|
By Anonymous — Wednesday, February 27th, 2019
“Dear Diary…I’m fourteen, and people think I should be scared because I’m surrounded by violence, but around here it’s an everyday thing. The first thing I see when I get off the bus is graffiti on walls, beer bottles, filling trash cans, empty cigarette packs and syringes.”—Excerpt from “The Freedom Writers Diary.” Camarillo, Calif., Feb. 26, 2019 — With drugs, gangs, violence, poverty and racial tension underscoring their lives, teacher/author Erin Gruwell soon realized traditional teaching methods were not going work on the 150 students she taught in Room 203 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. “Instead, we learned to make the class a safe place,” Gruwell said. “Safe from the societal ills outside — racial stereotypes, prejudice, toxicity in the teachers’ lounge.” The students were being bused in from their neighborhoods, which were often violent — riddled with racism, drugs, gangs and hopelessness. “These were kids of color coming into a lily white neighborhood,” Gruwell said. “They weren’t always welcome and they weren’t always embraced.” With textbooks abandoned in a corner of the classroom, Gruwell turned instead to a teaching method that turned these 150 “unteachable” students into the original “Freedom Writers,” a group of students whose stories launched a book, a movement, a movie, a foundation and now, a PBS documentary entitled “Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart,” which airs on March 28. CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) is one of six California universities in six different counties hosting an advance screening of the documentary. The campus and the public are welcome to attend the screening from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13 in the Grand Salon. After the 56-minute screening, Gruwell and an original member of the Freedom Writers will conduct a Q & A session and copies of the book, “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them,” will be provided to students in attendance. First published in 1999, the book is a collection of gritty, authentic essays born in Gruwell’s classroom 25 years ago when she realized the lives her students led had grim similarities to young people who were growing up in the midst of war and violence — what Gruwell calls an “undeclared war.” Instead of teaching students how to pass tests, Gruwell found a way to compare the students’ reality in urban America to the worst examples of war and violence throughout history. She worked side jobs to afford to bring guest speakers to the classroom and take field trips. She had them read books about other young people trying to survive war and violence like “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo.” Then, she encouraged her students to write about their own feelings and experiences and the “Freedom Writers Diary” took root and blossomed into a publication and a 2007 movie starring Hillary Swank as Gruwell. This year is the 20th anniversary of the book’s publication. CSUCI Dean of the School of Education Brian Sevier, Ph.D., was a doctoral student at the University of Colorado Boulder when he first learned about Gruwell and The Freedom Writers. At the time, he was teaching an education course covering everything from school funding to lessons that were culturally relevant. “One night in my graduate apartment, I was watching ‘Prime Time Live’ and Connie Chung did a segment on Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers,” Sevier said. “I ran as fast as I could to record the segment on my VCR. This was exactly what we were talking about.” Sevier always remembered the reaction from the superintendent of Gruwell’s district, who talked about educators like Plato and Aristotle. “They didn’t teach the page and what’s on the paper…they taught the people,” Sevier said. And by teaching the people, the once-hardened teens discovered a new way to express themselves and rewrite their futures. Every single one graduated and attended college. Reservations are required by visiting: go.csuci.edu/FW or by email to: csuci_events@csuci.edu Limited parking is available on campus with the purchase of a $6 daily permit; follow signs to the parking permit dispensers. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station/Lewis Road with bus service to and from the campus. Riders should board the CSUCI Vista Bus to the campus; the cash-only fare is $1.25 each way. Buses arrive and depart from the Camarillo Metrolink Station every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. For exact times, check the schedule at www.goventura.org. For questions call 805-437-3900. About California State University Channel Islands |
|
By Anonymous — Monday, February 4th, 2019
Lunchtime Organ Recital Series University organist Joseph Peeples will showcase the 2,109-pipe Borg Petersen Memorial Organ in 30-minute recitals on the first Friday of each month. Works performed will be of a varied character and suited to all. Audience members are welcome to bring a lunch and quietly enjoy the recital. Admission is free. For information, call Campus Ministry at 805-493-3228 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. Cal Lutheran 48-Hour Film Jam The Cal Lutheran 48-Hour Film Jam Spring 2019 is a campuswide competition in which teams of directors, writers, actors, editors and cinematographers are assigned a genre, a character, a prop and a line of dialogue. The teams have 48 hours to create a short movie containing those elements. The competition runs from 7 p.m. Friday until 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Sponsored by the Multimedia Department and the Digital Cinema Guild. For information, contact Alejandro Guzman at alejandroguzman@callutheran.edu. Faculty Recital The ensemble recital under the direction of keyboardist Eric Kinsley has unearthed repertoire in several archives worthy of rediscovery. In this concert, musicians present Kinsley’s new edition for a quartet by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and chamber music at the time of Friedrich dem Grosen (Frederick the Great). The commonality of the selected sonatas by respected composers such as CPE Bach, Joseph Haydn and Luigi Boccherini is the obligato keyboard realizations. Donations accepted. For information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. SAKURA Cello Quintet Experience a rich and colorful sound world like no other. A cello quintet hailed as “brilliant” and “superb” in the Los Angeles Times, SAKURA presents an eclectic program of music spanning eight centuries in dazzling arrangements, opening new vistas of expression by showcasing the warmth and scope offered by the sound of five cellos. Repertoire includes arranged works ranging from the vulgar to the sublime: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Debussy’s “Clair de lune,” Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes,” Corea’s “Spain,” and others. Yoshika Masuda, a Cal Lutheran assistant professor of music and director of string studies, is a co-founding member of SAKURA. Donations accepted. For information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. Franzen Organ Recital Series Richard Elliott, principal organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, will perform the spring concert of the Orvil and Gloria Franzen Organ Recital Series. Elliott participates in the daily recital series on the tabernacle’s 206-rank Æolian-Skinner organ and accompanies the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square on the choir’s weekly radio and TV broadcast “Music and the Spoken Word.” As accompanist for the Tabernacle Choir, Elliott has performed as a recitalist in many of the world’s great halls and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. For several years, he was assistant organist at the John Wanamaker Department Store (now Macy’s) in Philadelphia, home to the world’s largest functioning pipe organ. Admission is free. For information, call Campus Ministry at 805-493-3228 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. Reel Justice Film Series “Chavela” is a captivating look at the unconventional life of beloved performer Chavela Vargas, whose passionate renditions of Mexican popular music and triumphant return to the stage late in life brought her international fame. There will be a Q&A panel following the film. Admission is free. Sponsored by the Sarah W. Heath Center for Equality and Justice, the Women and Gender Studies program, and the Department of Languages and Cultures. For information, contact the CEJ at 805-493-3694 or cej@callutheran.edu. International Film Festival Thursday, March 14, 8 p.m. This 2001 German thriller is based on the novel “Black Box” by Mario Giordano and deals with a social experiment resembling the Stanford prison experiment of 1971. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Moritz Bleibtreu, the film won several German Film awards including for Best Film and Best Leading Actor. Admission is free. Shown in German with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Department of Languages and Cultures in conjunction with David Nelson of the History Department. Free street parking after 7 p.m. For information, contact Walter Stewart at 805-493-3436 or stewart@callutheran.edu. Faculty Recital Pianist, composer and producer Uziel Colón, known artistically as UzC, presents music from his new album, “Intersections.” The recital also features original jazz arrangements of famous ’80s songs, culminating in fresh, original Latin jazz sprinkled with classical and pop music. Colón, the director of the Cal Lutheran Jazz Collective, will be accompanied by some of the best musicians in the L.A. area. Donations accepted. For information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. Bring Your Own Brain (BYOB) BYOB is an event seeking solutions to challenges faced by individuals on the autism spectrum. Following a discussion by panelists who are on the spectrum, participants break into teams to design solutions, or hacks, to address challenges. The day concludes with voting on the most innovative or creative hack. Prizes of $50 per person will be awarded to the winning team. Admission is free, but registration is required. Sponsored by the Graduate School of Education and the Autism Communication Center. For information, email Melissa Spence at mspence@callutheran.edu. To register, visit CalLutheran.edu/autism. Hats and High Tea The California Lutheran University Community Leaders Association’s eighth annual Hats and High Tea will raise money for student scholarships and educational grants. Guests will enjoy tea with sandwiches, fruit and desserts. The afternoon will begin with a champagne reception and will feature music, a silent auction and a raffle. Attendees are encouraged to cap off their tea party attire with a hat. Table sponsors and party hosts will decorate each table in a festive theme. Awards will be presented in categories including most creative table setting and wildest and most elegant hats. CLA was founded in 1963 to stimulate community interest in Cal Lutheran’s academic, athletic and cultural programs. Members organize fundraising and social events throughout the year to support academic departments and student scholarships. The organization has provided nearly $2 million through the years. Faculty grants support academic and cultural programs, many of which involve students and benefit the community. Scholarship winners are selected for their community service, leadership potential and academic achievement. Tickets are $55 for adults and $25 for children. Sponsorships are available. For reservations or more information, visit CalLutheran.edu/cla or contact the University Relations Division at 805-493-3151 or fielding@callutheran.edu. TRAC 2019: The Representational Art Conference TRAC: The Representational Art Conference is the premier international event focused on cutting-edge representational art in the 21st century – where imagination matters and the mind meets the hand. TRAC provides a platform for understanding the unique possibilities of representational art and perhaps some illumination about future directions. This year, we are especially interested in the relationship between imagination and 21st-century representational art. Speakers include Cheech Marin, the comedian and founder of the Riverside Museum of Chicano Art; Tim Jenison, the obsessive genius depicted in the Penn and Teller film “Tim’s Vermeer”; Corinna Wagner, the author of “Pathological Bodies and Art and Soul”; and Roger Dean, the prolific creator of album covers for the rock band Yes. Demonstrations of sculpture, painting and drawing will be presented by Julie Bell, Brian Booth Craig, Virgil Elliott, Teresa Oaxaca, Alicia Ponzio, Scott Prior, Alexey Steele, Boris Vallejo, Pamela Wilson and others. Visits to area galleries include discussion with exhibiting artists. For registration costs, student discounts and the full schedule, visit trac2019.org. |
|
By Anonymous — Wednesday, January 30th, 2019
Delayed by Borderline shooting, public shows slated
California Lutheran University has been invited to stage “columbinus” at the Region VIII Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, a particularly meaningful honor after the Borderline shooting rocked the campus and curtailed the originally scheduled public performances. Students will perform the play about the 1999 Columbine High School massacre for festival attendees three times on Feb. 14 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Before the festival, the students will present free public performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Feb. 10 in Preus-Brandt Forum on campus. Director Brett Elliott, cast members, and Cal Lutheran psychology and criminal justice faculty will participate in informal discussions with the audience after each show. The original performances were canceled as the university community dealt with the Nov. 7 shooting, which took the life of 2018 alumnus Justin Meek at a “College Country Night” attended by about 30 Cal Lutheran students, and the fires that began the next day. Instead, 160 people attended one free invitation-only performance. Seven productions were chosen for the festival from among more than 200 in Southern California, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. Judges will select four to six of the best and most diverse from the eight regional conferences to showcase at the national festival in Washington. This is the fifth time a Cal Lutheran play has been selected for the regional festival. “The students and the entire artistic staff worked hard to create this production, and it is a special honor to share it with the festival’s 1,000 attendees after the tragedy that our campus, our community and the country have endured,” said Theatre and Dance Department Chair Michael Arndt. The 2005 drama weaves together police evidence, the shooters’ journals, and interviews with parents, survivors and community leaders to depict the shooting, what led up to it and the aftermath. It examines archetypes of adolescence, drawing on nationwide interviews with high school students. In preparation for the production, the students watched documentaries on the tragedy, researched the shooters’ mental health problems and learned how the shooting changed high school culture. The intensity of the play, which features hate speech and graphic descriptions of violence, was difficult for them, but they felt the message was important. That feeling increased after Borderline. Counselors met with the cast and crew, many of whom knew Meek and survivors and some of whom evacuated or helped others during the fires, and they attended rehearsals and the private performance to help them process their feelings. The cast features Clayton Currie of Ventura, Jonathan Irwin of Washington, Victoria Karr of Corona, Amber Marroquin of Costa Mesa, Jacob White of Palmdale and Jordan Erickson, Mahyar Mirzazadeh and Gabrielle Reublin of Thousand Oaks. Tickets are available at CalLutheran.edu/theater. For information, call 805-493-3452. |
|
By Anonymous — Wednesday, December 19th, 2018
Moorpark College Theatre Arts is pleased to announce auditions for its upcoming Spring 2019 production of SPAMALOT; a production based on the uproarious Monty Python comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Auditions will be held Dec. 17, 18 and 19 from 3:30 - 6 p.m. in room PA-100 of the Performing Arts Center on the Moorpark College campus. Interested parties should bring 32 bars of sheet music, preferably from musical theater, and wear comfortable clothing for a dance audition. An accompanist will be present for the audition. The Tony® Award Winning Best Musical, SPAMALOT retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, featuring a bevy of showgirls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits and “French people.” This performance is sure to have audiences laughing and marveling at death-defying dance and musical numbers. The 2005 Broadway production won three Tony® Awards—including Best Musical—and was followed by two successful West End runs. “This will easily be the biggest production we have brought to our main stage in the last three years,” shares John Loprieno, the play’s director and chair of the Fine and Performing Arts Department. “My phone has been ringing off the hook since we announced the audition and I’ve had students practicing their various British accents since Halloween!” Anyone hoping to join the cast must also enroll in a three-unit Theatre Production: Performance class at Moorpark College. “With the insane comedy antics of Monty Python’s Holy Grail and 20 production numbers that feature show tune parodies, tap dancing, and Lady of the Lakerettes, how can you not have the thrill of a lifetime?” says Loprieno. “So, grab a shrubbery and your Finnish Slapping Fish and come out to audition!” SPAMALOT will run March 7 – 24 with evening performances from Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. in the studio theatre at Moorpark College. Tickets go on sale Jan. 15 and may be purchased through the Moorpark College Performing Arts Center Box Office at (805) 378-1485 or online at www.moorparkcollege.edu/pac. For additional information regarding SPAMALOT or the Moorpark College Theatre Arts Department, please contact Director John Loprieno at (805) 378-1469 or jloprieno@vcccd.edu. Moorpark College is located at 7075 Campus Road Moorpark, California 93021. MOORPARK COLLEGE, one of three colleges in the Ventura County Community College District, was founded in 1967. It is set on 150 beautiful acres, nestled in the foothills on the southeastern flank of Ventura County, about 40 miles from UCLA, and approximately 75 miles from UC Santa Barbara. It is also a short drive from CSU Northridge, CSU Channel Islands, and California Lutheran University. Moorpark College was recognized in the Huffington Post in March of 2015 as the fourth-best community college in the nation. It has an excellent reputation for university transfer preparation, and its signature career/technical programs include nursing, radiation technology, biotechnology, and exotic animal training, which incorporates the world-renowned America’s Teaching Zoo. The college also offers a dynamic range of classes and programs in the visual and performing arts, and its pristine athletic fields and mild climate provide an excellent home for student athletes. |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Tuesday, November 20th, 2018
Photographer Susannah Sofaer Kramer returns to the Ojai Photography Club as the final presenter for 2018 with a workshop on “The Wonderful World of NIK Filters.” The free event will be held on Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Ana Street, Ojai, CA. Sofaer will demonstrate the functions and “tips and tricks” of the versatile NIK digital photography plugins. Opening up shadows, making details vivid, adjusting the colors in sunsets - NIK filters can fine-tune these and many more image enhancements. She will also show the complete workflow from Lightroom to Photoshop to NIK that she uses in processing nearly all of her images. As the “Digital Diva” of the Ventura County Camera Club, she is an excellent communicator in photography and has created a series of YouTube tutorials for digital techniques. Originally sold for almost $400, NIK filters were reduced in price to $125 when Google bought them some years ago and then began giving them away for free. Unfortunately this meant that all development of them stopped. Recently DXO Labs bought them from Google and have upgraded them behind the scenes so that they now open in the latest operating systems, for both PC and Mac users. Sofaer is an award-winning fine art landscape, nature and portrait photographer. Born into a theatrical family in England, she was a ballet dancer, singer and actress for many years until giving up a stellar career to raise a family. She always needed a creative outlet, and as her children grew she became a competitive dressage rider at horse shows. It was there that she began photographing friends and their mounts, inspiring her to learn and further explore what she could do with a camera. In Sofaer’s own words, “I love being in the countryside, not only photographing the beauty and grandeur of nature, but also those small intimate moments that tell the story of a time and place. Composing a shot is like setting the stage, then one only has to patiently wait for the light and the drama to occur.” Visit her website for her galleries of images at: https://www.sofaerphotography.com/about.html Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the meeting will be on the fourth Tuesday. in November. Only members may submit images for review. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Monday, October 8th, 2018
The Ojai Photography Club will host Ojai based photographer Cindy Pitou Burton presenting “The Journey from Photojournalism to Fine Art” on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Clara St., Ojai, CA. She will give an illustrated talk about the dramatic changes in her photographic work that grew out of her move from fast paced photojournalism on the East Coast to innovative fine art photography in Ojai. The event is free and open to the public. Pitou Burton began her career as a photojournalist working for major media outlets in New York City, including the New York Times, NBC, CBS, PBS, as well as prominent magazines and corporations. After sixteen years in this high-powered field, she made an abrupt change when her husband persuaded her to move to Ojai. Although living in Ojai was a long-cherished dream for him, she missed the excitement of her work in the city. The rugged landscapes of the West Coast seemed strange, almost foreign, after her many years in the green countryside of the East Coast. All of her familiar photographic subjects had been left behind. When faced with such challenges, she explains, her attitude is always “Just say yes!” Beginning with black and white images of her backyard and the surrounding neighborhood, Pitou Burton gradually transformed her work into highly experimental fine art photography. Exploring alternative processes, she mastered the techniques of Polaroid transfers and digital manipulation. Her close-up images of flowers on a light box created a stunning x-ray effect. She has experimented extensively with unconventional papers and produced numerous series of limited edition fine art prints. With iPhone technology and travel, Pitou Burton has successfully combined her photojournalism and fine art expertise. She discovered that the iPhone offers new possibilities and also mimics her early transfer process, especially for large-scale prints. Emerging from her travels are painterly images of Vietnam, India, and the Galapagos Islands. From the inner mysteries of flowers to the faraway places of the world, she follows her “Yes!” wherever it leads. Pitou Burton has had many exhibits in New York and California, has been interviewed for the archives of Focus on the Masters and is an active member of the Ojai Studio Artists. For more information and her images, go to http://pitouburton.com Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may submit images for review. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Monday, September 10th, 2018
