The Museum of Ventura County is now taking registration for their summer Chumash Youth 2010 program. The two sessions are June 21-25, and June 28-July 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, and are open to students currently in 3rd or 4th grade.

Each session features presentations about Chumash culture, traditional arts, songs, and games. Hands-on activities include making yucca cordage, soapstone pendants, arrowheads, and simple musical instruments. Chumash elder Julie Tumamait-Stenslie will also teach Chumash songs and share legends and stories of her people.

T-shirt, snacks and all materials are included in the registration fee, which is $50 for the general public, $40 for museum members. Scholarships are available; for information, call (805) 641-1876 x 300. Registration forms may be downloaded under education resources at www.venturamuseum.org, or picked up at the Museum of Ventura County, 89 S. California Street in Ventura, from 11 a.m. to 6 pm, Tuesday through Sunday.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Fair today announced the partial lineup for its 2010 State Fair Concert Series.

“The State Fair is all about family, fun and value. At a time when most concert tickets in this region are $75 or more for lawn seats, we’re delighted to offer fairgoers the chance to see great shows at great prices,” said State Fair CEO & General Manager Norbert J. Bartosik.

No other Fair in North America has a FREE concert series with big name artists, but California State Fair officials are committed to making sure their concert series always has shows that are free with Fair admission.

General viewing of all concerts is free with State Fair admission but a limited number of reserved seats will be sold at an additional price of $10-49 each. Reserved seating in the Gold Circle area will go on sale Thursday, April 15 through www.tickets.com.

“This region has been hit very hard with foreclosures, furloughs and huge economic challenges. And we understand that not everyone can afford a stadium concert ticket,” Bartosik said. “We’re lucky enough to have an intimate outdoor venue where nearly every seat is a great seat and half of them are free.”

Here is the lineup so far:

• THE CONTINUED »

The Fourth Annual Festival of Scholars at California Lutheran University will showcase the work of students, faculty and alumni from Sunday, April 25, through Saturday, May 1.

Scholarly work by undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Education and School of Business will be featured in public presentations, demonstrations and performances.

In celebration of CLU’s 50th anniversary, this year’s festival also includes alumni discussing their work. Chris Elkins, a 1970 graduate and highly regarded microbiologist who has done extensive research into disease-causing bacteria, will receive the 2010 Outstanding Alumnus Award.

More than 250 faculty-mentored student projects are featured in the festival. During the General Poster Session, students will be available to discuss their research on the way television shapes children’s ideas of family, cyber bullying among college students, and effective techniques for delivering bad news. The School of Business Poster Session will feature projects on online social networking in churches, the costs of depression in the workplace, and a new marketing plan for Coca-Cola.

Three students will present projects that incorporate social scientific research and their own civic engagement. They delved into HIV/AIDS in rural Uganda, Mexican immigration, and the causes of the Los Angeles high school anti-immigration walkouts of 2006. A class of freshmen will discuss the documentary they filmed about an undocumented immigrant woman who has been provided sanctuary by a Simi Valley congregation for the last two years.

Several faculty members will discuss their sabbatical projects on science, education, religion, music and other topics.

Recitals, an art exhibit and a nature tour are also slated. Screenings followed by faculty panel discussions will explore crime, punishment and the unconscious sense of guilt in the movies “Fargo,” “In Bruges” and “Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

CLU’s Office for Undergraduate Research is presenting the free public events.

For a complete list of events and projects, go to http://www.callutheran.edu/fos

Pedro de la Cruz’s exhibit of paintings titled “She is so Strong Willed” shows at the Buenaventura Art Galley from April 27 to May 22, 2010. Opening Reception is Saturday, May 1 from 4-7pm.

“She is so Strong Willed” is an exhibit of color and confidence. The recent works de la Cruz is homage to women of courage and strength. His canvas, proudly adorned with bold and beautiful women, have modern angles and feminine curves.

From powerful to passionate, de la Cruz’s subjects flirt, seduce and cajole with their postmodern compositions, intelligence and grace. The artist has a defiant disregard for standard rules of painting. A bohemian dogma which when paired with his talent for addressing various viewpoints in two dimensions, give de la Cruz a freedom to express the unique beauty of his muse.

A native of Mexico, de la Cruz has taken classes on the figure, design and color, but was never formally trained. His interests in history, art, fashion and architecture are the foundation for his artistic motivation. Frequenting regional galleries or cosmopolitan museums, he tunes into art movements and master painters succeeding before him, for inspiration and drive to keep painting. De la Cruz has exhibited in Santa Barbara, Carpenteria and Ventura. This is his first solo show with Buenaventura Art Association.

