In its annual Art & Nature festival, Laguna Art Museum presents special exhibitions, commissioned outdoor works of art, lectures, panel discussions, films, and family activities on the theme of art’s engagement with the natural world.

The event serves a number of purposes: to provide a festival of art and ideas for the community; to inspire artists; to find and develop connections between art and science; to raise awareness of environmental issues; and to celebrate Laguna Beach as a center for the appreciation of art and nature.

The theme of Art and Nature speaks particularly to the identity of Laguna Beach, which for over a hundred years has been a center for art, the appreciation of nature, and environmental awareness. In 1929, when the Laguna Beach Art Association built an art gallery to show and sell their work, they chose a commanding location on the coastline close to the natural wonders they loved to paint. The present museum occupies the same site. There could be no more appropriate venue in which to explore the art-nature connection.

Art & Nature 2016 will take place from November 3 – 6 and will feature, among others, a commissioned work on Main Beach by artist Phillip K. Smith, a keynote lecture by renowned British art historian Martin Kemp, a film screening, a panel discussion, and a free family festival.