Prominent Art & Craft Festival Helps Santa Ana Bring Culture, Creativity Back into Lives of Many Young Students
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Oct. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The hugely successful Sawdust Art & Craft Festival – a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public and promoting art created in Laguna Beach – is proudly shining a spotlight on its own philanthropic endeavor to provide a hands-on education to underserved populations, including many Santa Ana elementary, middle and high school students who are facing a rapid and unfortunate disappearance of art classes from their regular curriculum. Recently wrapping a successful summer run – for the seventh consecutive year – the Sawdust Art Enrichment Fund (SAEF) partnered with Project Access and KDF communities to once again help at-risk and/or low-income young children, teens and adults enjoy the opportunity to learn and work with ceramics, polymer clay, photography, wire sculpture and beyond.
“This summer proved one of SAEF’s most exciting and engaging yet,” stated the festival’s general manager, Natalie Haug. “Possibly the biggest highlight was having incredible photographer, Laguna’s own Rob Gage, provide guidance to our students in taking creative photos of their inner-city neighborhoods.” Afterwards, the students’ photos were combined with decorative art papers to create the wonderful collage, “Memory Frames,” while under the instruction of another well-known local talent, Deborah Paswaters. On September 28, SAEF Trustees delivered the finished artwork to Sawdust’s Project Access center, where students, their parents and Project Access staff enjoyed refreshments while admiring the work at the Art Reception.
From its humble beginnings on a dirt lot over 50 years ago to its current standing as one of the premier fine arts and crafts shows in the nation, Sawdust Art Festival has unsurprisingly become a popular and highly regarded educator of Southern California’s creative young souls. Sawdust Art Enrichment Fund takes Sawdust’s mission further by offering free art experiences to people who are interested in the arts, thanks to monetary donations. “We are truly grateful for all of the donors who are helping enrich our students’ lives,” added Haug. “Of course, all of our members are looking forward to continuing this program in 2019!”
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About Sawdust Art & Craft Festival: Founded in 1967, the Sawdust Art & Craft Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public and promoting art created in Laguna Beach. Best known for offering two highly attended seasonal festivals, the organization also hosts a variety of workshops and classes throughout the year. Sawdust’s legendary summer festival is a nine-week colorful celebration of fine art and craft – the largest in Southern California – with more than 200 Laguna Beach artists who exhibit and sell their original art and handcrafted items. The festival also offers live entertainment and special events, artist demonstrations, hands-on art workshops for all ages and a variety of food and drink offerings. Sawdust’s 28th annual Winter Fantasy occurs for five weekends leading up to the holiday season and boasts an international collection of over 175 artisans who create, showcase and sell their original, handcrafted artwork on the Sawdust grounds, which are lavishly transformed to resemble a winter wonderland. Special activities include daily visits with Santa, holiday performers and live, festive entertainment, holiday-themed free art classes, and a highly-anticipated, annual community tree-lighting ceremony. Throughout the remainder of the year, the organization continues to provide its Sawdust Studio Art Classes in a variety of mediums, on-site and off-site. For more information, visit: www.sawdustartfestival.org
Media Contact: Franky Duschane
Phone: 949-497-0517
Email: fduschane@sawdustartfestival.org