The Buenaventura Art Gallery is located at 700 E. Santa Clara Street, Ventura, CA 93001. Hours are Tuesday-Friday from noon-5pm and Saturday from 11 am to 5pm. Please call (805) 648-1235 or visit www.buenaventuragallery.org.

The Eighth Annual New Music Festival at California Lutheran University will feature the music and words of Grammy Award-winning composer Libby Larsen.

CLU choral ensembles and faculty and student soloists will present the “New Music Concert: The Music of Libby Larsen” at 8 p.m. Friday, April 23, in Samuelson Chapel. Areté Vocal Ensemble, a professional group in residence at CLU, will also perform in the free concert. Wyant Morton, chair of the music department and director of choral and vocal activities, will conduct.

One of America’s most performed composers, Larsen will present “The Concert Hall that Fell Asleep and Woke Up as a Car Radio” at a free public lecture earlier in the day. She will talk about the concert music tradition and the role of the composer in it at 10 a.m. in Samuelson Chapel.

The prolific composer has created a catalog of CONTINUED »

California Lutheran University will present a documentary on a large urban farm and a discussion with the farmers who fought its closure at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 19.

“The Garden” will be screened in Lundring Events Center in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center as part of the Reel Justice Film Series. Several of the farmers involved will participate in a post-screening discussion.

The 2008 film, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, tells the story of one of the country’s largest urban farms, backroom deals, land developers, green politics, money, poverty, power and racial discord. The documentary by Scott Hamilton Kennedy explores the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about liberty, equality and justice for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.

The 14-acre South Central Farm, also known as the South Central Community Garden, started as a form of healing after the L.A. riots and operated from 1994 to 2006 in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. The farm was sold in 2004 and the farmers were evicted in 2006. The farmers, mostly immigrants from Latin America, disputed the validity of the sale in court and staged protest vigils.

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

The California Lutheran University Choir will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 18, before it leaves for a concert tour of Italy.

The choir will perform with the CLU Women’s Chorale at the “Bon Voyage Concert” in Samuelson Chapel.
In preparation for its Italian tour, the CLU Choir will perform Italian and American music. Featured works include a setting of “The Lord’s Prayer” by Italian master Giuseppe Verdi, and Julian Anderson’s “Beautiful Valley of Eden” from “Four American Choruses” for four choirs and four conductors.

The concert will also feature the world-premiere performance of “Three Songs for Benedict,” which was composed by CLU music professor Mark Spraggins. The show will close with folk songs and rousing spirituals.

Wyant Morton, chair of the music department and director of choral and vocal activities, will conduct.

The 80-voice CLU Choir will present concerts in Italy from May 16 through 25. The singers will perform at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in Rome and at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Other concert stops include Verona, Florence and Assisi.

This will be the choir’s first concert tour of Italy. It has previously performed in Sweden, Norway and England and throughout the United States.

The CLU Choir is the premiere choral ensemble at CLU. The choir has earned a reputation for its commitment to performing the finest in choral literature from all eras in their original languages. While dedicated to performing works that represent the university's Lutheran heritage, the choir also embraces innovative new music and multicultural pieces.

Donations will be accepted.

Samuelson Chapel is located off of Campus Drive south of Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks. Additional parking is available in the lot at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

For more information, call the Music Department at (805) 493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu/music .

Local quilters demonstrate their techniques at the Museum of Ventura County during the museum’s free Sunday Family Times on April 18, May 16 and June 20 from 1-3 p.m. The museum’s Sunday Family Times arts and crafts events are held on the third Sunday of the month.

Sunday, April 18 the art project involves making traditional quilt pieces out of paper; on May 16 children learn how to stencil on fabric squares; and on June 20 the project involves recycling remnant pieces into a quilt design.

The quilters’ visits and the quilt-themed art projects reflect the museum’s current exhibit Becoming Art at the Seams: a Juried Exhibition of Contemporary & Art Quilts, running now through June 20.

The Museum of Ventura County, now at 89 S. California Street in downtown Ventura, is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free except for some events. For information, go to http://www.venturamuseum.org or call (805) 653-0323.

Calling artists with a passion for the berry best… California Strawberry Festival organizers are extending the Arts & Crafts artist application deadline so artists may apply who desire to showcase their original works at the heralded event that attracts thousands in Oxnard the weekend of May 15, 16, 2010. Beyond the February deadline, applications are still being accepted on a continuous basis for space or waiting list consideration.

