The OC Art Blog was created in 2004 as a way to build community and promote the marginalized but dynamic Orange County art scene.

Fullerton, CA    Sculptor, S.A. Hawkins had his MFA thesis exhibition open this past saturday at Cal State Fullerton and rocked it! Alongside the large and impressive Faculty exhibit, S.A. took both of the other galleries (The East Gallery and the West Gallery) on the CSUF campus and dominated the night. His abstract and hypnotic glass and metal artworks are surprising and comforting, compelling narratives involving abstract life forms made of glass, metal, rust, found objects, and brightly colored silicone creating interesting non-verbal conversations within...

30 January, 2012 /

The Huntington Beach Art Center currently has an open call for Artists in Residence. This residency will utilize three continuous galleries as studio space for up to three individual artists, teams or collectives. We invite applications from all creative disciplines, including visual, performance and interdisciplinary arts. This rare and exceptional residency will take place from March 3 – March 31, 2012. Each residency artist, team, or collective will receive $500.00. Payment will be issued at the conclusion of the residency. Residencies will be based on...

20 December, 2011 /

Santa Ana based artist David Michael Lee is going to be teaching art history for a month in Guangzhou China in a few weeks and is trying to raise some funds for the trip. In return for your kind sponsorship he will wear your name and/or brand as he travels through the population of 30 mil+. What an opportunity! Take a look: ...

28 November, 2011 /

The Hoff Foundation is pleased to announce that Long Beach based artist Julia Haft-Candell is the 3rd quarter grant winner. Julia will receive $1,000 for general support for her upcoming show in New York. For more info on the Hoff Foundation and the grant program please go to http://thehofffoundation.org/  ...

28 November, 2011 /

Stockholm isn’t a typical stop on the European traveler’s circuit; it is an expensive city even by European standards, and fairly out of the way being so far north. If you do make it to Sweden’s laid back and beautiful capital you will be well rewarded with a visit to the  Moderna Museet. Getting there itself is charming: the Museum is located in the center of Skeppsholmen one the several small islands that are part of  Stockholm. It’s a lovely walk along the bridge connecting the...

17 October, 2011 /

OCMA recently concluded Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy (April 10-September 4, 2011) which gives us great reason to revisit the inventor of the mobile, pioneer of modern sculpture and master of grace and balance. When you first encounter one of Calder’s iconic mobiles, a large floating sculpture of steel rods and sheet metal, vivid oblongs, circles and paddles painted in primary colors, intricately balanced and gently rotating, several fundamental principles are thrown into sharp relief: Color. Shape. Balance. Abstraction. The mobiles are so ingeniously...

18 September, 2011 /

                  Creative Orange County presents TEDxSAArtistsVillage, on Saturday, October 1, 2011 from 9am – 5pm at the historic Yost Theater in Downtown Santa Ana. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. TEDxSAArtistsVillage is an independently organized event licensed by TED. Curated and produced by Creative Orange County, TEDxSAArtistsVillage will examine the meaning and interpretation of “EXTRAordinary,” be it unusual, remarkable, common, ordinary, or other. The program will include topical speakers, short film/video (1st, 2nd and 3rd place...

17 September, 2011 /

We all know the typical Laguna Beach landscape paintings: sun-dappled arc of the main beach, pseudo-impressionist rendering of palm trees, hill top houses etc etc etc. For those of us who want to feel Laguna instead of just look at it, Jan Heaton’s watercolors are for you. Heaton is an Austin based visual artist who specializes in watercolor and a collection of her work can be seen at the Joanne Artman Gallery on PCH. Heaton offers a refreshing take on a landscape that has been painted many...

09 September, 2011 /

This Saturday night is the opening of Visual Integrity at the Coastline Community College Art Gallery. A few of the artist featured in this mixed media exhibition include,Laurie Hassold, Thinh Nguyen, Jeff Gillette, and David Jang. The opening will run from 5 to 8pm. The Coastline gallery is located at 10156 Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach. Local artist/curator David Michael Lee is taking over the reigns at the CCC Gallery so expect many exciting things to come. The website can be found HERE and the...

07 September, 2011 /

Now in its seventh year, GLAMFA and the attached Open Studios, has been a yearly event organized by CSULB graduate students to showcase new work by both CSULB students as well as a chosen few from other local graduate MFA programs including California Institute of the Arts, Claremont Graduate University and UCI. If the 2011 GLAMFA exhibition is supposed to act as an indicator of what our local bright young things are up to, the kids are not alright. This year’s event featured nearly 30 artists...

04 September, 2011 /

[caption id="attachment_2663" align="aligncenter" width="1024" caption="The Great Picture"][/caption] Riverside, CA.  UCR Sweeney Art Gallery & Culver Center of the Arts present The Great Picture: The World's Largest Photograph & The Legacy Project, an exhibition in three parts that tells the tale of the successful campaign to make the world's largest camera and photograph. The photo's mammoth scale of 32 x 111 feet earned it a place in the Guiness World Records, and made it a photo history landmark. "It is also an exploration of the 172-year-old conflict between...

18 August, 2011 /

Magu, in his natural state - a smile. Pomona, CA.   At the collector’s preview of the new exhibition at the dA Center for the Arts, Cruisin Magulandia, the all-around feeling of the event was that of reverence. The entire night was filled with shared stories, friendly faces, passionate music, home-made snacks, and dozens of people looking to open up and revel in the loving memories of artist, Gilbert Luján. Better known as Magu to most, he was a friend to so many people it was overwhelming...

18 August, 2011 /

As part of the Huntington Beach Art Center's Late til 8 series two outstanding local poets, Allison Benis White and Collier Nogues, will be reading on Thursday night August 11th starting at 6pm. Please mark your calendars, and spread the word. Now for a little introduction of the poets: Allison Benis White Allison Benis White is the author of Self-Portrait with Crayon, winner of the Cleveland State University Poetry Center First Book Prize. Her poems have appeared in The Amer...

07 August, 2011 /

Magulandia: A Human Experience Evan A. Senn [caption id="attachment_2570" align="aligncenter" width="194" caption="Gilbert Lujan"][/caption]      In 1974, the art world met Gilbert “Magu” Lujan in a way that no one can forget. The LACMA exhibition of Los Four that year would not be the first time Magu had changed—and challenged—our collective understanding of art and culture in Southern California and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. Bridging the gap between different cultures in the same community and igniting a worldwide cultural awakening, Magu’s endeavors in artistic expression and...

28 July, 2011 /