December 30, 2022

Each week, Arts Orange County and Voice of OC are excited to deliver to you this look at the stories and events happening in our arts and cultural community.
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Winter Lights

Discovery Cube OC has a special spectacular that uses music, performance, and puppetry to tell a fantastical story about science, imagination, and the holiday spirit MORE

♦ Year in Review ♦

A Local Lens on OC, 2022

In recent years, Voice of OC has dedicated itself to visuals more and more every year.


In 2022, we hired more freelance and student photojournalists than in years past. In 2019, Voice of OC promoted freelance photojournalist Julie Leopo to Director of Photography, where the goal was to grow the visual component of Voice of OC’s stories.


This year we also implemented our Local Lens series.


In this occasional series, Voice of OC works with local community photographers to offer residents a first-hand look at the local sites and scenes of Orange County. We plan to grow this series next year.

♦ Food ♦

Panoringan: Anne Marie's Favorite New Restaurants of 2022

2022 was a complicated year of growth and loss. The theming of my columns tightened up as I focused on individual cities such as Fullerton, Huntington Beach and Anaheim’s Little Arabia neighborhood. I leaned into subjects that sparked curiosity like Buy Nothing groups, the expansion of CulinaryLab and MaxLove Project’s Fierce Foods Academy. Interviews with some of Orange County’s most influential individuals (Gabrielle Dion, Jason Scarborough and Justin Werner plus Ross Pangilinan and Nick Weber) were a nod to my OC Weekly “On the Line” series.


On a professional level, I was recruited to judge the James Beard Awards and attended the California Revelations event for Michelin’s restaurant guide – prestigious entities I’d only read about and been on the periphery of before my professional writing career even began. Personally, I strengthened my friendships with colleagues, forged industry relationships and mourned the passing of both my college advisor (who later became dean of my university) and a fellow writer (Rest in peace, my friend) who, with generous hearts, always believed in me.


As this year ends and I start 2023, I’m optimistic yet cautious. The restaurant industry is not done seeing the effects of COVID. I worry about the mental and physical well-being of everyone including myself, but I also know the power of a positive outlook.

Each week, we recommend a variety of events and experiences from the listings at SparkOC.com, our free website for Orange County's arts and cultural community. We always suggest you be mindful of the most recent health and safety guidelines in California, Orange County, and the venue for the listing.
♦ Local Spotlight ♦

Hershey Felder: Chopin in Paris

Felder's unique theatrical concerts at the Laguna Playhouse bring to life not only the music but the stories and personalities of immortal composers - in this case the romantic Polish pianist Fryderyk Chopin MORE

♦ Wallet Friendly ♦

Art at City Hall: Old Town Irvine

Documentary photographs and exhibits from the UCI Library look back on the earliest years of the agricultural community that became the bustling city we know today, in a show co-presented by the Irvine Historical Society MORE

♦ For the Family ♦

Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert

In this January 1st tradition, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall is taken over by this splendid salute to the Austrian New Year's concert Neujahrskonzert - featuring the music of Johann Strauss and dancers from the San Diego ballet MORE

♦ Wildcard ♦

Christopher Wormald: YOU + A.I. = A.I.M.

In this timely contemporary exhibit at the CSUF Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, artist Christopher Wormald fed a series of prompts into an A.I. art-generating program, sharing the surreal, uncanny, or absurd results in order to probe our relationship with technology then, now, and in the possible future MORE

"Arts Orange County is a steadfast ally for arts organizations and local artists here in Orange County. That support results in increased partnerships with school districts and expanded access to the arts for students and families. Arts Orange County collaborates with the Orange County Department of Education to raise awareness of the need for the arts in our schools. We are grateful to Arts Orange County for its leadership and partnership and look forward to expanding our work together."

— Dr. Al Mijares,

Orange County Superintendent of Schools

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Voice of OC is Orange County's nonprofit newsroom with a mission to consistently deliver fair, focused and thorough journalism on critical quality of life and local issues for Orange County communities.
Arts Orange County builds appreciation of, participation in and support for the arts and arts education throughout Orange County. Event information provided by SparkOC, an Arts OC program.