Laguna Beach Art Galleries and Museums
Laguna Beach makes it easy to take home a part of the city’s distinct style with a unique piece of art you won’t find anywhere else – A true California original.
With more than 100 art galleries and artist studios to explore, you’ll come to understand why Laguna Beach is a beloved “art colony.” In fact, we were discovered by artists! In the late 1800s visitors were making an annual pilgrimage through the canyons to camp at Laguna Beach each summer. By 1903 painters like Norman St. Clair were visiting from San Francisco attracted to the landscape and light only found on the coast of Laguna. Like tourists of any era, St. Clair returned home with glowing reports and landscape paintings that led his artist friends to follow him south. It wasn’t long before Plein Air (meaning, painting outdoors) artists like William Wendt and Frank Cuprien moved to Laguna Beach. Within a few years, Laguna Beach had a permanent population of about 300 people – half of whom were artists.