The Ojai Photo Club’s free monthly presentation for September will feature documentary photographer Marc Alt with “Shooting the American West.” The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18, in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Ana St., Ojai, CA. For over one hundred years the romance of the American West has captivated the imagination of the world. The dynamic interaction of horses, cowboys and cattle has been the subject of countless films, television series, books, images and songs. Yet the gritty reality of life as a cowboy is still alive today, and Marc Alt travels across the Western states documenting the men and women who still ride and work in “the old ways.” He will present an in-depth look at cowboy traditions and trace their historical development from the ranchos of early California to the plains of Montana and the islands of Hawaii. Alt will illustrate his presentation with work from his recent travels across Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and California. His images will feature a wide range of diverse locations, from million-acre historic ranches where the cowboys still sleep in bed-rolls in camp to a local event that showcases some of the traditions of horseman-ship and stockmanship from the Spanish and Mexican period in California. More of Alt’s work is at: https://www.marcalt.com and on Instagram: @marcaltphoto Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may sub-mit images for critique. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com/ |
|
By Anonymous — Wednesday, September 5th, 2018
60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks
Nsenga Knight: Other Stars “Each of my artistic projects is responding to my self-reflexive question: Who am I and what is my place in this world? My artworks exist as invitations to examine new possibilities that broaden our collective imaginations and challenge traditional boundaries of race, nationhood and religion.” —Nsenga Knight Knight is a first-generation black American Muslim woman from Brooklyn, and her work is influenced by Islamic geometric art and the black experience. In this exhibit, she works with geometric drawings, text paintings, photographs, oral history recordings and other media. Listen to the enthralling stories of black women in Brooklyn who converted to Islam prior to 1975. Learn about Malcolm X’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, his last religious duty. See how 10th-century astronomical renderings relate to a sociological interpretation of pilgrimage. Knight received a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania and has exhibited work at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, the New Museum for Contemporary Art and MoMA PS1. She lives and works in Cairo, Egypt. Admission is free. The Kwan Fong Gallery, located in Soiland Humanities Center, is open to the public 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For information, contact curator Rachel T. Schmid at (805) 493-3697 or visit CalLutheran.edu/kwanfong. Mapping Meaning: Adventures in Cartography Stashed in glove compartments, accessed on our phones and glowing on the metro, maps show us where to go and what to expect when we get there. The geography they interpret for us is, however, subject to the shaping influences of time and power. Coastlines are altered by rising sea levels, lands are “discovered,” boundaries are disputed and conquered, and cultures are created and erased. Some maps are statements and some are fanciful. Some are mistaken, inserting an island or angling a lake at odds with reality. All maps reveal perspectives and priorities of the people commissioning or making them. This exhibit presents a variety of beautiful maps and ways of reading them, along with objects from the times of their creation. Works date from the 16th century to the present, including a collection focusing on Scandinavia, a depiction of California as an island, and maps of the heavens. The works were generously loaned from the Dr. Ernst F. Tonsing Collection. Tonsing will give a related lecture at 4 p.m. Oct. 19 in the Room 212 of the William Rolland Art Center, which is next to the building housing the gallery. Admission is free. The gallery, located in William Rolland Stadium, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For information, contact curator Rachel T. Schmid at 805-493-3697 or rollandgallery@callutheran.edu, or visit CalLutheran.edu/rolland. Entrepreneur Speaker Series The Entrepreneur Speakers Series provides an energetic environment where like-minded and passionate people come together to share their ideas and build relationships. Each event begins with networking and a bite to eat followed by a main speaker and discussion. Past speakers have included serial entrepreneur and equity investor Dave Brekus and the founders of Eggology, Urbane Café, Seed&Spark and Blue Microphones. Admission is free, but registration is required. Sponsored by the School of Management Center for Entrepreneurship. For information, write to som@callutheran.edu. To register, visit CalLutheran.edu/Entrepreneurship. Reel Justice Film Series: “The Unafraid” “The Unafraid” is a feature-length documentary that follows the personal lives of three DACA students in Georgia, where immigration status prevents them from attending the top state universities and disqualifies them for in-state tuition at other public colleges. Shot in an observational style over a period of four years, this film takes an intimate look at the lives of Alejandro, Silvia and Aldo as they pursue activism and an education and fight for the rights of their families and communities. Admission is free. Sponsored by the Sarah W. Heath Center for Equality and Justice and the Languages and Cultures Department. For information, contact the CEJ at 805-493-3694 or CEJ@callutheran.edu. Faculty Recital Eric Kinsley will perform a piano and harpsichord recital with fellow members of the music faculty. The musicians will briefly introduce and play rare chamber and solo works of composers such as J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, C.W. Gluck, J.P. Rameau and Arvo Pärt. University Lecture Series In this series of lectures, with three more to come in the spring of 2019, Cal Lutheran professors will explore what life was like a millennium ago, that is, in about 1000 CE (or A.D.). What age was it? The Dark Ages? The Islamic Golden Age? The Heian Period? All of these and more? Come find out! Sept. 26: “1000 CE: What Did the Simple Folk Do?” – Michaela Reaves, Ph.D., History Admission is free. Sponsored by Cal Lutheran and the Thousand Oaks Grant R. Brimhall Library. Funded by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation Grant for “Lyceum: Humanities and Beyond!” For information, contact Cindy Keitel at ckeitel@callutheran.edu. “The New History of American Slaveries” American slavery began long before Europeans arrived in the New World. Evidence from archaeology and oral tradition indicates that for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, Native Americans had developed their own forms of bondage. This should not be surprising since most societies in history have