THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University will complete its fall Tennessee Williams series with an untraditional production of “Suddenly Last Summer” Nov. 10 through 20 on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Performances of the Fall Mainstage production are slated for 8 p.m. Nov. 10, 11, 12, 17 and 19 in the Black Box Studio Theatre. A special “midnight” performance will be presented at 11 p.m. Nov. 18 and a matinee will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 20.

“Suddenly Last Summer” is a one-act play that opened off-Broadway in 1958 as part of a double bill with another of Williams’ plays. He wrote it after beginning a period of psychoanalytic treatment and it seems to serve as a type of exorcism of Williams’ inner demons. In one of his starkest and most poetic works, Williams explores the nature of insanity, desire, voyeurism and the inherent danger that lies in humanity’s search for truth. Given the disturbing nature of the subject matter, this play is intended for mature audiences.

In contrast with “Summer and Smoke,” the first of the two Williams’ shows produced at CLU this fall, “Suddenly Last Summer” will break away from the linear narrative in favor of presenting a psychological examination of the writer. Directed by Nate Sinnott, an assistant professor in CLU’s Theatre Department, the production will be dominated by dream imagery, highlighting the powerful themes and language of the play. To this end, “Suddenly Last Summer” will incorporate more non-traditional styles of theatrical presentation such as interpretive movement and live video. Faculty and students from CLU’s Multimedia Department are assisting with the production.

The cast includes the following: Martha Sadie Griffin, a senior theatre arts major from Alexandria, Minn., as Mrs. Venable; Brent Ramirez, a senior theatre arts major from Simi Valley, as Dr. Cukrowicz; Shannon Dempsey, a senior communication major from Stratford, Conn., as Catharine Holly; Taylor Lampela, a senior theatre arts major from Bakersfield, as Mrs. Holly; Jordan Parrott, a junior theatre arts major from Antioch, as George Holly; Sarah McKee, a freshman math major from Sunnyvale, as Sister Felicity; and Kelsey Goeres, a junior communication major from Santa Maria, as Miss Foxhill. The chorus members are Ally Crocker, a junior theatre arts major from San Diego; Erik Groth, a junior music major from Newbury Park; Jeremy Hanna, a junior theatre arts major from Thousand Oaks; Ben Michaels, a freshman theatre arts major from Redlands; and Alison Waxman, a freshman theatre arts major from Simi Valley.

Zip and Stephanie Wilson of Westlake Village are sponsoring the production.

The Black Box Studio Theatre is located in the Theatre Arts Building, which is on the north side of Memorial Parkway near Pioneer Avenue. Admission is $10. For more information, call the Theatre Arts Department at 805-493-3415.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The second in a series of talks on Spanish missionary Junipero Serra has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at California Lutheran University

Award-winning author Gregory Orfalea, who teaches at Westmont College, will present “Serra and the Indians of California: A Hymn or a Horror?” in Nygreen Hall 1. The talk had originally been scheduled for Nov. 8.

Orfalea will show that Serra, as a latecomer to the colonial scene, brought a more complex mindset to his relationship with Native Americans than is commonly understood.

A former writing teacher at CLU, Orfalea has written eight books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and memoir, including a 2010 collection of short stories titled “The Man Who Guarded the Bomb.” Scribner plans to release “Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra and the Spanish Encounter with the California Indian” next year.

He has won awards for his writing and grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the California Arts Council, and has served as a judge for the PEN USA Award and the Arab American Book Award. He was a finalist for the 2010 PEN USA Award in creative nonfiction for “Angeleno Days: An Arab American Writer on Family, Place and Politics.”

Nygreen Hall is located on the south side of Memorial Parkway near Pioneer Avenue on the Thousand Oaks campus.

CLU’s Artists and Speakers Committee is sponsoring the free presentation. For more information, contact Dan Geeting at geeting@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3311.

Sunday • October 23
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Join the League of Women Voters of Ventura County, American Association of University Women of Thousand Oaks,
and the Museum for festivities, music, refreshments and costumed portrayals.

California passed women's suffrage 9 years before the national battle was won!

Special guest Dr. Beverly Merrill Kelley, author, columnist and California Lutheran University professor,
presents an illustrated lecture on the historic ballot measure.

