Laguna Beach is a town filled with art, art, and more art. Starting as an artist’s colony, the little town has grown but stayed true to its roots, with dozens of art galleries, aspiring artists, and murals sprinkled here and there.

Laguna Beach High School (LBHS) continues to show the town’s past by boasting a thriving art program, which in fact had the opportunity to showcase students’ talents this past week, hosting a floral art pop-up mural in Downtown Laguna.

Students from Jamie Kough’s Advanced Placement Art, Art Production 1 and 2 classes apprenticed alongside Laura Williams, floral designer and owner of Poppyhill Flowers, and Kough, who in addition to serving as LBHS’ art teacher is also the principal of JK Designs, whose art and installations comprise found objects.

LBHS art student Arianna Nikkah will add her floral bouquet to embellish the mural

(L-R) LBHS art student Dana with Laura Williams (Poppyhill Flowers) and LBHS art teacher Jamie Kough get together in front of the mural

LBHS art student Evan Garcilazo strikes a pose at the mural replete with colorful flowers, spray paint cans and painted “found art”

LBHS diligently incorporates a great amount of art-related activities, displays and shows. Our art students gain an abundance of knowledge and passion from having classes that give them the freedom to express themselves.

The pop-up debuted on the Promenade on Forest Avenue on Thursday, May 4 and stayed up through May 6. It featured creative found object sculptures made from trash and materials and combined them with nature (florals and foliage).

The set-up took multiple hours of getting the materials down to the site, positioning them, and arranging the flowers to make a unique mural.

LBHS art students Brighton and Evan enjoying the Promenade

“Logistically, working with students who I know this isn’t their specialty makes me love art even more. It definitely was hard, though,” said Kough. “Transferring it was very labor-intensive for not only me, but everyone else involved. Bringing it [mural] back from the recycling center (Irvine-based Tierra Verde donated trash and materials), cleaning it, taking it back to my house from the school, as well as getting up at 4 a.m. for this…all to come down here. It was brutal, but so worth it.”

The students worked on the art piece over the last several weeks during their class periods, and then got the day off school on Thursday (May 4) to help construct the pop-up Downtown. They collaborated to create one large art display with different components like a crane painting, painted flower designs, and of course, real-life flowers themselves. So, while each student contributed something different, they were able to create a beautifully strung-together piece of all types of floral design.

Bright orange blooms juxtaposed with an orange-painted handheld Eveready battery exudes a “pop art” feel

A scooter painted hot pink is upcycled into art

SchoolPower graciously handled the funding for the project, obtaining flowers for Kough and her students from around Orange County. SchoolPower is a nonprofit volunteer organization run by parents in Laguna Beach that raises money for students, working closely with the school district.

“I think finding out how supportive the district is was the most rewarding thing. That was amazing. I felt so supported not only as an artist but also as an educator,” said Kough.

When the pop-up was deconstructed on May 6, the public was invited to take the flowers home.

Be sure to check out both Jamie Kough’s work (JK Designs) at www.jkdesigns.info and Laura Williams’ Poppyhill Flowers at www.poppyhillflowers.com.