Dedicated to the arts

Artist and arts benefactor Iris Adam died Saturday at Saddleback Hospital from respiratory complications while recovering from a broken hip she sustained in a fall Jan. 10. She was 91.

“Iris was an artist, sister, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and always a friend of the artists and our community,� said longtime family friend Richard “Scooter� Brewer, president of the Art-A-Fair Board of Directors. “She will be deeply missed, but through her accomplishments, her presence will be with us always.�

Artists, friends and admirers are invited to share memories and photographs at a celebration of Iris’ life and her contributions to the arts and philanthropies at 6 tonight at Tivoli Too. Refreshments and beverages will be served.

Tivoli Too is at the back of Art-A-Fair on land owned by Iris and her husband of 50 years, the late Vetold J. Adam, and a partner since 1987, bought to ensure a home for the festival.

“She signed the deed the same day my father died,� said daughter Coral Bodnar the Adams’ only child. “I don’t foresee any changes right now.�

A memorial service will be at noon Saturday at Pacific View Memorial Park Chapel in Corona del Mar, followed by a reception at 3 p.m. in Laguna Woods at the Clubhouse One Art Gallery. For more information, e-mail Brewer at [email protected].

Iris and Vetold, more often known as V.J or “Doc,� were living in Huntington Beach when she first exhibited at Art-A-Fair, Bodnar said. They moved to Laguna in 1977 because she thought she also wanted to exhibit in the Sawdust Festival which has a residency requirement, unlike Art-A-Fair.

“As I remember it, she applied for both but then decided two shows were too much,� Bodnar said.

She was also accepted at the Festival of Arts, according to story written by Leslie Cunningham in 2007, but opted for Art-A-Fair, which she served so wholeheartedly as an exhibitor and board member.

However, she didn’t confine her art activities to the festival

She was a founding member of Laguna Outreach for Community Arts — LOCA — and served on the city Arts Commission for 14 years.

“She was amazing, totally dedicated to the preservation of the city’s holiday palette program,� commission Chairwoman Pat Kollenda said.

Iris Adam diligently chaired the program for the commission.

“She was small and delicate, but she was strong,� said Realtor and arts patron Bobbi Cox, who served on the commission with Iris Adam. “She’d get back in that shed [storage for the palettes] checking them out. She was interested in preserving and conserving all art in Laguna, not just the palettes.�

However, the distinctive artist-designed palettes that decorate streets at the holidays are her legacy to Laguna, Bodnar said.