$10 public • $5 Museum members,
LWV & AAUW members
Includes entry to all exhibit galleries
RSVP 805.653.0323 x 7

OPEN: Tuesday - Sunday 11 - 5 • 100 E. Main Street, Ventura

www.venturamuseum.org

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University will screen an award-winning documentary about children attempting to immigrate to the United States at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9.

A faculty panel will discuss the film and answer questions following the screening in Lundring Events Center.

As the United States continues to build a wall between itself and Mexico, “Which Way Home” shows the personal side of immigration through the eyes of children who face harrowing dangers with enormous courage and resourcefulness as they endeavor to cross the border.

The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call “The Beast.” Director Rebecca Cammisa tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, 9-year-old Hondurans desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota; Jose, a 10-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center; and Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are rarely told stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow.

“Which Way Home” has received many honors including the 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Grand Prize and a nomination for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.

The film is part of CLU’s Reel Justice Film Series, which examines the themes of equality and social justice.

The documentary ties into this year’s First-Year Experience program at CLU. CLU freshmen had to read “Enrique’s Journey,” the true story of a teenage boy who rode “The Beast” from Honduras to the U.S. to find his mother, before they arrived on campus for New Student Orientation. Author Sonia Nazario, who originally wrote the story as a series for the Los Angeles Times, spoke on campus in September and students have discussed the book in their Freshman Seminar classes. It was Nazario’s series that prompted Cammisa to make the film.

Lundring Events Center is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, which is north of Olsen Road near between Campus Drive and Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus.

CLU’s Center for Equality and Justice is sponsoring the free event. For more information, contact Sam Thomas at sthomas@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3693.

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Cathe Bodie
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Story by Chloe Vieira

If your license plate frame reads, “My other wheels spin colored cotton,” you fit in perfectly with the crowd who gathered at Studio Channel Islands Art Center’s Wearable Art and Jewelry Show on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Skilled craftspeople, artists, weavers, spinners and curious community members shared wearable art at more than 31 tables covered in a rainbow of fabrics. Vendors including Slipped Stitch Studios, Mimi’s Needle Basket and RedFish Dye Works, set up booths in the grass between the artist’s studios in Old Town Camarillo.

The art center and the Ventura County Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild collaborated on the show. Weaving artist Deborah Jarchow has been in residence at the art center for seven years and is also a member of the guild. She said the shared event showed how much the art center and the guild have in common.

“I love to bring new members along to the guild and introduce them to weaving,” Jarchow said. She teaches weaving classes for beginners of all ages. Students can leave her six-hour class with a completed scarf. Jarchow says weaving is often faster than knitting.

“It’s like driving. Once you know how you don’t have to think about it,” she said.

Cathe Bodie, who took her first weaving class from Jarchow, raises alpacas and weaves their hair into scarves, hats and gloves. She sat at her wheel as it twisted tufts of hair into a long strand.

“The fiber suits scarves because it has good drape,” Bodie said.

Other booths on the lawn were strewn with yarn ball winders, drawstring bags, knitting needles, dyed threads of every color, scarves, hats, bags, jewelry, looms, bowls and vases.

Weaver and guild member Glenda Clift spun her wheel in her stocking feet. Without shoes, she could use the pedal more easily.

“You can spin from sheep’s wool, alpaca fibers, rabbit hair, yak, llama, dog, buffalo and even camel hair,” Clift said, “It’s just millions and millions of hairs twisted together.”

Nearby, Suzi Spooner and her mother showed off their handmade jewelry and rugs. The Spooner family sells crafts and uses the money to support two adopted children in Uganda.

“I wanted to do something to help them,” said the teen.

Spooner said her brother and sister weave rugs; her mom makes felted bags and her sister-in-law sews denim bags.

Spooner’s mother, Monica, has been a weaver for 22 years. She says the guild was a place for her to meet other weavers, share ideas and get inspired. “We all have fiber in common, and we all have yarn hidden under our beds,” she said.

On one table sat a collection of wooden weaving and spinning contraptions with odd names like small skein winder, lazy Kate and Inkle. Each has a unique purpose in the weaving process, said guild member Mary Jane Trifiro.

“Weaving was big in the 1960s and ‘70s and there has been resurgence in the last few years,” Trifiro said.

During the event, other artists in residence welcomed guests into their studios. Artist Carol Henry is hosting later this month “Art for Fun Nights,” an opportunity for non-artists to enjoy wine, mingle and experiment with paint.

