Rare historic books and photographs, as well as work by the late renowned artists Robert Graham and Vivika & Otto Heino, are on exhibition in Museum of Ventura County’s Building the Collection: Recent Acquisitions, opening May 6 and running through June 19. The exhibition honors the donors and supporters who have made possible the growth of the museum’s collection, which now includes more than 700 pieces of art and more than 30,000 artifacts, as well as 140,000 historical maps, documents, publications, and photographs held in the non-lending public Research Library.

Research Librarian Charles Johnson and Curator of Collections Anna Bermudez personally chose the wide variety of newly acquired pieces on exhibit. A photo of the 1937 Dingman Thanksgiving family dinner is historically important because Waldo Dingman was an early photographer in Ventura County, but it also reveals an engaging reality: the family is dining inside his photography studio, with props moved aside for the holiday meal. The hand printed photo is a gift of the Dingman family. The small female bronze nude by Robert Graham echoes his monumental bronze figures seen on buildings throughout the country, including the 1984 Olympic Gateway at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and the Great Bronze Doors and Statue of Mary at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. The Graham sculpture was a gift from the collection of the Lisnek family of Florence, Kentucky, once residents of Ventura County. A ceramic pot by the late and beloved Ojai potters Vivika & Otto Heino is also on display, also recently donated by Margaret Lisnek.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.