Recurves Archery Bows: Richard Flores Collection, Archery Bows – 1940 to Current

Paul Suttman Bronze – “The Hat”: Anonymous Collector

New Guinea Mask: Matzkin Collection, New Guinea Art: Sepik River

Mickey Mouse -OVMuseum Installation Detail: Valerie Greenberg Collection, Mickey Mouse & Disney

Kienholz - “Kienholz TV”: Anonymous Collector, American Art 1968-1980

Jasper Johns - “Fools House”: Anonymous Collector, American Art

The Ojai Valley Museum opens its third exhibition for 2013 on Saturday, June 29th, to celebrate the “individual passion for collecting.” “Ojai Collects” includes significant works from private collections housed throughout the town of Ojai. Many of these pieces have never been shown in public prior to this exhibit. The eight collections included in the show represent personal passions for: Popular Culture, American Art 1968 – 1980, New Guinea/Sepik River Carvings, Archery Bows, American Bronzes, Southern Outsider Art, The American West, and Contemporary Glass Art. They will be installed in the Rotating Gallery.

Museum Director and Curator of “Ojai Collects,” Michele Ellis Pracy, visited the homes of the eight Ojai based collectors and selected the exhibited works in order to give visitors of all ages an educational and specially unique museum experience. Each private collection in the exhibit has wall texts and object labels illuminating the subjects and objects displayed.

In essence, the eight Ojai residents are sharing selections from their stellar collections amassed over many years. These individual collectors are sharing their own personal museums with us over the summer months.

Included in the private collections are works by American modern art stars such as Claes Oldenburg, Edward Kienholz, Jasper Johns and Frank Stella, among others; etchings by Edward Borein, describing the American West and cowboy culture; pieces by premier glass artists Dale Chihuly and William Morris; and Mickey Mouse and other Disney collectibles. All are pieces that have never been organized into an exhibition in this manner, and rarely, if ever, seen by the public!

The exhibition runs through Sunday, September 13. The opening reception will be on Saturday, July 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

The museum is located at 130 W. Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA. Admission: free for current 2013 members, adults - $4.00, children 6–18 - $1.00 and children 5 and under – free. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Tours are available by appointment. Free parking is available off Blanche Street at back of museum.

The Ojai Valley Museum, established in 1967, is generously supported in part by museum members, private donors, business sponsors and underwriters, the Smith-Hobson Foundation, Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, City of Ojai, Rotary Club of Ojai, and the Ojai Civic Association.

For more information, call the museum at (805) 640-1390, ext. 203, e-mail ojaimuseum@sbcglobal.net or visit the museum website at: Ojai Valley Museum.org. Find us on Facebook Ojai Valley Museum