The City Council added three new faces to the Arts Commission and reappointed two incumbents from a field of nine applicants.
Newcomers Lisa Mansour and Bill Atkins and incumbents Pat Kollenda and Suzi Chauvel were appointed to two-year terms, beginning July 1. Former art gallery owner Diane DeBilzan was appointed to complete the term of Commissioner Mike Tauber, who resigned.
“We had an amazing number of well-qualified applicants this time,” said Kollenda, the current commission chairwoman.
Additional space on the board was made by decisions by incumbents Terry Smith and Nancy Beverage, who did not reapply.
Beverage, who served on the board for nine years, shocked the council and fellow commissioners by announcing her decision at the meeting.
She is known to have been unhappy about the council’s rejection of the commission’s recommendation to fulfill the Art-in-Public Places requirement for the Susi Q Senior Center and the Third Street Community Center.
Mansour has lived in Laguna for nine years. She has chaired the El Morro Talent Show for six years and is a patron of community theater and dance programs in town. She has participated in the “Art That’s Small at City Hall” exhibit for three years, exhibited and sold her paintings at the 2007 Laguna Woman’s Club Art Show.
Atkins is a graphic artist, who teaches at Irvine Valley Community College. His work is currently exhibited at Wells Fargo Bank and he is a finalist in the state competition to replace Robert Wyland’s Whale Tale license plate.
His recent local projects include the design for banners, T-shirts and brochure for the One Earth/One Dream event at the Festival of Arts Grounds; design and illustration for the Sister Cities note card and poster; and the design for the sign for the new offices of the Laguna Canyon Foundation at the Veterans Memorial Building on Legion Street.
De Bilzan owned a gallery for six years representing local artists. She served as president of the First Thursday Art Walk for a year, as events coordinator for three years and as the representative to the Alliance for Arts.
Chauvel is a filmmaker and photographer who recently completed an interactive program to enhance public art exhibits for viewers. She also was instrumental in organizing early dance projects in town that have evolved into nationally recognized programs. She is active in the Alliance for Arts.
