It’s Official: Construction on the New Façade is Underway!
It all began on October 13th with a ceremonial sledgehammer event where one member of the Festival board of directors after another – including Mayor Elizabeth Pearson – donned a hard hat, lifted a hammer and landed at least two or three blows on one side of the arched entrance. While taking the first swing at the old façade, Festival Board Member Pat Kollenda said, “I am so excited. I’ve wanted to do this for years.”
The 17-year-old façade was always meant to be a temporary structure built out of foam and plywood. During the ceremony, 
Festival of Arts President Fred Sattler said, “We have done our best to modestly expand and ingeniously dress it up year after year with banners, planters, trim, columns, new fonts, and paint. But now, even the most aggressive cosmetic surgeons we could find have refused to work on it. They offered no hope, not one more year.”
The following week, the excavator and bulldozers pulled up and began the demolition. The unveiling of the new façade is scheduled for the summer of 2015.
Award-Winning Design
Jay Bauer and architectural team created an award-winning design for the Festival of Arts. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Orange County Chapter recently recognized BAUER Architects with a prestigious Award of Merit for its outstanding design of the Festival of Arts façade replacement. “There is no greater honor than peer recognition – in this case made even more gratifying given the privilege we have working with an organization as creative and community minded as the Festival of Arts,” said Jay Bauer, founder of BAUER Architects in Newport Beach.