California Scenario: Isamu Noguchi's Sculpture Garden at South Coast Plaza

Behind a TGI Friday's in Costa Mesa lies California Scenario, a 1.5-acre sculpture garden by Isamu Noguchi portraying California's diverse landscapes—redwood forests to desert. It evokes nature in an unlikely urban setting.

Artist Background

Noguchi (1904–1988), born in Boyle Heights to a Japanese poet father and American writer mother, is considered the 20th century's most important Japanese American artist. His ceramics fused modernism with traditional Japanese design, reflecting his bicultural identity—much like California Scenario fuses Zen with Orange County.

Exhibit Info

Isamu Noguchi and Modern Japanese Ceramics at Japanese American National Museum (369 E. First St., LA; 213/625-0414) through May 30, 2004. California Scenario at 611 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa.