Visiting Laguna Beach is always a delight during the summer with pleasant weather while inland temperatures continue to rise.
On this visit, topping our agenda, was a visit to the Laguna Art Museum.
For most of a century Laguna Beach has been regarded as a haven for the arts.  Indeed the Laguna Beach Arts Association will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.    Then in 1979 the Laguna  Art  Museum was founded which in 1987 became the  current Laguna Art Museum.
 The Museum enjoys a scenic location situated adjacent to Heisler Park with views of the City's shoreline.  Its theme is California and its permanent collection includes works of some 800 artists representing a span from early 19th century to the present.
 Two special exhibitions were being displayed during our  visit to the museum.  They were by Phil Dike and Ben Messick.  Phil Dike was truly one of California's own.  He grew up in Redlands and studied art at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles.  He then traveled through much of Europe before returning to teach at Chouinard in 1931.  The Exhibition was entitled "At the Edge of the Sea" since much of Phil Dike's works enjoyed a beach or ocean theme.
 For many years he was story designer for Walt Disney Studios contributing to such classics as Fantasia and Snow White.  Later in life his works became much more abstract with  his people in more mystical forms and his familiar beach and ocean themes in patterns.
However his love for the beach and sea never wavered throughout his life.
 Ben Messick's Exhibition was entitled "Memories of Los Angeles" and showed daily life in that City during the 1930s and 1940s.  His paintings, drawings and lithographs were always of ordinary people from familiar places like MacArthur Park, Pershing Square and Olivera Street.
 Besides its featured Exhibitions the Laguna Art Museum offers a full schedule of programs and events.  It is open six days a week, closed Wednesdays and major holidays.  Hours most days are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  It is located at 307 Cliff Drive  in Laguna Beach,  Telephone 949 494-8971, web www.lagunaartmuseum.org.
After our visit to the Museum we strolled through adjacent Heisler Park  enjoying views of a calm Pacific Ocean and the cliff lined rocky shore which is a Marine and Tide Pool Preserve.