“I never let people use erasers, that way they’ll keep moving on,” Henry said of her approach with newcomers.

At the event’s raffle drawing, winner Pat Netzley took home two huge baskets full of spinning and knitting supplies, notebooks, lotions, jewelry and more.

“I get teased at guild meeting for winning the raffles all the time,” Netzley said.

Those interested in joining Jarchow’s weaving classes can contact her at djweaves@earthlink.net. Contact Henry for more information about “Art for Fun Nights” at carolhenrystudio@gmail.com.

9 am to 4 pm

Ojai, CA - Bargain hunters and treasure seekers are invited to downtown Ojai on Saturday, November 5, 2011 for the 3rd annual Ojai Village Merchants Back Yard Sale featuring gifts, art, clothing and collectibles from more than twenty merchants.

Ojai's most popular shops will clear out their stockrooms, and set up shop in the Arcade Plaza, to offer all kinds of merchandise at pre-holiday discount prices. Shoppers will find antiques and collectibles, local art, hand-crafted jewelry, beauty supplies, boutique clothing and accessories, and home decor. Participants include Busy Babes, Human Arts Gallery, Kindred Spirit, Made in Ojai, Nomad Gallery, Plush Surroundings and Treasures of Ojai to name a few. Live music by Smitty West and Friends will add to the festivities. Lunch served by restaurants adjacent to the Plaza will be available to refuel hungry shoppers!

Free of chain stores, and brimming with small town charm and hospitality, Ojai offers an "unchained" shopping experience. It’s where one-of-a-kind takes on new meaning, and friendly shopkeepers are on hand to assist with finding that perfect something special. Free parking throughout the village. Rain or shine. Sponsored by Ojai Village Merchants.

For more information on the event, call Katrina Sexton at 646-2852 or Gloria Jones at 640-8844. For more information on Ojai shops and galleries, and directions to Ojai, visit www.ojaivisitors.com

Nils Marius Kjøsnes

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - A duo of Norwegian musicians will perform “Direct from Norway” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, in Overton Hall at California Lutheran University.

Pianist Knut Erik Jensen, music director of the International Opera Institute of California, has performed more than 80 solo concerts featuring Norwegian and international music in the United States since 2007. He played Edvard Grieg’s A-minor Concerto as guest soloist for the opening of the 2007-2008 season of North Dakota’s Minot Symphony Orchestra and performed the same piece with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of the Republic of Moldova in Eastern Europe in 2009. A few weeks later, he completed his master’s examination concert at the University of Trondheim playing Alexander Scriabin’s piano concerto with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Jensen has recorded two CDs of Norwegian piano music: “Edvard Grieg – Anniversary Collection” and “Nordic Elegance.”

Clarinetist Nils Marius Kjøsnes has been playing in concert bands since he picked up the clarinet at the age of 8. He is a former member of the Norwegian Royal Air Force Band and played Claude Debussy’s “Premiere Rhapsodie” with the Student Society Orchestra of Trondheim in 2009. Kjøsnes recently founded iQuintet, a woodwind quintet that plays a broad repertoire of chamber music. He is working on his master’s degree in American and European clarinet music from the 20th century and this tour is the first of three major graduate projects.

Donations will be accepted at the free concert.

Overton Hall is located south of Memorial Parkway near Regent Avenue. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

November 3 – January 16, 2012

Reception: Saturday, November 12, 6-9pm

Fox Fine Jewelry

http://www.foxfinejewelry.com/events/archives/165

210 E. Main Street, Downtown Ventura, across from Mission

Mon – Thu 10:30am-6pm

Fri & Sat 10:30am-8pm

(805) 652-1800

The Farmer’s Market at Channel Islands Harbor will hold the 16th Annual Farmer’s Market Pumpkin Fun Day 10:30 – 1 p.m., Oct. 30 at the Farmer’s Market next to the Marine Emporium Landing, 3600 South Harbor Blvd. The outdoor festival is free and open to the public.

There will be a pumpkin decorating contest, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin weight guessing, children’s costume parade and costume contest with prizes at 12:30 p.m. This year, there will be two sessions of trick or treating (one for young children at 10:30 a.m. and another for older children at noon.) The Farmer’s Market will feature arts and crafts, live music, food and more.

For more information about the 16th Annual Farmer’s Market Pumpkin Fun Day, call the Farmer’s Market at (805) 643-6458.

