Each week, Arts Orange County and Culture OC deliver you this look at the stories and events happening in our arts and cultural community.

Laguna Art Museum - Free in November

A nationally-recognized linchpin of Laguna Beach's vibrant visual arts scene, Laguna Art Museum is able to offer free general admission to its exhibits for the entire month of November MORE

Guided by the Light: The Wayward Artist Theater is Reborn in an Irvine Church

Orange County’s most adventurous theater company finds a new home, and is presenting “The Christians,” a provocative choice for the religious venue.

Patrick Brien Wants the Orange County Arts Community to Get its Due

Patrick Brien, the recently appointed president and CEO of Arts Orange County, admits he felt a little flutter when he stood at the podium at the Orange County Arts Awards on Sept. 16 to honor his predecessor, Richard Stein. The annual ceremony, which honors the best emerging and established arts leaders in Orange County, was very much Stein’s baby, and he had built it patiently over the years into one of the major events on the arts calendar.

“Rick was sitting out there in the audience for the first time in 17 years, watching somebody else doing his job, and it made me feel a bit emotional,” said Brien, who assumed Stein’s role on July 1. “I cherished the opportunity to be able to take the stage in a grand way to really start things out. But I also did so in such a way that (would) make Rick proud, because he was handing it off to me.”

OC Center Takes Locals Behind the Lens

Photographer David LaNeve remembers the awe-inspiring moment he first witnessed the aurora borealis in Iceland.

“You could hear them,” he said. “They make a sound. It’s like static electricity …. It was so cool to not only see it, but to hear it. And I remember having goose bumps and seeing it on the back of my camera and going, ‘Oh my gosh. Is this real?’

“It’s like I remember the first time as a kid I found $20 and I put it in my pocket and I kept checking to make sure it was still there. I did the same thing on my camera: ‘Is it still there? Do I still have these images? Did this really happen?’ ”

It’s these types of experiences that LaNeve is thrilled to share with photography students through the California Center for Digital Arts (CCDA) that he founded more than a decade ago. “I get to be there for all those ‘ah-ha’ moments. I love that,” he said.

Each week, we recommend a variety of events and experiences from the listings at SparkOC.com, our free website for Orange County's arts and cultural community.

9 to 5 the Musical

Cal State Fullerton's Department of Theatre and Dance stage presents the lively musical adaptation of the classic 80's film about overworked executives turning the tables on their monstrous boss MORE

Día de los Muertos in the City of Dana Point

La Plaza Park will host Dana Point's celebration of the day we honor our ancestors and our cherished memories of them with live mariachi music, a community ofrenda, and more MORE

Casa Kids: Journeys to the Past

Casa Romantica invites kids to learn about nature and our relationship with it through the stories and culture of the indigeonous Acjachemen Nation MORE

Waters of Comfort: Concert Featuring John Rutter's Requiem

The Laguna Beach Chamber Singers & the Choir of St. Wilfrid’s Episcopal Church join forces to bring a powerful program of choral works to life in Huntington Beach MORE