Members of the Committee for Preservation of the Laguna Legacy Bob Borthwick, Barbara Metzler, Ann Christoph, Harry Huggins, Ron Chilcote, Tom Lamb, Verna Rollinger, Mark Chamberlain and Eric Jessen, from left, collected the necessary data, including pictures, maps and historical facts to compile evidence to show why Laguna and its surrounding greenbelt qualified for the designation of a ÒHistoric American LandscapeÓ by the National Parks Service, Department of Interior. The distinction makes it one of 700 nationwide. Photographed in Laguna Beach, Calif. on Tuesday, January 24, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Posted: February 15, 2017
Original Article from Orange County Register
By ERIKA I. RITCHIE / OC Register STAFF WRITER
On Wednesday, a book titled “Laguna Beach and the Greenbelt, Celebrating a Treasured Historic American Landscape” will be released. Written and compiled by Christoph and eight other Laguna Beach activists, the book presents most of the documentation used to get the national designation. It includes historic homestead maps, photographs and history of the art colony and community activism.
“It’s a reinforcement of the uniqueness and high esteem Laguna deserves,” Christoph said. “Sometimes when it’s your place, you take a lot for granted. It points out how the landscape is significant to the community’s development. It’s the foundation of why we are, what we are.”
The book describes how Laguna’s beauty and dramatic natural landscape are directly related to the community and its artistic traditions. It points to its geological formations, natural vegetation and coastal location and why that attracted artists even back in the early 1900s.
It also shows how the artistic influence and the character of the landscape shaped the qualities of the city.