Camarillo, CA - The Art Program at CSU Channel Islands (CI) is pleased to announce the opening of “Chinatown Plaza and Victorians” by Simone Gad, a well-known Los Angeles artist. The exhibition will be on display in the Napa Hall art gallery located on the campus from Nov. 10 through Dec. 16. A free public reception will take place on Thursday, Nov. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Gad was born in Brussels, Belgium to holocaust survivor parents from Poland, who immigrated to the United States via Ellis Island and eventually settled in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles. She spent her childhood watching her father, a custom European tailor, make patterns from scratch for ladies coats and men’s suits on his Singer sewing machine. Unable to emulate her father’s sewing skills, at the age of twelve, when she saw work by Vincent Van Gogh and Ed Kienholtz at the Los Angeles County Museum, she secretly developed her desire to be a visual artist. Eventually, she realized that she was destined to be a collage artist and painter.

Gad started out making fabric works in 1969, constructing them out of velvet, satin, embroidery and beadwork. In the early 1970s she made the switch from fiber art to collage and object elements on vinyl. In the late 1980s she moved into making self-portrait painting collages on canvas. In the late 1990s she began a new series of architectural paintings. Now, in the new millennium, Gad’s paintings evolved to depict images of L.A. Chinatown Plaza and Victorian homes. Her recent work addresses the preservation of “old” Los Angeles and it's disappearing architecture.

In addition to her career as an artist, Gad has appeared as an actress in numerous motion pictures and television programs, including Speed, 1994, Get Smart, 1995, and will be seen in the upcoming film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Gad’s collages and paintings are widely exhibited in galleries and museums in Los Angeles, New York and throughout the nation.

CSU Channel Islands is located at One University Drive, Camarillo. Napa Hall gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information, contact the Art Program at 805-437-8570 or art@csuci.edu.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research.

Kyle Johnson

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - A series celebrating the 20th anniversary of California Lutheran University’s unique Steiner-Reck pipe organ will continue with a faculty recital at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, in Samuelson Chapel.

University organist Kyle Johnson will perform in the second concert of the Orvil and Gloria Franzen 2011-2012 Organ Program Series. The program will include two pieces that organist Marilyn Mason played at the dedication of the Borg Petersen Memorial Organ 20 years ago. They are “Flourish and Chorale” by Michael McCabe and a movement from Jean Langlais’ “Hommage à Frescobaldi” titled “Epilogue.” Johnson will also play works by M. Searle Wright, Johann Sebastian Bach, Louis Vierne and Leo Sowerby.

Johnson is also coordinator of chapel music and a lecturer in the music department at CLU. He previously served as director of music and community arts at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square in Chicago, where he oversaw the church’s efforts to be a center for community building through the arts.

He holds a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, where he studied with John Ditto. He also holds music degrees from Indiana University and Bethany College in Kansas.

Donations will be accepted at the free concert. A reception will be held in the chapel narthex following the recital.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

“Stars and Stripes”

Every generation produces a handful of rare individuals with unwavering courage and patriotism to save and serve the UNITED STATES of AMERICA and the integrity of our national symbol the STARS AND STRIPES.

It is to these superior men and women that we proudly present a concert of all American Music . Sousa marches, songs of the Swing Era and the best of Broadway show tunes will relive their popularity as played by YOUR OWN, “Best in the West”, the Ventura County Concert Band.

As always, Maestro Dr. Bruce Colell has prepared the greatest band music on the planet for your afternoon of toe tapping enjoyment.

When: Sunday, November 6th at 3:00pm
Where: Ventura HS Auditorium

The City of Oxnard Recreation & Community Services Department, Pacific View Mall, and ValuPlus are presenting this year’s fourth annual Oxnard Tamale Festival taking place inside Oxnard’s historic Plaza Park located at 500 South C Street, Oxnard, CA 93030

This event will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. As always, the event will remain admissions free.

From strawberry sweets to savory chicken and pork delights, the event will host the best mouth-watering tamales in Ventura County.

Featured in various media outlets including CBS News, NBC 4, ABC 7, KEYT News, VC Reporter and Ventura County Star, our “Eating Contest” and other activities have captured the attention of over 5,000 annual participants. While enjoying our tamales, you can sit back and watch Oxnard’s Downtown Christmas Parade.