practiced slavery and kept a high proportion of the total global population unfree, according to archaeologist Catherine Cameron. If slavery is ubiquitous, however, it also takes on many distinct forms. Christina Snyder, the McCabe Greer Professor of History at Penn State University, studies the intersections of colonialism, race and slavery, with a focus on North America from the pre-contact era through the 19th century. She is the author of “Slavery in Indian Country: The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America” (Harvard UP, 2010) and “Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in the Age of Jackson” (Oxford UP, 2017), which won this year’s Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians. Admission is free. Sponsored by the History Department, Alpha Xi Psi Chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, and the Organization of American Historians. For information, contact Sam Claussen at sclaussen@callutheran.edu. Lunchtime Organ Recital Series Adjunct faculty member Joseph Peeples showcases the 2,109-pipe Borg Petersen Memorial Organ in 30-minute recitals on the last Friday of each month. The works performed are of varied character and suited to all. Bring your lunch. Admission is free. For information, call Campus Ministry at 805-493-3228 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. Faculty Recital Micah Wright will be joined by pianist Hui Wu for an evening of clarinet repertoire and transcriptions. Music by Claude Debussy, César Franck, Leonard Bernstein and Sergei Prokofiev. Donations accepted. For information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. |
|
By Anonymous — Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018
The Naval Base Ventura County Surf Contest will showcase some of the best surfers in Southern California. The contest, which will be held August 25th and 26th beginning at noon daily, is free and open to the public. This is an exciting opportunity for the surfing community to access some of the best waves Southern California has to offer. The Southern swell, submarine canyon, and sandbars cause a distinctive and larger wave break than at other local beaches. The event draws international surfing champions from around the globe, and 70 contestants are expected to ride the waves. There will be live music throughout each day and for the first time, MWR will host a Cornhole Tournament offering prizes for the two-person team winners. A variety of vendor booths will be open during the event and food will be available for purchase. The Las Posas Gate at NBVC Point Mugu will be open 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. both event days for visitors. All guests will be directed to a parking lot near the Surf Contest venue. During these times, NBVC residents and personnel will need to show their DoD ID to proceed to areas on base outside of the Surf Contest thruway and venue. Photography is allowed only at the venue site and toward the ocean during the Surf Contest. No other photography of the installation will be allowed. The media is welcome. For more information, please call NBVC Public Affairs at 805-989-8095 or 805-989-9234. |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Wednesday, August 15th, 2018
Free event to be held August 21, 2018 entitled “A Brief History of Portraiture”
 Photographer and educator, Tim Meyer. The Ojai Photo Club will feature photographer and educator Tim Meyer as its presenter for August. The free event, “A Brief History of Portraiture,” will be held on August 21 at 7 p.m. in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Ana St., Ojai, CA. Meyer will offer a fast-paced journey through the history of portraiture, spanning more than two millennia and including a wide variety of art media. With a lifetime of experience in photographic portraiture, he will discuss different artistic ap-proaches to creating portraits, from 600 BC to the present. He will illustrate how these styles have influenced the way we portray ourselves and how they continue to have an impact on contemporary photography. Throughout his thirty-five plus years as a professional photographer, educator and author, Meyer has been internationally recognized and respected for his innovative style and technique. His photographic art has been displayed in both solo and group exhibitions and has earned multiple awards. His book, “The Portrait: Understanding Portrait Photography,” is published in four languages and has been adopted as a textbook in numerous colleges. A second book, “Light Shaping,” is also available worldwide. As an academic educator, Meyer holds both an MA and MFA in art and photography. He taught full-time at Brooks Institute until its closure in 2016, and is currently an instructor at Mount St. Mary’s University, Los Angeles. In addition to many national education programs, he has lectured internationally in England, Germany and Mexico. His areas of expertise are portraiture and wedding photography; and basic, advanced and creative lighting. Meyer’s industry achievements include the Professional Photographers of America’s Master and Craftsman degrees. He has served as a councilor for this organization from 2009 to the present. Concurrent with his teaching, Meyer has maintained a successful portrait and wedding photography business in Santa Barbara. For more information and to view Meyer’s portfolio images go to: https://tmeyer.myportfolio.com Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may sub-mit images for review. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com/ |
|
By Anonymous — Monday, July 30th, 2018
Resilient Women: The Art of Daggi Wallace Painter and pastel artist Daggi Wallace is a member of the Studio Channel Islands community. This exhibition is a compilation of her most recent work including an exploration of water, a focus on the Berlin wall, and studies that relate to the #MeToo movement. Though it is not the case with her work in general, this exhibit focuses on portrayals of women. Wallace was born in West Berlin close to the Berlin Wall in 1962. She uses the wall as a symbol for all the walls in life, including those internally built. She uses the wide-open spaces of the American Southwest and the freedom of bodies of water to reflect how she felt after immigrating to the United States. “Focusing mainly on portraying the human condition and our connection to each other, my work always begins with a visual trigger that evokes a strong emotional response in me or with an idea I want to explore,” Wallace said. Wallace’s paintings have been published in several books and magazines, including American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Professional Artist, International Artist, the Pastel Journal, Poets and Artists and Pratique Des Arts. Cal Lutheran students Christine Dauzat of Chatsworth, Christian Duimstra of Rancho Cucamonga, Cristina Farias of Camarillo, Paris Notter of Westlake Village, Brianna Pinal of Vista, Evan Pine of Calabasas and Mikaela Wundrow of San Diego curated the exhibit as part of their Arts Management and Museology course. The gallery is located in the Soiland Humanities Center at 120 Memorial Parkway. It is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, contact Rachel T. Schmid at 805-493-3697 or visit CalLutheran.edu/kwanfong. Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival The 22nd season of one of the region’s most popular outdoor theatrical events features the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company’s performance of William Shakespeare’s “The Two Noble Kinsmen” and “Othello.” “Othello” Racial animus, jealousy and revenge drive Shakespeare’s classic tragedy “Othello.” This masterwork of early modern drama features the playwright’s most famous and arguably best-crafted villain, Iago. In a tale that feels all too contemporary, the villain’s weapons of choice are his victim’s own prejudice and paranoia. Iago wields them with a merciless intelligence, smiling as he effects the ruin of the noble Othello and his naïve young bride, Desdemona, and dragging down the entire state in the process. Join us under the stars for this truly timeless masterpiece. The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company is the professional theater company of Cal Lutheran. The nonprofit organization runs apprentice programs for professional and aspiring Shakespearean actors, an educational tour program in local schools and summer theater camps for youth. General admission is $25 for adults, $20 for seniors 65 and over, $15 for students with ID and, as always, free for everyone under 18. Reserved lawn boxes have room for six and are available online for $90 to $110. For tickets and information, visit KingsmenShakespeare.org or call 805-493-3452. Nsenga Knight: Other Stars “Each of my artistic projects is responding to my self-reflexive question: Who am I and what is my place in this world? My artworks exist as invitations to examine new possibilities that broaden our collective imaginations and challenge traditional boundaries of race, nationhood and religion.” —Nsenga Knight Knight is a first-generation black American Muslim woman from Brooklyn, and her work is influenced by Islamic geometric art and the black experience. In this exhibit, she works with geometric drawings, text paintings, photographs, oral history recordings and other media. Listen to the enthralling stories of black women in Brooklyn who converted to Islam prior to 1975. Learn about Malcolm X’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, his last religious duty. See how 10th-century astronomical renderings relate to a sociological interpretation of pilgrimage. Knight received a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania and has exhibited work at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, the New Museum for Contemporary Art and MoMA PS1. She lives and works in Cairo, Egypt. Admission is free. The Kwan Fong Gallery, located in Soiland Humanities Center, is open to the public 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. See Page tkt for parking. For information, contact curator Rachel T. Schmid at (805) 493-3697 or visit CalLutheran.edu/kwanfong. Mapping Meaning: Adventures in Cartography Stashed in glove compartments, accessed on our phones and glowing on the metro, maps show us where to go and what to expect when we get there. The geography they interpret for us is, however, subject to the shaping influences of time and power. Coastlines are altered by rising sea levels, lands are “discovered,” boundaries are disputed and conquered, and cultures are created and erased. Some maps are statements and some are fanciful. Some are mistaken, inserting an island or angling a lake at odds with reality. All maps reveal perspectives and priorities of the people commissioning or making them. This exhibit presents a variety of beautiful maps and ways of reading them, along with objects from the times of their creation. Works date from the 16th century to the present, including a collection focusing on Scandinavia, a depiction of California as an island, and maps of the heavens. The works were generously loaned from the Dr. Ernst F. Tonsing Collection. Tonsing will give a related lecture at 4 p.m. Oct. 19 in the Room 212 of the William Rolland Art Center, which is next to the building housing the gallery. Admission is free. The gallery, located in William Rolland Stadium, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For information, contact curator Rachel T. Schmid at 805-493-3697 or rollandgallery@callutheran.edu, or visit CalLutheran.edu/rolland. Lunchtime Organ Recital Series Adjunct faculty member Joseph Peeples showcases the 2,109-pipe Borg Petersen Memorial Organ in 30-minute recitals on the last Friday of each month. The works performed are of varied character and suited to all. Bring your lunch. Admission is free. For information, call Campus Ministry at 805-493-3228 or visit CalLutheran.edu/music. |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Tuesday, June 12th, 2018
The Ojai Photography Club will feature fine-art photographer Felice Willat as the presenter for June. The event, “Lifescapes,” is free and open to the public and will be held June 19 at 7 p.m. in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Ana Road, Ojai CA. “Lifescapes” is Willat’s name for images that focus on the interconnection between the landscape and its human inhabitants. A world traveler for many years, she has found the traditional genres of landscape photography and portraiture unsatisfying for her vision. Creating a new artistic approach, she uses the lens of her camera to capture the moment when the human and the landscape are revealed to be inseparable. Although her images have been taken during trips abroad, she does not consider herself a travel photographer. Instead, she identifies as an artist who happened to discover art while traveling with a camera in her hand. The presentation will trace the evolution of Willat’s art over the past decade, beginning with a trip to Burma in 2007 through her most recent journey to India in March of this year. The talk will be illustrated with images from worldwide destinations including Burma, India, Argentina and Hawaii. She will discuss her meditative approach: how her camera provides a sense of stillness and presence. As she expressed it: “I could capture a moment, something sacred or common-place, an unconscious gesture, a tattered clothesline, a red plastic pitcher, or a worn prayer book. I like to leave the familiar, travel to far-away places, and find the gift of really being present.” Willat began her journey into photography in mid-life after co-founding a successful time management company, Day Runner, and raising three children. Returning from a trip to India one year, she hung a few photographs in her office taken with a small point-and-shoot camera. A colleague commented that she had an eye for photography and this encouragement led her to take design and photography classes and coaching. In subsequent trips her art evolved into a meditation on the oneness of the human and natural world. Her images speak of the stillness that makes this interconnectedness visible. Based in Santa Barbara, Willat has exhibited widely and won numerous awards for her fine-art photography. The venues for her work have included the Los Angeles Center for Photography, Bergamot Station, the Brand Library, and the Topanga Canyon Gallery, among many others. She has published a book of photographs and poems, “The Quiet Between, Song of Burma.” For more information on Willat, go to: http://www.felicewillatphotography.com/ Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may submit images for critique. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com |
|
By Anonymous — Monday, May 7th, 2018
The Ventura County Rose Society will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at the Ventura County Office of Education Conference Center at 5100 Adolfo Rd., Camarillo. Our program will be a "Double Delight Evening". Our speaker, Hetty Shurtleff, is a American Rose Society Award Floral Arranger who will show us how to do her flower arrangements. Our second "delight" will be a silent auction of garden items and other wonderful things that our members will be bringing in. It will be a fun and informative evening! The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for advice from Consulting Rosarians and refreshments. There will be a little Rose Show at 7:00 P.M. and our program will begin at 7:30 P.M. Visitors are always welcome to our VCRS meetings. For more information contact; Janet Sklar at 818-993-6622 or Barbara Morse at 805-499-1657. Our website is: www.venturacountyrosesociety.org |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Monday, May 7th, 2018
