Artists Take Note: Trunk Party

I really didn't know what to expect when I drove into a residential neighborhood in Laguna Niguel last night to attend Orange County sculptor and painter Christopher Schulz's "trunk party," but I'm sure glad I went!

In this mid-sized tract home at the end of a cul-de-sac on a hill, where Chris grew up (his mother Helen came down from Oregon to help greet last night's guests), about 75 people poured in to the foyer and front rooms that were turned into galleries of Chris's paintings and sculpture, photography (Baldemar Fierro), jewelry (Justice Bodan), clothing (UpsideDown Boutique) and high-end crafts and fragrances.

Snacks and desserts were prepared before our eyes by Ritz Carlton executive chef Rob Wilson and two former Cirque du Soleil acrobats performed a duet of extraordinary maneuvers followed later by one's solo aerial performance dubiously suspended from the living room ceiling.

Sanya, proprietor of Art Projekts Gallery on Forest Ave in Laguna Beach was there. She's represented Chris's art for many years. The diverse crowd of young and old, urban chic and hip suburbanite made for a lively atmosphere, with Chris playing emcee.

This was his second event, and he plans another next quarter. It was a great way to showcase his own work (he unveiled his latest sculpture--an artful melange of automotive engine parts including polished exhaust pipes) and the work of friends whose work he admires.

Other artists would do well to consider such a concept as a means of developing interest in their work.