This year, the Oxnard Tamale Festival will be headlined with local favorites such as CHICO & TIERRA.

Proceeds will go to support local recreation programming including Oxnard City Corps and Oxnard Police Activities League.

For more information, please contact the event at (805) 766-4906 or visit our website at www.oxnardtamalefest.com

Wyant Morton conducting a Homecoming Choral Concert.
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THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The California Lutheran University Choir and Women’s Chorale will open their season with an eclectic Homecoming Choral Concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, in Samuelson Chapel.

Wyant Morton, who is celebrating his 20th year leading the ensembles, will conduct. The chair of the music department has conducted the CLU Choir for performances at the Lincoln Center and in England, Italy, Norway and Sweden.

The Women's Chorale will open with "Gloryland," consisting of early American music from the rural South arranged for voices, guitar, mandolin and fiddle. This exciting music includes folk songs, ballads, revival songs, spirituals and gospel hymns.

The CLU Choir will then take the stage to perform a program including works for double choir and music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, Javier Busto, Adolphus Hailstork, Howard Helvey and Morten Lauridsen.

Samuelson Chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Donations will be accepted. For more information, call the music department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

Written by Michele Pracy, Ojai Valley Museum Director

The final exhibition at the Ojai Valley Museum in 2011 is the annual “Museum Selects” juried show entitled “Ojai Celebrates Art IV.” The exhibit runs October 13 through December 31, 2011. The Award Ceremony will be held in the rotating gallery at the museum from 4 to 5 pm on Ojai Day, October 15. Museum entrance and the ceremony will be free and open to the public during Ojai Day.

Three illustrious judges have been invited to determine the awards for first, second, and third places from the artwork that has been selected by an in house, Ojai Valley Museum committee. The judges selecting the prizewinners for OCA IV are: Anca Colbert, art world professional; Theodore Gall, international sculptor; William Hendricks, professional photographer/professor.

The three will bring their special expertise to the award selection process, but will also look at the exhibit as a whole and not concentrate on only their own medium or technique. Their collective, expert understanding of the art world, contemporary art and artists, and standards of excellence will be the collaborative, deciding factors.

Anca Colbert is an Ojai resident. Her consulting firm, “Art Advisory Services,” assists visual artists, collectors, museums, and galleries by providing them informed guidance and practical solutions. She has had her own retail galleries in Los Angeles, continues as an agent for individual artists, appraises collections and advises on sales and/or insurance. Recently, Colbert has been writing a regular column in the Ojai Quarterly magazine. Her perspective as judge of OCA IV is from a sophisticated awareness, and with an international perspective, of the contemporary art world and art market.

Theodore Gall is a sculptor of international and national acclaim, who also lives and works in Ojai. Gall is represented by several galleries and has been commissioned to create site-specific sculpture across the country and abroad for private collectors and public spaces. A large public sculpture of a running stallion, cut from self-rusting steel, can be seen at the entrance to Rotary Park in Ojai. Gall brings his art business acumen to the judging process, his marketing skills as an individual artist, and his appreciation for exhibition venues as opportunity for exposure.

William Hendricks is a Ventura based fine art photographer. He is a graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography, author of several limited edition “artist’s” books, professor of photography at Ventura College and a world traveler who has had his photographs published in Architectural Digest, Harper’s Bazaar, People Magazine, and numerous other publications. Hendricks has made many trips to Cuba as a journalist and teacher. His recent work, ‘Icons & Revolution,” examines the evolution of this communist nation. Hendricks’ approach to the OVA IV exhibition includes a finely tuned “eye” for what is fresh, well executed and shows promise for a bright future for the artist.

The museum is located at 130 W. Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA. Admission: free for current 2011 members, adults - $4.00, students - 18 and under - $1.00, children 6–18 - $1.00 and children 5 and under – free. Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Friday, 1 to 4 pm; Saturday, 10 to 4 pm; Sunday, noon to 4 pm. Tours are available by appointment.

For more information, call the museum at (805) 640-1390, ext. 203, e-mail ojaimuseum@sbcglobal.net or visit the museum website at http://www.ojaivalleymuseum.org/

Camarillo, CA. – The Performing Arts department at CSU Channel Islands (CI) will be hosting a concert featuring Orquesta Charangoa on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in Malibu Hall 100 at the CI campus. The concert is free and open to the public. Salsa Lessons will take place prior to the concert in Malibu Hall 120 from 6 to 7 p.m.