The Ojai Photo Club will feature photographer Scott Miles as its presenter for May. The free event, “The Scientific Photographer,” will be held on Tuesday, May 15, at 7 p.m. in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Ana St., Ojai, CA. Miles developed a love for exploring the world outside his reach in the museums he visited as a child. Now he is a cultural heritage photographer, specializing in documenting objects in museums, private collections and at archaeological sites. Using advanced techniques, he creates highly accurate images for digital archives. His work preserves a permanent record of humanity’s achievements that can be shared with a global audience. He is passionate about sharing these treasures and will illustrate his discussion with images he has produced for museums. Miles will discuss techniques for achieving professional quality image capture. A member of the faculty at Brooks Institute beginning in 2002, he developed a curriculum in scientific and technical imaging. He has had a longtime fascination with the power of photography, as he expressed it, “to make the invisible visible.” He continued, “Scientific phenomena and subjects that are too small, too fast, too slow, outside the visible spectrum of light, can all be revealed with the right im-aging techniques.” Wrapping up the discussion, Miles will preview his current installation art projects. He is creating two high-speed video installation pieces that will be placed at The Blackboard Gallery in Camarillo in November. These pieces use slow-motion (high frame rate capture) video and other installation components to explore our relationship with time and space. For more on Miles see his website at: http://thescientificphotographer.com Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may submit images for critique. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Tuesday, April 10th, 2018
The Ojai Photo Club will feature photographer and documentary cinematographer Sarah Bourscheid as its guest presenter for April. The free event, “Quiet Compassion,” will be held on Tuesday, April 17, at 7 p.m. in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Ana St., Ojai, CA. Bourscheid practices compassion through the lens of her camera, striving to bring the viewer and the subject together to discover their shared humanity despite any differences. In her eyes, empathy and beauty are inseparable. The presentation will explore compassion in everyday life and include projects on loss, strength and love. She will show a selection of her still images as well as a preview of a video documentary currently in production. For Bourscheid, her photography is a journey of growth, deepening her own empathy. “In this tumultuous and divided world,” she writes, “it’s important to understand that our differences can bring us closer.” Growing up in New Jersey, Bourscheid developed an early passion for storytelling and at first thought she wanted to be a novelist. But after two years in New York for a degree in creative writing, she realized that she didn’t want to think up stories in her head when there was so much that captured her attention in the world around her. Changing tracks for a more visual medium, she went on to graduate from Brooks Institute of Photography with a Bachelor of Science in visual journalism. Although she has changed career paths, she feels that her background in writing has made her a stronger visual storyteller. Currently she is a professional photographer, videographer and documentary cinematographer based in Ventura. She specializes in event coverage, corporate video, documentaries and video editing. As a staff photographer for the Ojai Valley Visitor’s Guide, she has created the series “Faces of Ojai.” For more information about Bourscheid’s work, go to her website, http://scheidmedia.com/ Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may submit images for critique. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com/ |
|
By Anonymous — Monday, April 9th, 2018
Performers, crafts, food to fill Cal Lutheran campus
The largest Nordic festival in Southern California will return to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks on April 21 and 22. The 43rd Scandinavian Festival will celebrate the cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Sami people from the Arctic regions of Scandinavia. The family-friendly festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with music, dancing, food, crafts, activities, demonstrations, vendors and lectures. The festival includes a Children’s Theater, a puppet show of Hans Christian Andersen stories and performances by community children’s groups including the Redwood Middle School Jazz Band. Children can travel through Scandinavia at the festival, earning passport stamps as they complete crafts reflecting the five different countries. Visitors young and old can create head wreaths decorated with flowers and ribbon and dance around the maypole. Festivalgoers can also wander through an authentic Viking village, as well as a Sami sliddastallan, or community gathering. They can ask a rune reader for advice, visit Norwegian elkhounds and take Scandinavian dance lessons. Families can also try their hand at Dala horse croquet and play an ancient Viking game called kubb. Cooks will demonstrate how to make aebleskivers, lefse and krumkake. Other food options include Swedish pancakes, Viking dogs, Swedish meatball pizza, open-faced sandwiches and Swedish baked goods. The festival kicks off with an opening ceremony and a parade of Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish and Sami participants in traditional costumes carrying flags of their countries. Performers will include Icelandic folk rock band The Evening Guests, the ABBAFAB tribute band, acclaimed storytellers Stina Fagertun of Norway and RJ Ryan Seutter, musician and entertainer Ross Sutter, and folk dance groups. Vendors of Scandinavian handicrafts will be selling their wares, and Scandinavian vintage cars and motorcycles will be on display. A booth will feature genealogy experts who can help visitors trace their family trees and a representative of Family Tree DNA, which sells a variety of DNA kits. The Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation is producing the event. Admission is free for children 12 and younger, $5 for teenagers and $10 for adults. Parking is free. The campus is located at 60 W. Olsen Road. For more information or to volunteer, go to scandinavianfest.org, email scanfest2018@gmail.com or visit us on Facebook. |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Thursday, March 15th, 2018
 All photographs courtesy Holly and Mark Jansen. Event and biography information below. Enlarge Photo The Ojai Photo Club will feature Holly and Mark Jansen, Ventura-based photographers and workshop leaders, who will present “A Photographer’s View of Iceland and the Changing Climate.” The event will be held March 20, 2018, in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Clara St., Ojai, CA. Over the past five years the Jansens have traveled to Iceland conducting photographic tours of its magnificent and pristine landscapes. Based on their perspective as keenly observant photographers and frequent travelers, they have witnessed evidence of changes in the area due to ice melt, receding glaciers and the impact of man on the environment. Unlike scientific approaches, the Jansen presentation will show climate change emerging over time through multiple photographic images that tell their own story. Iceland drew worldwide attention and became a favorite destination for tourists following its massive volcanic eruptions in 2010. The internet was flooded with stunning pictures of the country known as “The Land of Fire and Ice.” The Jansen presentation will offer an opportunity to view the wild and dramatic landscape of Iceland off the tourist track, and will include images from their most recent expedition in February 2018. Mark Jansen is a successful fine art photographer who has participated in over forty shows and gallery exhibitions in Southern California. His large-scale murals of vintage World War II aviation images are permanently displayed at the Camarillo and Santa Maria airports. He grew up in Los Angeles and studied Commercial Design and Photography at Moorpark College. Holly Higbee-Jansen is a native of the San Francisco Bay area. Her family loved photography and she spent many summers with them in Yosemite National Park attending Ansel Adams’ landscape photography workshops. She holds degrees in Business and Design from Skidmore College and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Mark and Holly Jansen cofounded Jansen Photo Expeditions, and they have provided single and multi-day instructional photography workshops throughout the American West, Iceland, and Costa Rica since 1996. Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may submit images for review. More information is available at www.ojaiphotoclub.com/ |
|
By Letitia Grimes — Tuesday, February 13th, 2018
Ojai, CA: “Second Look” with Guy Webster The Ojai Photo Club will kick off a new year of free monthly events with the return of Guy Webster, internationally recognized celebrity photographer. His presentation, “Second Look,” will begin at 7 pm on Tuesday, February 20, in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Clara Street, Ojai, CA. Webster’s images first appeared on the album covers of ‘60s and ‘70s rock groups, becoming cultural icons for millions of people across the globe. His groundbreaking portraits took celebrities out of the photographic studio and created a natural and intimate aesthetic for a new era. His prolific work has encompassed an extraordinary range of prominent figures, from rock stars such as Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan, to Hollywood legends including Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand, to famous authors like Truman Capote and Allen Ginsberg. “Second Look” is inspired by the idea that when the photographer takes a second look at his images there are more treasures to be discovered. Webster will present shots from his archives that have never been published before, accompanied by his gift for entertaining audiences with the backstories. This will be a preview of his new photographic anthology by the same title. Growing up in Hollywood in a show business family, Webster was uniquely positioned to become a sought-after photographer to celebrities, since many had been neighbors, classmates or friends. The music revolution of the ‘60s coincided with the beginning of his career, and he followed his passion for the emerging musical scene. Spanning forty years, his innovative photographic work has covered the worlds of music, films and politics. For more about Webster and his portraits, go to https://guywebster.com Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service and education outreach. The general public is always welcome to attend. The club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may submit images for critique. More information is available at: www.ojaiphotoclub.com |
|
By Anonymous — Tuesday, February 13th, 2018
Sunday, February 25, 2018, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Santa Paula Art Museum SANTA PAULA, CA – On Sunday, February 25, bring your family and friends to “Free Family Day: An Imaginary World” at the Santa Paula Art Museum! Visitors are invited to explore the Museum's current exhibitions, participate in hands-on art workshops, and challenge one another to a digital game of "I Spy." Admission to the event is free for everyone and activities will run from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Free Family Day: An Imaginary World will allow guests to interact with the art featured in the Museum’s current “Setting the Scene” exhibit, all of which was created by artists who worked in animation and film during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Participants will be shown how to create a flip book animation drawing that will then be made into a short animated video using stop-motion technology. Freelance illustrator and photographer Lala T. Konrath will lead the drawing segment of the workshop and video game artist and 3D animation specialist Anita McLaughlin will lead the digital component. The Santa Paula Art Museum, Jeanette Cole Art Center is located at 117 North 10th Street in historic downtown Santa Paula. The Museum features rotating exhibitions of vintage and contemporary art, educational programming for children and adults, artist talks and demonstrations, a gift shop, and more. The Museum’s regular hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Regular admission is $4.00 for adults, $3.00 for seniors, and is free for museum members and students. For more information, please contact the Museum at (805) 525-5554. |
|
By Anonymous — Monday, January 29th, 2018
An artistic exploration of Mother Nature untouched was nearly consumed by Mother Nature unleashed when the Thomas fire threatened the works of Ojai artist Lorraine Serena. Serena, whose work will appear in an upcoming exhibition at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI), was evacuated from her Ojai home four times as she and CSUCI Art Lecturer Anette Kubitza put together the show. The studio where Serena works as well as her art pieces were at her home. “Each time Lorraine was evacuated, we didn’t know if the work would survive,” Kubitza said. Titled “Sanctuaries,” the exhibition will run from Feb. 19 to April 7 with a Feb. 22 opening in the John Spoor Broome Gallery. The reception will last from 5 to 7 p.m. with a talk from Serena about her work. Visit the John Spoor Broome Library for library hours. “For me, ‘Sanctuaries’ is about places of peace and solitude and comfort,” Serena said. “Landscapes, churches, temples. I was doing it as a contemplative thing.” Serena’s charcoal drawings are large, about 49 by 60 inches. The shrines are examples of Serena’s collage work. To Kubitza, “Sanctuaries” is a study of the multilayered relationship between human beings and their environment, which can be a source of peace and power. “Nature can evoke feelings of soul-nurturing retreat from social woes, yet recently, those gave way to feelings of awe and powerlessness as riverbeds flooded and fires roared,” Kubitza said. Serena received her bachelor’s and Master of Fine Arts at UC Santa Barbara and lived in Montecito for a time before moving to Ojai, so watching the fire sweep through the two counties she called home was heartbreaking for her. “I just got chills through my whole body at the mention of it,” Serena said. “It’s just horrifying.” Serena hopes “Sanctuaries” reminds guests of the softer side of nature. Serena began her career with a series of artistic collaborations at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. These installations involved more than 600 student artists. Later, Serena would go on to establish Women Beyond Borders (womenbeyondborders.org), which became her life’s work. The multi-year project involved sending more than 1,000 artists in 50 countries one small wooden box each, which they made into a piece of art, then returned to Serena. Among the artistic boxes are works from more than 10,000 children, 6,500 with disabilities. “We’re all isolated artists in our studios,” she said. “I’m very fond of collaboration. I don’t like to just walk alone as an artist. I like to walk with other artists.” Serena considers “Sanctuaries” and “Women Beyond Borders” both as examples of her overarching art form: building community. She is fond of quoting Japanese writer Ryunosuke Satoro, who said: “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” About California State University Channel Islands |
