The artistic landscape behind the orange curtain—aka the Orange County line—is vastly different from that of Los Angeles with its numerous galleries, studios, co-ops and art neighborhoods. The OC art scene is large but intimate, with a handful of key players operating in different forms and styles. Since much about OC is tied to real estate, money and politics, galleries have a high overhead, and local communities have welcomed alternative methods of exhibiting fine art and finding an audience for it. 

Though many areas embrace the arts with city-run spaces, these spaces are likely to be the least interesting, because of the red tape and politics of this famously conservative area. That leaves an open door for the young and restless to come out and experiment with new and unapproved things on the streets and in nontraditional spaces.

Esther Jacks painting on the roof of the Colony.

Santa Ana’s downtown area is a prominent fixture in the OC art scene, with a wide range of galleries and studios. The Artists Village in downtown Santa Ana is led by the Grand Central Art Center (GCAC). This space teeters on the edge between traditional gallery and experimental project haven; its director, John Spiak, also has a hand in bringing the city of Santa Ana into various other projects and likes to invite visiting artists to involve the community in citywide art actions and cutting-edge ventures. 

Surrounding GCAC are a slew of large and small galleries and—newly purchased by Jack Jakowsky—the historic Santora Building, which houses artists studios and lends its many storefronts to pop-up galleries. Jakowsky also owns Logan Creative, an art facility about two miles away. Located in the Logan neighborhood of Santa Ana, it houses artists’ residences, studios and exhibition spaces in a repurposed staircase factory. Existing as a kind of gated art colony—not unlike the Brewery in Los Angeles—the LC hosts performances, community meetings and events featuring local artists. With a printmaking studio, a floral studio and a small foundry, the LC has created a small artists’ community within a larger one. 

Artwalk is the first Friday of every month.

The Konsept group is also based in Santa Ana. Heavily based in graffiti and painting, it is a nontraditional arts group that puts on warehouse shows and live-art demos in public spaces. 

The more suburban community of Fullerton is quite active in the arts, but in a down-to-earth way. Cafes, storefronts, bars and coffee houses host art exhibits in line with the city’s first Friday art walk. The main hub of the Fullerton art community is the Magoski Arts Colony, in the downtown shopping area on Santa Fe Avenue. Housing over 15 different exhibition spaces and a handful of studios, this colony—not unlike The Hive Gallery in downtown Los Angeles—is home to experiential installation works, painting, drawing, printmaking, craft vendors, film screenings, photography and a variety of workshops. Both Fullerton Junior College and the Cal State University have supportive arts programs, and the students are often creating boundary-pushing exhibits and performances that cross school campuses and engage the city’s residents.

Stephen “Bax” Baxter, an activist and curator on the Fullerton art scene, uses empty storefronts, coffee houses and parking lots as venues for pop-up exhibitions throughout the downtown Fullerton area, often evincing a punk rock aesthetic and highlighting local underground artists.

A handful of Fullerton students recently created a mobile art exhibition called Formation Gallery. Inspired by an event at London’s White Cube gallery, the Formation Gallery recreated this concept in which the artists themselves become the walls that exhibit their work. The artists stand in a “formation,” holding and presenting their art, which allows for a connection between the artist, artwork and viewer. They describe their shows as “Art Bombings” and have had a handful of exhibitions in cities across Orange County since their inception in December.

The Magoski Colony: The Sacred Sky, art by John Sollom and Melinda Hagman.

Dana “DJ” Jazayeri is another major player in the Costa Mesa and Santa Ana communities. Heavily involved in both cities’ art walks, DJ owns and operates As Issued in Costa Mesa—one of OC’s only independent art bookstores/galleries—with partner Ale Astoquilca. As Issued is about the size of a large closet, but constantly presents shows featuring artists of the lowbrow, graffiti and pop surrealist persuasion. 

Since the success of As Issued at the “anti-mall” The LAB in Costa Mesa, the surrounding area has taken on a characteristically creative attitude toward similar spaces, which include three more galleries, capitalizing on the reputation DJ has built for the area. Rothick Art Haus is Anaheim’s only real art gallery. It hosts dozens of subculture-based group shows, and it is a live/work loft run by the duo of Kelly Castillo and Nick Rothweiler, better known as Drk Haus. Anaheim has very little in the way of art galleries and studios, but the city of Anaheim is so keen on developing an art scene that housing assistance is offered to artists, who are often invited to occupy empty storefronts for exhibits or to participate in local art walks. 

Orange County does provide alternative art scenes and opportunities in such places as Santa Ana and Fullerton which are popular with the locals and growing; to “foreigners” they still remain underground… screened behind the Orange Curtain.