Step into the Enchanted Forest to experience a world of wonder at the Museum of Make Believe.
By Ashley Ryan
Whimsy and wonder abound at the Museum of Make Believe, a new nonprofit art space that opened along South Coast Highway in the spring. Founded in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, the museum has been a long time coming.
“We were doing traveling exhibits to other museums, and that really just sort of sparked our love for combining storytelling and art,” says museum co-founder Amy Mitchell. “Our fourth or fifth show, it was like, what if we had our own place, … did it ourselves and weren’t continually traveling [with] this very delicate work?”
Amy, who holds a degree in poetry, created the words for the inaugural exhibit, “Ghost Stories & Fairy Tales,” while her husband, Geoff Mitchell, serves as the main artist. Step into the Enchanted Forest the couple has created entirely by hand and you’ll be met with paintings, audio, miniatures, written stories and more. It’s a playground for the imagination, too, offering treasure hunts, special prizes and illustrated storybooks filled with all the tales within the museum.
Although they hope to eventually move into a larger space, they are now focused on bringing an ever-changing collection of innovative pieces to this location. Read on to learn more about the Mitchells, their creations and how they hope to shape visitors through their artwork.
Laguna Beach Magazine: What do you hope to inspire with the Museum of Make Believe?
Amy Mitchell: At our ribbon cutting, we had a little girl come in with a notepad and she was drawing pictures and writing her own stories in the exhibit. That’s what we want to see—and hopefully that will be the next generation and the next. So that’s what we’d love to try to spark.
LBM: When it comes to the creative process, what do you enjoy most?
Geoff Mitchell: Seeing it happen—because most of the time, I have no idea what’s coming next myself. … Working with other people, I’m always saying [we rely on] imagination, but I think a lot of that is listening to the things around you and thinking, I’ll tell a story about that. … But there were so many things that we didn’t plan for [in this space]. It’s exciting making it up as you go, just taking the chance and seeing what happens.
LBM: Do you have one favorite part of the museum?
AM: It’s probably the dog [in “Shooting Star”] because that was after our dog, Sparrow. Sparrow was my little soulmate. … When we first got this space, he was almost 18. And he came with us every day. He had no clue what was going on. But he used to sleep right behind the tree there and there’s a little note to him back there that says, “We miss you, Sparrow.” … I really wrote the story for him.
GM: I don’t like just one thing; I do like all of it. I’m happy with the tree [and] … the cottage. … I don’t know if I have a favorite part, but I am preferential to Starlight Park. I’m … building a twinkling light sign that’s going to go up there.
LBM: What’s next?
AM: We already have a 7-foot dragon that we built, so we’re building a castle ruin that should be coming hopefully in the next few months. We are going to change the decor for Halloween and then, of course, for the holiday season. … We’re [also] working to fundraise to create a school group tour program so that we don’t have to charge for that. … We’ll be adding some workshops and other events, but we definitely need more space. … But we also don’t want to lose the beauty of hand-making everything and, when you get too big too fast, sometimes you lose that.
LBM: Why do you think it’s important for people to use their imaginations?
AM: Technology has really … changed the way we interact and engage with the world. So often, we’re looking down … and we’re not looking people in the face. We’re not really exploring the world and I think that’s a real loss. … It was really important to us that we have no digital technology when people came inside. We wanted everything to be handmade and kind of go back to that old-fashioned mindset. I grew up pre-cellphone, pre-internet, and I would just make up stories. I think that gives us empathy. It helps us connect with other people when we hear their stories, and I think we’ve lost some of that. We want to … bring some of that back.
