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The advantages of buying in Seabright, which consists of Brandywine’s new homes in Costa Mesa, are obvious if you tour the development: open and spacious floor plans, a community pool, and easy accessibility to the 55 freeway for commutes to work. You’ll be happy to be near plenty of shops and restaurants.

What may not be so obvious is that Costa Mesa is Orange County’s arts center. Whether you love visual or performing arts, you’ll find plenty of satisfaction with these local resources in the self-proclaimed “City of the Arts.” 

Visual Arts

Start your artistic explorations in an outdoor setting with California Scenario, a free sculpture garden created by Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. He weaves water, stone, steel, and plants into a wonderland of three-dimensional forms that populate a serene outdoor setting. Many of the sculptures change their visual appeal throughout the day as both sunlight and shadow play across their surfaces.

If you’d rather confine your visual wandering to the indoors, head for the Orange County Museum of Art in neighboring Newport Beach. Most of the galleries are devoted to traveling exhibits of contemporary and modern art so you’ll never know what you’ll encounter. Works can range from room-filling site-specific installations involving multiple materials to small paintings that demand close inspection.

They do have a permanent collection of over 3,000 works with only a small part on display at any one time. One of the more whimsical is “Bad Dog” by Richard Jackson. This building-sized sculpture depicts a dog answering the call of nature almost on top of the museum.

From 6 pm to 9 pm on the last Tuesday of each month, the Costa Mesa Cultural Arts Committee sponsors the SOBECA (South Bristol Entertainment and Cultural Arts) Art Walk, which serves up an informal night of art, music, and food in the SOBECA District.

Performing Arts

Clustered conveniently in one complex are what are arguably Orange County’s pre-eminent performing arts spaces. Segerstrom Concert Hall seats nearly 1,704 people and hosts orchestras, chorales, musicals, and special events. It’s one of the few places in Southern California where attempts at formal wear are welcome.

The more intimate Samueli Theater seats only 500 and is more suited to musical soloists, jazz festivals, and cabaret-style performances. It’s often used as a recital space and can be rented out for banquets and events, should your Seabright digs prove too small for your party.

For live professional theater, look to South Coast Repertory (SCR), which draws from modern and classical repertoires to fill its September to June season. This resident company performs black-box works in the 94-seat Nicholas Studio, four plays in the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage, and five plays in the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage. Every year, SCR stages the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Over three days, the event introduces seven new plays as staged readings and full productions to a nationwide theater audience.

Interested in learning how to act or write for the stage? SCR also holds classes for kids, teens, and adults. They also hold a seven-week Acting Intensive Program for those wanting to pursue theater professionally.

If you want to try your hand on the stage, feel free to audition at Costa Mesa Playhouse, a 73-seat community theater that has been serving up drama, comedy, and musicals for 40 years. They’re always looking for volunteers, so sign up if you have any theater skills, such as set decorating or costumes, or just want to help out.

If you want to know more about the artistic side of Costa Mesa or want to check out Seabright, please contact us.