And Thats All There Is

Mission Era Chumash Doll

When the Museum of Ventura County holds its free Sunday, July 4 Reopening Celebration at 100 E. Main Street in Ventura from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, visitors will not only see a spacious new front plaza with a water feature and a mosaic time line, a state-of-the-art event pavilion, and a renovated visitor center, but also four new exhibits. One will focus on the odd and unusual in the museum collection, another upon a legendary woman of mystery, and a third upon the timeless beauty of stone. And just in time for the nation's birthday, the George Stuart Historical Figures® will return, with the focus on the founding of America.

The 89 S. California Street location, which the museum occupied temporarily during construction, will be closed permanently after June 20.

The new museum exhibitions include:
Rare, Precious and Unusual: Treasures from the Collection (through September 6) From the mundane to the sublime, precious items, oddities and works of art from the collection are featured, some never before shown in a museum setting. See rare Chumash baskets, as well as the unexpected: the claws of Old Three Toes, a legendary bear who roamed the Sespe in 1780; an albino pocket gopher; and a Humboldt Penguin raised in an aviary in Fillmore. The museum began in 1913 with a collection of objects acquired by local doctor Cephas Bard, who came to Ventura after the Civil War and who often accepted historical objects in lieu of cash payment for his services. Today the museum collection contains more than 30,000 works of art and artifacts.

Between Fact and Fiction: The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island (through October 17)
Highlighting a figure of both fact and fiction, this exhibition explores the different perceptions developed around the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, as people have sought the elusive truth about her. Celebrated in legend and books such as the children's classic "Island of the Blue Dolphins," this San Nicolas islander was left alone in 1835 on one of the most remote of the Channel Islands, until she was found and brought in 1853 to Santa Barbara, where she died within weeks of her arrival. The exhibit includes a specially commissioned, one-quarter life-size figure of the Lone Woman by artist George Stuart.

Liberty! The Genius of the People (through September 6)
This grouping of George Stuart Historical Figures® features personalities involved in the American Revolution and the founding of the nation. These one-quarter life-size sculptures are renowned for their expressive faces and detailed costumes.

Romancing the Stones (through October 3)
The light plays with surfaces and translucency in an exhibit of stone sculpture by Ventura artist Michele Chapin.