2010 Awesome Art Reception. Photo by Les Dublin.

2010 Awesome Art Reception. Photo by Les Dublin.

"Old Soul” - 2010 First Place in Painting by Laura Tisserand and Luke Jackson. Photo by Les Dublin.

“Untitled” Assemblage – 2010 Best of Show by Lily Mays. Photo by Les Dublin.

Awesome Art 2010 Photographic Entry Wall. Photo by Myrna Cambianica.

2010 Awesome Art, Students at Reception. Photo by Myrna Cambianica.

Reception and Awards: Thursday, March 10, 4 – 6 p.m.

Special Enrichment Event: Sergio Aragonés, Book Signing & Gallery Talk:
Sunday, April 10, 2 to 4 p.m.

2011 marks the 10th consecutive year that the annual student art exhibit, “AWESOME ART,” will be mounted in the changing gallery at the Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai, California. The exhibition runs March 10 through April 17, 2011 and showcases upper level student artwork from Nordhoff High, Thacher, Besant Hill, Ojai Valley School, Villanova, and Oak Grove schools.

On average, the “AWESOME ART” group exhibition features 150 works of art, including ceramics, sculpture, drawings, paintings, photography, graphic design, digital, and mixed media pieces. Please note that many of the artworks are available for sale. This is an opportune time to collect new talent, purchase a special & affordable original gift, and support the Ojai Valley Museum programs.

In addition to museum exposure for the burgeoning Ojai student artists, the AWESOME ART show is an award opportunity for the participants. Every year since 2005, siblings Karen O’Neill and Michael Burgos have granted monetary awards to selected exhibiting students in memory of their mother, Marion E. Smith. Mrs. Smith was a longtime Ojai resident, an Ojai Valley Museum docent and a youth art supporter. The monetary awards, given in her name, are for merit and scholarship. The judges of “AWESOME ART, 2011” are Donna Granata (Photography/Digital Art), Larry Carnes (Ceramics), and Tom Hardcastle (Painting and Drawing).

The Award Reception will be held Thursday, March 10, 2011 at the Ojai Valley Museum between 4 and 6 p.m. This special event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Please remember exhibited work is available for purchase, and that donations to the Museum are always welcome.

A special community outreach event for this exhibit features local Ojai resident and world famous cartoonist, Sergio Aragonés, whose presentations always attract students, visitors and aficionados! He will have a book signing for his recent publication, “Mad’s Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragonés,” and give a gallery talk on Sunday, April 10th from 2 to 4 p.m. in the museum’s rotating gallery.

The Ojai Valley Museum is located at 130 W. Ojai Avenue and is open Thursday and Friday from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from Noon to 4 p.m. Specials tours can be arranged for Wednesdays.

Adult admission is $4.00. The O’Neill and Burgos grant also allows free admission to all students visiting the exhibit as well as to the Sergio Aragonés Book Signing/Gallery Talk event on April 10th.

For more information call the museum at (805) 640-1390, email ojaimuseum@sbcglobal.net or visit the museum website at http://www.ojaivalleymuseum.org