The presentation has won awards from Sunshine Artist Magazine and attracts artists from across America, from New York to Washington State. The juried showcase with over 300 presenters features a variety of mediums ranging from collage, drawings, leather, glass, mosaic, mixed media, photography, graphic art, sculpture, handmade toys and youth accessories. (The jewelry, clothing and purses/bags categories are already full). No mass, commercially produced arts and crafts items are acceptable. Product quality and presentation play a key role in the selection process. “The art vendors are a highlighted tradition of the Festival because patrons love browsing through the booths to find that perfect something they can’t get anywhere else,” says Dana Hale-Mounier of Pacific Fine Arts.

Art applicants CONTINUED »

The Ventura County and Santa Barbara County chapter of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors will present their annual Antique Clock and Watch Mart at the Commemorative Air Force Museum located in the Camarillo Airport, Camarillo, CA on Sunday, April 18th from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. In addition to over 50 tables of clocks, watches and other horological items, this year we will also include antique and collectable jewelry and other antiques and collectables. Experts will be available to give free appraisals, information on individual clocks, and also repair quotes. This is a free, no obligation public service and people are encouraged to bring their clocks for appraisal and evaluation or to simply find out a little about them.The $10.00 Mart admission includes a tour of the CAF WWII Air Museum and Aircraft as well as the opportunity to win fantastic door prizes including a ride in a vintage WWII airplane. Children are admitted free.

The NAWCC is a nonprofit organization whose members include hobbyists, collectors, and professionals. The common bond is a fascination with the art and science of timekeeping and timepieces. You can learn more about the NAWCC at www.nawcc.org. And more about Chapter 190 at www.nawcc-ch190.com
Everyone interested in watches and clocks, (modern or antique), is invited to visit and join our chapter.

The Ventura County Chapter 190 of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors was chartered in September, 2006, and distributes a monthly newsletter to members. Membership applications will be available at the Mart, or by calling 805-988-1764.

The Commemorative Air Force hangars are located at the Camarillo Airport. The airport is just off Highway 101 in Camarillo. Exit Los Posas and travel south to Pleasant Valley Road. Turn right and then another right onto Eubanks Street (2nd light) into the airport. On the corner of Eubanks and Airport Drive, look for the CAF sign on the hangar.

For more information regarding the Mart, please contact Ernie Jenson at (805) 482-6021

The time is now to think art. If you are a fine artist or appreciate the arts make your plans now to take part in the traditional opening weekend of summer with the 33rd annual “Art in the Park.”

The open-air juried art show is presented by the Ojai Center for the Arts, 113 S. Montgomery St., the oldest nonprofit art center in California. Drawing artists from all over California, the Art Center accepts work in the following categories: oil, acrylic, pastel, watercolor, glass, wood, photography, sculpture, ceramics, fine jewelry, and mixed media. Cash prizes are awarded, but the weekend offers something more.

Ojai maybe a small town but is blessed with a large number of artists and hosts quality galleries set against a backdrop of breathtaking mountain views and surrounded by enough open space for a solitary hike. At the forefront of the slow food movement, those attending the event can peruse a variety of eateries, several wine tasting rooms, and a superb farmer’s market on Sunday. In the evening Ojai offers several live theatre and music venues and only minutes away by foot.

Plan ahead and take part in an Ojai tradition under the canopy of Libbey Park’s century-old oak trees. Enjoy the beautiful casual surroundings and mingle with artists and patrons throughout the weekend.

Come discover Ojai this Memorial Day weekend.

For an artist’s application or further information about Art In The Park, call (805) 646-0117 or go online at www.ojaiartcenter.org.

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

The opening of the 9th annual "Awesome Art" show last Thursday at the Ojai Valley Museum was not so much an exhibit as it was an explosion of creativity and talent. Young artists from six local high schools created 407 outstanding works for the exhibit.

Beginning at four in the afternoon, the students, with parents, friends, teachers and other art lovers, poured through the doors of the museum, filling the gallery with high energy. Museum Exhibit Designers, Fred Kidder and Roger Conrad, had organized and installed a polished professional display for the show. An upgrade to the lighting system, made possible by a grant from the Ojai Civic Association, brought out the colors and forms of each creative work. By the end of the reception, two hours later, over 400 people had visited the “Awesome Art.”

After going from one work to another, chatting and admiring the students' achievements, many in the crowd eventually spilled into the museum patio, where volunteers from the Museum's Events Committee had set up a delicious display of heaped strawberries, pizza slices, and lemonade, along with mounds of cookies brought by Ojai Valley School.