Orquesta Charangoa is the most authentic and elegant Cuban Charangoa group in Southern California. The style called Charanga includes flute, violins, vocals, and the Cuban rhythm section that will make you dance. Leader/flutist Fay Roberts traveled twice to Cuban in 1997 to study with legendary flutist/composer Richard Egues (from Orq. Aragon and who wrote "El Bodeguero"). Egues entrusted Fay with several of his musical compositions and asked her to start an ensemble in Los Angeles to help keep his music alive. Since then Orquesta Charangoa has performed traditional and modern Cuban music in some of the southlands top venues including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Grand Performances at the Water Court, Hollywood Palladium, Conga Room, and numerous festivals, including the Oxnard Salsa Festival.

Charangoa's latest CD "Lo Que Quiero es Charangoa" was released in July 2011 to critical acclaim. It is available at iTunes, Amazon, CDbaby, Amoeba Hollywood, Descarga.com and elwatusi.com.

Limited parking is available on campus. A daily permit is $6. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station/Lewis Road parking lot in Camarillo with bus service to and from the campus. Riders should board the VISTA Bus to the campus; the 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 additional information contact Merissa Stith, Events Coordinator, at 805-437-8548 or merissa.stith@csuci.edu.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research.

OJAI STATE BANK: This remarkable building, with its classical columns, was constructed in 1910 and retained that name until it was purchased by the Bank of Italy in 1927 (subsequently, the Bank of America). Even while the businesses of the town of Nordhoff had the appearance of any frontier western town, with wooden false fronts, this elegant building stood facing them across the street. It was razed in 1960.
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THE PLEIADES OR OJAI TAJ MAHAL: John Roine’s “The Pleiades.” Known locally as the “Taj Mahal”, The Pleiades was created in 1930 by Edward Martin, a priest at Ojai’s Liberal Catholic Church. Martin dedicated it to Krishnamurti, who he hoped would form a bond with him over the building. Krishnamurti never responded, although he is purported to have driven by during at least one full moon. John Roine designed the building and Martin’s wife named it “The Pleiades”.
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The Ojai Valley Museum is hosting a Sunday afternoon PowerPoint presentation, October 16th, on The History of Ojai Architecture as part of its ongoing “Town Talks” series. The talk is dedicated to Ojai architect David Bury, who contributed his architectural talents and his leadership skills to preserving Ojai’s architectural legacy.

Narrating this fascinating slide show will be Craig Walker, son of mid-century modern architect Rodney Walker and former board member of the Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter. Walker will trace the development of Ojai architecture from 1874 until the present. His talk will bring to life Ojai’s remarkable collection of artistic buildings and the architects who created them. The valley has a rich legacy of architecture that goes far beyond Mead & Requa’s masterpieces of Mission-Revival style that form the downtown business district. Many other famous architects have left their mark on Ojai, including Richard Neutra, Greene & Greene, Maynard Lyndon, Wallace Neff, George Washington Smith, Jerrold Loebl, J. Cleveland Cady, Norman Marsh, Arthur B. Benton, Robert Stacy-Judd, Paul Revere Williams, Carleton Winslow, Julia Morgan, Charles Moore, and J.R. Davidson.

Talented local architects such as Zelma Wilson, Austen Pierpont, David Bury, Roy Wilson, Rodney Walker, Marc Whitman, Chalfant Head, Fred Hummel, Jr., and John Roine have contributed much to Ojai’s outstanding architecture.

After the presentation, Walker will sign copies of the Ojai Valley Museum publication entitled: Ojai: A Postcard History. Walker was a co-author of the book with two other writers. Copies will be available for purchase at the museum or attendees may bring their own.

The presentation will be held in the Ojai Museum Gallery from 2 - 4 pm. Admission is free for museum members, and $8 for non-members. Seating is limited, so advance reservations are advised. Call the museum at 640-1390 to reserve or for additional information. Visit the museum website at: http://www.ojaivalleymuseum.org and their new adjunct history site at www.ojaihistory.com.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The James Irvine Foundation today announced $3.7 million in grants to 13 arts institutions in the Central Coast that are committed to broadening and diversifying their audiences and strengthening their financial sustainability. The organizations selected this year for the Arts Regional Initiative are planning to use the grants to advance financial sustainability within a challenging economic environment and to increase cultural participation from underrepresented communities. While each institution is developing specific plans, initiative participants are implementing operational changes to recalibrate for the current economy, strengthening and diversifying board leadership, and developing culturally relevant artistic programs to attract diverse audiences and deepen their relationships with existing audiences.

