Right in the heart of Laguna Beach – and within walking distance of Dolce Gelato, the Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art, and the waterfront restaurant Las Brisas – the Laguna Art Museum offers three compact but high-quality collections of contemporary art, primarily by California artists, plus a small gift shop. On our visit, the spacious first floor galleries hosted pop art, paintings, and a collection of matched sculptures and sketches, while the lower level featured a mix of abstract and geometric pieces, photographs from a neighborhood near the Port of Los Angeles, a video presentation, and sculptures. For the fourth year in a row, a loft-like second floor spotlighted outstanding graduate student paintings from the Laguna College of Art and Design. Expect to spend about an hour seeing all the exhibits.
Adults each pay $15 to get in, while students 19 and younger enjoy free admission. Parking around the Museum – notably located on a busy stretch of Pacific Coast Highway – is challenging unless you pay $25 for one of several nearby all-day lots, so our recommendation is to pick a central spot near several interesting Laguna Beach galleries, shops, and restaurants, then visit them all on an afternoon.
