Laguna Museum’s Art to Dine For

The Laguna Art Museum was a culinary-cultural Utopia on Saturday night, thanks to its Feast on Art fund-raiser.

The pretty-in-pink museum, usually library-quiet, was abuzz with the chatter of 350 guests sitting at dinner tables that were either artworks themselves or adorned with stunning creations by 40 Orange and Los Angeles county artists.

Organized by the museum’s Exhibitionist Council, the sold-out, $175 per-person party grossed about $60,000, which will benefit museum exhibitions. Sale of the artwork and tables--on view at the museum through Sunday--is expected to total $200,000.

Framing a Table

“They went all out,� said event co-chairwoman Teri Kennady, referring to such contributing artists as John Frame, Woods Davy, Randy Au, Mary Burns, F. Scott Hess, Marlo Bartels and Jim Morphesis.

Artist Donna Kario Salem crafted a flower-shaped creation out of silvery aluminum. Peter Shire topped his table with a mechanized unicyclist riding a high wire. And Cheryl Ekstrom’s “Mother Earth� centerpiece was alive . . . literally. Two tiny, white zebra finches hopped about in a chicken-wire “womb.�

“It represents new beginnings,� said Ekstrom, a Laguna Beach artist.

Such as the rebirth of the museum, should it merge with the Newport Harbor Art Museum as planned?

The controversial merger, still dogged by opposing forces that want the landmark Laguna museum to remain autonomous, wasn’t forgotten. Artist G. Ray Kerciu, who helped draft an agreement to keep the museum open if the merger succeeds, displayed his sculpture of “two forms coming together,� made of glass, “a very fragile material,� he said.

Artist Jorg Dubin presented a walking protest: He wore Army boots, camouflage fatigues and a pin bearing the word “merger� with a bar slashing through it.

In the Name of Art

Guests of the second annual feast were serenaded by live music and treated to chef Michael Kang’s artfully presented, delectable edibles named after Picasso, Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock.

Among other guests were Exhibitionist Council president and event co-chairwoman Marsha Grinberg-Anderson; museum board president Gilbert LeVasseur, who attended with his wife, Victoria; and Charles and Twyla Martin. Also attending were Kelly and David Emmes II, Karen and Barry Brief, Diane Nelson and Laguna museum director Naomi Vine.