In an afternoon still warm from a beautiful early spring day, Karen O'Neill presented the Marion E. Smith Awards for Excellence in Art, created jointly with her brother, Michael Burgos, and named in memory of their mother, whose love and support for young people in the arts continues in this Ojai tradition. As the awards were announced and gratefully accepted by each young artist, the entire gathering applauded with appreciation, not just for their own school or family, but also for the spirit of the exhibit as a whole.

The sheer volume and high quality of the art made it an overwhelming job to select award winners. According to Shahastra, a local painter who was one of the three judges of the show, the awards went to works combining rich imagination with excellent craftsmanship, a fusion of qualities that would be needed by the students to take their art out into the world.

The Best in Show award went to Lily Mays, Oak Grove School, for a stunning assemblage. Her large-scale, mixed media piece featured Barbie dolls, a mouse trap, text, a tape measure, and other surprising elements, all working synergistically to send a powerful message about the treatment of women's bodies in our society.

First Place winners were: Ceramics, Dustin Jones, Nordhoff, for "Tree Beard," a sculptural and very whimsical use of clay combining two different glazes; Digital Art, Pat McCarthy, Nordhoff, for "Armageddon," an intense and brooding image of destruction with a single flower of hope; Drawing, Sloane Tribble, Nordhoff, for "Abstract," an intricate web of morphing organic forms; Graphic Design, Kai Littlefield, Ojai Valley, for "Peace," a meticulously unified CD case design with a contemporary use of Asian brush strokes; Mixed Media, Isabel Hong, Besant Hill, for "Untitled," an ink collage showing a mastery of drawing combined with well-crafted collage elements; Painting, Laurel Tisserand and Luke Jackson, Oak Grove, for "Old Soul," a collaborative creation making a contemporary urban social statement with layered graffiti and a mysterious central icon; Photography, Ryley Swanner, Oak Grove, for "Untitled," a close-up image of a horse with a ray of light at the exact moment of illuminating the eye and burnished strand of hair; Sculpture, Melissa Carlson, Nordhoff, for "Untitled," a tour-de-force of woven ceramic bands using the luster glaze made famous by Beatrice Wood.

Second Place winners were: CONTINUED »

The Ojai Valley Museum hosts its 5th NATIVE PLANT SALE on Saturday, April 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the museum's Back Courtyard. In celebration of the Easter Weekend, this sale will include Orchids and Easter Lilies in addition to the usual inventory of native and drought resistant plants. All plants available for sale are suitable for climate and water conditions of the Ojai Valley and nearby southern California valley communities.

Plants are being provided by Lawrence Nicklin, Plantasia Landscaping; Scott & Betsy Smith, Euterpe Farms; David Mason, The Village Florist. Plant experts will be available during the sale for advice and information.

Proceeds from the Plant Sale benefit the Programs of the Ojai Valley Museum. Museum Members receive a 10% discount on purchases; a Membership Table is available at the Plant Sale for new member sign-ups throughout the day.

Event will be held at the Ojai Valley Museum, 130 W. Ojai Avenue. For more information, call (805) 640-1390.

"SUNDAY GATHERING"

Ojai Valley Museum Director Michele Pracy will conduct a presentation on "THE BUSINESS OF BEING AN ARTIST"
Sunday, March 28, 2010
2 – 4 p.m.
Museum Back Courtyard
130 W. Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA

Free for 2010 Museum Members
$8 Non-members
$5 Students

Seating is limited, Reservations required, Call: (805) 640-1390

The topic is especially geared toward Awesome Art Student participants, but all practicing artists are welcome!

The Artists Guild of Fillmore is presenting its first Show and Sale at Giessinger Winery located at 365 Santa Clara Street in Fillmore. The Show is scheduled for Saturday, March 27, 2010 and Sunday, March 28, 2010 from 11am – 4pm both days. Members of the Guild are all local artists and will be showing original art work selected from their respective repertoires. Visit the Guild’s website: ArtistsGuildofFillmore.org The Guild also has plans for future events that will support and focus on art and artists within our community. All are invited to come and enjoy the art work, meet the artists, and stroll the grounds of the Winery.

Gerald Zwers
Enlarge Photo

The Gerald Zwers “One Person Art Contest” will be at the Buenaventura Gallery from Tuesday, April 30 to Saturday, April 24, 2010. Opening reception is Friday, April 2, from 5 – 8 pm. Gallery events also include art giveaways and raffles during Ventura’s Spring ArtWalk on Saturday, April 17, 12 – 9pm and Sunday, April 18, 12 – 5pm.

