The next time Laguna’s coastline stops you in your tracks, remember that artists have been having that reaction for generations.
Painter Norman St. Clair arrived in 1903, and the town’s scenery helped attract fellow artists. In 1918, they established the Laguna Beach Art Association. Its gallery and collection became the foundation of Laguna Art Museum, giving the city’s creative community a lasting home.
That story makes a gallery visit feel connected to the beach outside. A painting can draw your attention to a shadow, a bluff or a color in the water that you had passed without noticing. Try pairing a coastal walk with time in a gallery or museum. Look at the landscape, then see what an artist chose to emphasize. You do not need to know the right art terms. Your own reaction is a fine place to start. You may head home with a new way of seeing a very familiar stretch of coast.
