Nearly 300 pieces of artwork created by budding artists from transitional kindergarten through high school are on display at the 2023 Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach in the Junior Art Exhibit.
Set in an open-air gallery, the festival features more than 100 award-winning pieces from professional artists, along with the 298 pieces that were created by students.
That number was narrowed down from the 1,500 entries from students enrolled in traditional public schools as well as charter, private and homeschool art programs. Pieces were submitted to the Orange County Department of Education’s OCArts4All Student Art Showcase, which is held in partnership with Art Orange County’s Imagination Celebration.
The showcase’s student art selection team, which consists of artistic professionals and educators, combed through the submissions and selected pieces that were displayed at Crystal Court at South Coast Plaza, Vanguard University and Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach.
“Celebrating student creativity through events like this is critical to student well-being and their sense of connectedness to the community,” said Scott Fitzpatrick, OCDE’s visual and performing arts coordinator. “The OCArts4All Student Art Showcase is a great opportunity to provide space for discussions between teachers at TK-12 schools and colleges and arts organizations in Orange County that will support OCDE’s vision that ‘Orange County students will lead the nation in college and career readiness and success.'”
This year, the showcase held an inaugural reception at the historic Forum Theater in Laguna Beach to debut student-produced short films and animations on a big screen. This portion of the exhibit will be permanently included in the festival in the years to come.
Also featured in the festival’s Junior Art exhibit are 22 pieces of artwork that were created by students with disabilities. Their work was originally displayed at the Orange County Arts and Disability Festival, which was held in May.
“We are grateful for continuing this partnership with Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts and for their inclusion of artwork by students with disabilities,” said Marleena Barber, director of Orange County Arts and Disability. “Their pieces were so seamlessly integrated into their overall Junior Art Exhibit. This is a true example of inclusion.”
The Junior Art Exhibit premiered in July and will continue through Sept. 1.