The Buenaventura Art Gallery will be hosting a most unusual show by Award-winning artist and author, Gerald Zwers. The artist will give away over 100 works of art during the four week event, which is planned as a fund-raising benefiting the following local non-profits: Ventura Hillside Conservancy, the Ventura Film Society and Focus on the Masters. The Gerald Zwers “One Person Art Contest” will showcase the creative range of the human mind, with fun events designed to generate good for our community. There will be lots of prizes and free gifts.
Hard-working and tremendously dedicated, Zwers' abundant creativity typically generates several hundred works of art each year. This impressive multi-media output includes paintings that range in size from postage stamp-sized miniatures to large public murals. His subject matter includes traditional landscapes and seascapes, often painted on location in plein-air style, as well as large studio designed contemporary concept pieces and abstracts. His sculptures include a series of almost 1,000 two to twelve inch terra cotta figurines, as well as large internally-lighted sculptural pieces, often found in hotels or other public places. A number of his works have been installed in various municipal venues, such as the Ventura Beach Crown Plaza. The owner of five previous galleries in California with a background in art conservation, Zwers’ works has been acquired by collectors in nearly all fifty states as well as nine foreign countries.

This will be Zwers first solo show with the Buenaventura Art Association.

The Buenaventura Art Gallery is located at 700 E. Santa Clara Street, Ventura, CA 93001. Hours are Tues – Friday from noon – 5 pm and Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. Open for Spring ArtWalk April 17, 11 am to 9 pm and April 18, 12 to 5 pm Please call (805)648-1235 or visit www.buenaventuragallery.org.

Local artist, Wana Klasen, will be exhibiting select pieces of art from her collection, EARTHSONG, at the Proverbs Coffee House during the month of March. The gallery is located at Peace Lutheran Church, 71 Loma Drive in Camarillo, and will be open Fridays and Saturdays of March from 1-4PM. Admission to the exhibit, entitled "Embellished Reflections", featuring the work of four artists, is free, and all are invited to the Opening Reception on Saturday,March 13, 2010 from 1-4PM.

This upcoming 4th of July, the Museum of Ventura County will hold a free public celebration for the opening of their Martin V. and Martha K Smith Pavilion and new Front Plaza. The completion of the first part of their two-phased renovation at 100 East Main Street in Ventura also means that on Saturday, July 3, the museum will reopen at that address with a new exhibit, leaving their present temporary location on California Street.

The museum’s renovations will include a new Plaza with a water feature and open columned entrance facing Main Street, the new state-of-the-art Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Event Pavilion, a renovated tour lobby, new bathrooms, and a new parking lot. The Pavilion will be used for lectures, programs and a variety of events; it is capable of seating 200 for dinner, with the option to tent the front plaza for an additional 140 guests. The original museum building will be revitalized with reconfigured exhibit areas and the reopening of the Smith Gallery of George Stuart Historical Figures.

Phase two of the museum’s renovation, which includes new galleries, an education center, expanded library, new Museum Store, expanded collections storage, and offices, will begin when the museum has secured funding at a level that ensures completion, according to Museum of Ventura County Executive Director Tim Schiffer and Board Chair John Orr.

The Museum of Ventura County’s Farm Museum will open this fall in Santa Paula. Plans for an agricultural heritage museum have been in the conceptual stages for more than 30 years, and will soon become a reality.

Camarillo, CA. – CSU Channel Islands (CI) is pleased to announce the opening of the Condor Chocuyens Exhibit on Thursday, Mar. 11, at 1:30 p.m. in the Millennium News Center at the John Spoor Broome Library. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the CI Biology Program, the CI Environmental Science & Resource Management Program, and the John Spoor Broome Library. The program is open to the public.

Speakers for the opening program will be CI President Richard R. Rush; Amy Denton, Chair of the Biology Program; Marc Weitzel, Project Leader for the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Complex; Jesse Grantham, Condor Coordinator for the California Condor Recovery Program; and Christopher Cogan, Assistant Professor, CI Environmental Sciences & Resource Management Program. Their comments will also include information on an upcoming series offered by the University that will feature topics on the environment, conservation, and endangered species.

This program will present Chocuyens, the impressive California condor with a 9.5 foot wingspan, displayed in a plexiglass case. He was the first captive-bred condor, an endangered species, to be set free in the wild as part of the California Condor Recovery Program. Chocuyens captured America’s imagination. Unfortunately he died the following year from exposure to ethylene glycol, a property found in antifreeze.

The USFWS is lending the exhibit to CI CONTINUED »