First Thursdays Art Walk Is Still Virtual At Laguna Art Museum

LAGUNA BEACH, CA—The June 3rd First Thursdays Art Walk was slated to return to a full event, with the free trolley running a loop from Diamond Street at the south end to Jasmine Street up north. However, that will not be the case this week.

While the First Thursdays Art Walk continues through the end of the year, a popup on its website states: "there will be no trolley service, and masks and social distancing are required!" Individual galleries may be open, so contact them directly to see if artists will be on-hand. Or take a stroll anywhere along the art walk route to see what may be happening.

In an effort to keep the live action going this first Thursday of June, Laguna Art Museum is offering a virtual tour at 5:30 p.m. of its current exhibit "Wayne Thiebaud: Clowns." A LAM docent will lead viewers through the highlights of the 100-year-old artist's latest series of works. Created over the last seven years, the colorful antics captured in the paintings were inspired by Thiebaud's boyhood in Long Beach, California, when he worked for the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus.

That up-close and personal view of those American clowns fascinated the young boy, as he assisted them with picking up the tents and, especially, tending to the animals. You can witness that tender connection in the way he depicts clowns interacting with dressed-up dogs. Thiebaud was also impressed that the clowns were adept at juggling, trapeze and tumbling—physical action that animates many of the paintings.

Thiebaud told Janet Bishop, curator at the San Francisco Museum of Art, that the subject touches on two of his fundamental interests: the vulnerability of human beings and celebrity. You can read their full interview in the four-color catalogue offered for sale in the museum gift shop.

In the interview, Thiebaud also references his love of clown movies. Federico Fellini's "La Strada" is a favorite because it features a rare female clown. His 2019 painting "Clown in Silvered Wig" features America's first female clown: Amelia Butler, who was active in the 19th century.

The artist's connection to Laguna Beach is a long one. His family visited often when he was a child, and later, Thiebaud lived in an apartment overlooking Main Beach.

Laguna Art Museum has held exhibitions of Thiebaud's work in 2007 and 2014. In 2018, the artist made a gift to the museum's permanent collection of "Jolly Cones," a version of one of his many cover illustrations for "The New Yorker" magazine.

The Zoom tour is free and open to the public. Registration, which is required, closes 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 3. If you enjoy the virtual tour, see the works in person at the museum; the exhibition is on view through October 24, 2021.