Each year the Laguna Art Museum presents the Wendt Award to an individual who has made a significant contribution to understanding or promoting California art. This year we are pleased to acknowledge Nancy Dustin Wall Moure for her great gift.

Her Great Gift: The Nancy Dustin Wall Moure Collection
Exhibition on display through February 12, 2023

Presented together for the first time, this eclectic collection of California art is full of gems. The picture of Mission San Gabriel created in the 1830s is believed to be the first oil painting made in Southern California. From there the collection departs on a journey that parallels California’s boom in population, matched by an immense output of artistic diversity. The Nancy Dustin Wall Moure Collection spans across time and demonstrates how early preferences for painting dark, formal and interior spaces were replaced by scenes of the outdoors, explorations of light and imagery that captures the quintessential California lifestyle.