana (UASA) advocacy to the Santa Ana Arts & Culture Commission and City Council, it was announced yesterday that the City of Santa Ana was moving forward to participate in the Americans for the Arts "Arts & Economic Prosperity 6” study by Americans for the Arts, which measures spending in communities by arts organizations and by patrons to arts events. According to UASA, “This is a big win for Santa Ana, because the economic impact of Santa Ana's arts sector has not been measured before, and this will not only provide critical data to the City regarding the contributions to Santa Ana's economy by arts and culture organizations, it will also guide resources and policies to serve and develop this important sector.” Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 is Americans for the Arts’ sixth study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry's impact on the economy. It documents the economic contributions of the arts in diverse communities and regions across the country.

Four Orange County Artists Win California Arts Council Fellowships

Hannah Eko, Nancy Nguyen, Alicia Rojas and Keya Vance have been selected to receive 2021 California Arts Council Artist Fellowshps. Anne Bown-Crawford, California Arts Council’s executive director, said the agency “is eager to celebrate, along with our fellows, this much anticipated return to directly supporting our state’s artists.”

This quartet isn’t just being saluted for artistic talent; each is slated to receive a cash grant meant to encourage them in and reward them for their endeavors. The CAC is awarding a total of $2.185 million to 182 recipients, all of whom applied for a 2021 Individual Artist Fellowship, a new program that’s in some ways a reboot of the council’s past practice of providing grants to individual California artists.

Read more about the artists in the Voice of OC article here.

Artist Josh Agle (SHAG) Receives His OC Arts Award

at Historic Hunt Library

Unable to attend the OC Arts Awards in October where he was being honored among those involved in the FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy Murals project, artist Josh Agle, known as SHAG, paid a visit to Fullerton's historic Hunt Library for a tour and to receive his statuette from ArtsOC President & CEO Rick Stein. Much of Agle's work celebrates and re-interprets the Mid-Century Modern lifestyle, including architecture, fashion, fictional characters and celebrities, so his interest was piqued to check out the 1962 William Pereira-designed Hunt Library, which is about to undergo renovations with plans to open to the public in 2022. Agle is an Orange County resident, an avid surfer, and has a gallery in Palm Springs.