Laguna Beach is one of those places where you still can spot an artist painting seaside on an easel propped up in the sand.
The artist likely sells the paintings in a gallery across the street in downtown Laguna Beach. Chances are, the artist owns the gallery,about half the galleries in Laguna Beach are artist-owned.
Founded as an artist enclave and famous for its summer art festivals, Laguna Beach has thrived, in part, on artists with small galleries or cooperatives where a number of artists share space.
Laguna Beach’s 58 galleries sold about $20 million worth of art in 2005 with average annual sales of $357,000 per gallery, according to a recent report.
The 58 galleries make up nearly 12% of the city’s 500 “other retail stores” category for taxable sales.
Business Study
Ascertainment, a Newport Beach media consultancy, and Volodymyr Bilotkach, an assistant economics professor at the University of California, Irvine, did the study in December and January.
The study was done to identify business prospects in Laguna for a group of investors interested in opening a gallery, said Lou Volpano, president of Ascertainment.
The study seems to be the first to quantify the economic impact of Laguna’s galleries.
It suggests art sales don’t spike in summer and are spread evenly throughout the year.
Volpano’s conclusion: “It appears very few tourists are purchasing art,” he said.
That piqued the interest of the study’s backers, who are now interested in selling art that appeals to tourists. That could be paintings, photos, sculptures and other works that capture the essence of Laguna, Volpano said.
He points to Laguna’s best-known gallery, that of artist Robert Wyland. It sells “novelty” or decorative paintings and sculptures featuring dolphins and whales, the kind visitors like.
Wyland has three Laguna galleries, one on Forest Avenue, considered the Rodeo Drive of Laguna, another on Laguna Canyon Road and one on Pacific Coast Highway.
During the study, about 11,300 pieces valued at $26 million were on display at the galleries. “Novelty” galleries make up the biggest chunk of art displayed, about 55%, even though the novelty category has the fewest galleries, according to the study.
The total value of the work displayed by eight novelty galleries was $7.2 million. Novelty galleries include The Vintage Poster and Sherwood Gallery.
Novelty galleries also sold the most in the lowest price range, $250 or less.
Contemporary galleries,23 of them,made up 35% of the art displayed with a value of $9.2 million. They include Wentworth Gallery and Wise Gallery.
Eighteen plein air galleries,selling paintings done outside,make up 14% valued at $5.3 million. Bluebird Gallery and Watercolor Gallery are plein air galleries.
Nine classic art galleries made up 10% of the art displayed for a value of $4.3 million. Classic galleries include Rohrer Fine Art and Cole Dawson.
Plein air art does well in Laguna because it connects tourists with their vacations, Volpano said. They’ll always be able to look at the painting and think of Laguna, he said.
Commercial Push
Purists may cringe, but selling more commercial art is Volpano’s advice. Resorts, including Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna and others in neighboring beach cities are upping the ante, he said. Laguna’s art galleries will need to find a way to sell to more tourists to stay alive, according to Volpano.
“I would agree with that,” said Jim Carona, a partner at Rohrer Fine Art, a large gallery that opened about five months ago.
Rohrer, a sign of Laguna’s changing art landscape, is going after rich international tourists who might be spending a week at Montage or visiting Laguna to buy art.
Carona sells upscale art, even rare pieces from Claude Monet and Edgar Degas.
There’s room for all types of galleries in Laguna, according to Carona.
“Most businesses fail in general because of a lack of capital or poor planning,” he said.
In Laguna, artists have one big worry,rent, which has closed some galleries. Chinese Contemporary Art and J. Kamin Fine Art are two recent closures, though they still sell online.
“Nobody’s safe,” said Hana Crawford, a watercolorist who rents space at Quorum Art Gallery, a 12-member cooperative that’s been in Laguna for 40 years.
Monthly rents on Forest Avenue are $7 to $8 per square foot, said Shaun Riley, director of brokerage Faris Lee Investments in Irvine. That’s more than double the county average for store space.
On Pacific Coast Highway, rents run $3.50 to $5. On Broadway Street, they’re about $3.50. Riley said he’s in the process of selling an $8.9 million, 17,000-square-foot, two-story building on Broadway. It’s set to go for $530 per square foot.
The trend in Laguna has been a rise in clothing stores, up to 119 in 2005 from 72 in 2003, according to the report. Restaurants have stayed the same at 117 in 2005. But more pricey eateries are moving in, displacing cheaper fare.
Crawford isn’t mad about the Montage and the upscaling of the art market. Quite the contrary.
Montage supports artists by displaying their paintings and steering guests to galleries, she said. The hotel has books in its lobby on Laguna’s art history.
“They appreciate the art,” she said of the moneyed tourists who stay at the resorts. “You don’t have to talk wealthy people into buying a piece. They don’t mind shipping.”
Crawford’s paintings go for about $450 to $600.
Summer beachgoers tie up traffic and take up parking, she said. And they don’t buy art, according to Crawford.
