Orange County Board of Supervisors Chair Andrew Do (District 1), Vice Chair Doug Chaffee (District 4), and Supervisor Lisa Bartlett (District 5) (left to right above) received their Orange County Arts Awards statuettes in their offices from Arts Orange County President & CEO Rick Stein. They were unable to attend the October 19th event where Supervisors Katrina Foley and Donald P. Wagner received their awards in person. This recognition was to express appreciation for their quick response in making relief funds available to the artists, arts businesses and nonprofit arts organizations in our community during the COVID pandemic.

The Wooden Floor is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Stand for the Arts Award from Ovation TV.

The only California recipient and one of fifteen nationwide, The Wooden Floor is a creative youth development nonprofit for children from low-income communities, located in Santa Ana.

Ovation TV is America's only arts network. The award was presented in partnership with Charter Communications, Inc.

2 Grammy Award Nominations for the recording of a May 2019 concert in which Pacific Chorale participated.

Pacific Chorale appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, National Children’s Chorus, and eight outstanding soloists all under the baton of conductor Gustavo Dudamel to perform Gustav Mahler’s mammoth Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major—aptly nicknamed the “Symphony of a Thousand.”

Read more here.

We mourn the recent passing of legendary musical theatre artist Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim appeared on stage at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in 2012 to speak about his life and works (see Paul Hodgins' OC Register article about it here).

South Coast Repertory has produced seven of his works including A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park With George and Sweeney Todd (read more about it here). Laguna Playhouse produced Company and the US premiere of Moving On, a revue by the creator of Side by Side by Sondheim. (View the Playhouse's production history here.)

New York Times obituary here.

Madam Modjeska's Wicked Fairytale is on stage live today and tomorrow at UCI. Annie Loui, Claire Trevor School of the Arts professor of acting and artistic director for CounterBalance Theatre adapted the work for the stage and for a short film. Details here.

Helena Modjeska was the first international artist to make her home in Orange County, settling here in 1876. Her historic home designed by Stanford White is maintained by

the Orange County Parks Department and

welcomes visitors. Arts Orange County's Cultural Legacy lifetime achievement awards are named in her honor.

City of Laguna Beach has opened applications for Cultural Arts Funding with a deadline of February 7, 2022.

Grants are available to support arts programming that takes place in the City of Laguna Beach, but is not exclusively limited to organizations based in the city.

During the 2021 grant cycle, the City awarded grants to 15 organizations in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $35,000.

More information may be found here.

Laguna Beach artist FITZ Maurice has a goal of being the first artist to paint all 63 of America's National Parks, and has already completed 40 of them.



Arts journalist Liz Goldner wrote about this quest in the Laguna Beach Independent: "With the spirit of plein air artists, she carried her easel, paints and brushes, spent time absorbing the essence and beauty of the location, and worked assiduously on the painting. Her goal is to distill the atmosphere within the individual parks, breathing in their air, light and fragrance in order to imbue each painting with ‘exceptional life’.” Read more here.

National Endowment for the Arts has posted its fiscal year 2023 guidelines and application materials for Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) and Challenge America funding here.

Challenge America offers support primarily to small organizations for projects in all artistic disciplines that extend the reach of the arts to populations that are underserved. Deadline: April 21, 2022.

Grants for Arts Projects is our principal grants program for organizations based in the United States. Application Deadlines: February 10 and July 7, 2022 for projects taking place beginning in 2023.

Kennedy Center's VSA National Playwright Discovery Competition

Young writers (ages 15-18) with disabilities are invited to submit a "ten-minute script" of any genre for the opportunity to participate in a virtual playwrights program. Scripts may be for plays, musicals, multimedia, video, film, TV, podcasts, or other writing for performance. Winners will receive modest financial awards and have the opportunity to work with industry professionals to further develop their script, receive coaching/mentorship, and participate in networking opportunities. Deadline: March 9, 2022. More information here.

Learn about our local VSA Orange County here.

Debora Wondercheck, Rick Stein, Karen Ahola, Rick Smetanka, Paula Tomei, Tim Shaw

From left to right: Susan K. Hori, Elizabeth Miller, Cheer Pan, Jennifer Frias, Scott T. Fitzpatrick

Ellen Breitman, P. Alberto Sandoval, Thuy Vo Dang, Logan Crow

Walter Yenkosky, Nicholas Thurkettle, Craig Springer

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