“These Central Coast arts organizations are vital anchor institutions within their communities and provide an array of important opportunities for people to engage with the arts,” noted Josephine Ramirez, Arts Program Director for the Irvine Foundation. “These grants represent our continued commitment to them as they explore new ways of achieving financial sustainability and attracting culturally diverse audiences.”

The organizations represent a mix of artistic disciplines, including music, dance, opera, theater, visual arts and multidisciplinary arts. The grants will be awarded over three years and grantees will share resources, best practices and lessons learned. A complete list of grantees follows:

Organization
City
Grant Amount

Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
Santa Cruz
$275,000

Kuumbwa Jazz Center
Santa Cruz
$300,000

Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey
$300,000

Monterey Museum Of Art
Monterey
$300,000

Museum of Ventura County
Ventura
$300,000

National Steinbeck Center
Salinas
$300,000

Ojai Music Festival
Ojai
$325,000

Rubicon Theatre
Ventura
$350,000

San Luis Obispo Art Center
San Luis Obispo
$225,000

Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum
Santa Barbara
$250,000

Opera Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara
$225,000

Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra Association
Santa Barbara
$275,000

State Street Ballet
Santa Barbara
$300,000

Irvine launched phase one of the Arts Regional Initiative in 2006 with support for organizations in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego counties. The initiative supported arts organizations in the Central Valley in 2007 and the Central Coast in 2008. Phase two of the initiative was launched in 2009 with a return to leading arts organizations located in Southern California and for Central Valley organizations in 2010. Of the current round of 13 Central Coast grantees, 11 participated in phase one of the initiative and two are new to the initiative (Monterey Jazz Festival and Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum).

The James Irvine Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation dedicated to expanding opportunity for the people of California to participate in a vibrant, successful and inclusive society. The Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on three program areas: Arts, California Democracy and Youth. Since 1937 the Foundation has provided over $1 billion in grants to more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations throughout California. With $1.6 billion in assets, the Foundation made grants of $65 million in 2010 for the people of California.

For more information about the Irvine Foundation, please visit our Web site at www.irvine.org.

Recent paintings by Steve Cook in a wide range of subjects and sizes will be on exhibit Oct. 11-Nov. 5 in “Riding the Planet, Volume III,” a solo show at the Buenaventura Gallery in downtown Ventura.

Many of Cook’s plein-air interpretations of local views and scenes from his travels will be featured, plus works created in his Pierpont Beach studio. One wall will hold a selection of 8x10 oil paintings by the longtime resident and lifelong surfer, who describes his style as “painterly photorealism.”

There will be two opportunities to meet and talk with the artist: an opening reception 4-7 p.m. Oct. 15 and from 5-8 p.m. Nov. 4 during the city’s First Friday event. The gallery of the nonprofit co-op artists’ group is at 700 E. Santa Clara St. and its hours are noon-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays.

“My favorite views are of the beauty of California and the relationship between man and nature in that environment,” says Cook, who has lived with wife Carol in Ventura for 34 years. Chosen subjects for his colorful compositions range from seascapes and landscapes to images of the surfing culture, old buildings and cars, gardens, and the people who live in all these arenas. Examples can be found on his website, http://www.stevecookfineart.com.

For more information about the Buenaventura Art Association and its galleries downtown and at Ventura Harbor Village, call 648-1235.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University’s Founders Day Concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, in Samuelson Chapel.

The University Symphony will present “Symphonies and Chrysanthemums” under the direction of veteran faculty member Daniel Geeting.

The program will include Haydn’s last symphonic piece, Symphony No. 104, which was dedicated to the place where it was composed, London. The 50-piece orchestra will also perform Czech-American composer Vaclav Nelhybel’s Movement for Orchestra, a virtual compendium of 20th-century tonal composition techniques, and Puccini’s endearing “Crisantemi” (Chrysanthemums), a little-known piece originally written for string quartet but expanded to orchestral string section.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus. Additional parking is available at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

Former CLU President Jerry Miller and his wife, Margaret, are sponsoring the free concert. Donations will be accepted. For information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.