Buenaventura Art Association member Cathy Smith: “I have spent my time in self quarantine playing and experimenting with new materials. For fun, I have been creating mosaics out of magazine paper. The tiny paper squares are affixed with rubber cement onto 300 lb. watercolor paper. I use objects in my home for inspiration.”

The Ojai Studio Artists’ Scholarship Committee has received a $2,500
gift in honor of OSA co-founder Gayel Childress, who turned 80 on May 11,
from her niece and nephew-in-law Natalie Levin and Dr. Jim Levin of
Tucson, AZ.The gift is given in honor and appreciation of the artist’s vibrant
spirit and her dedication to sharing the joy of art.

Self-taught, Childress paints with a characteristic touch of whimsey.
Along with co-creating the annual Ojai Studio Artists Tour, Childress is
co-founder of the Gold Coast Watercolor Society. She was awarded the “Ojai Lifetime Achievement Award” in 1999, and the People’s Choice Award of “Best Artist” in the
Ojai Valley in 2014.
Each year Ojai Studio Artists awards as much as $10,000 in scholarships
to support local students in their pursuit of a career in the visual
arts. OSA is incredibly grateful to the Levin’s for this generous gift.

Renowned weaver and FOTM Documented Artist Porfirio Gutierrez sharing the symbolism from his native Zapotec heritage with students from Rio del Valle Middle School.

The California Arts Council is proud to announce a grant award of $20,000 to the Focus on the Masters Arts Archive & Library (FOTM) as part of its Learning To See Outreach (LTS) program for the 2020/2021 school year.

The Learning To See Outreach is an award-winning, in-school, cross-curricular program with an emphasis on critical thinking, innovation and diversity. Each lesson is inspired by the artwork and life stories of extraordinary artists in our community. The program provides our youth with present day role models who have exceled in pursuit of their passions.

FOTM Education Director Aimee French is thrilled with the news of receiving such a prestigious grant. “All of us at FOTM are so excited! This is our third CAC Grant in the past five years! Although schools want to include quality arts education for their students, there is still a serious lack of funding for it. The California Arts Council helps us to fill that void for nearly 700 students in Ventura County with this grant.”

The Focus on the Masters Arts Archive & Library was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council of more than 1,500 grants awarded to nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout the state for their work in support of the agency’s mission to strengthen arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all.

The Focus on the Masters Arts Archive & Library is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), art appreciation program that documents, preserves and presents the works and lives of accomplished contemporary artists. The goal of FOTM is to demonstrate the full significance of the arts to society by bringing highly accomplished artists to the forefront of the community.

FOTM 505 Poli St., Suite 310  Ventura, CA 93001 805.653.2501www.FocusOnTheMasters.com

Michael O’Kelly created something that would enhance the lobby and Ventura.

Among his many wonderful projects Jim DeArkland had restored and improved the interior of 21 California Street, known as the Erle Stanley Gardner Building, He has created beautiful offices in the 2nd, 3rd and fourth floors, and Finney’s located on the ground floor. Opening on to California St. is the lobby for the building. Jim wanted to embellish the lobby and install something that would become part of the buildings significant history so he commissioned Michael O’Kelly to create something that would enhance the lobby and the interior architecture.

This ‘First National Bank’, built in 1926, is described as Renaissance Revival, but O’Kelly, who has designed and created several major public art works in Ventura, decided to introduce two concurrent styles and blend them into one unified work…Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

O’Kelly spent the last 7 months painting and designing this multimedia work. It includes a 5’X5’ foot oil painting, a panel of ceramic tiles, interior lighting, all set in a hand crafted mahogany double frame and base.

Michael worked with Danny Bealver – master wood worker, Gerardo Asia – Lighting designer and Juan Aguirre – O’Kelly’s ceramic partner.

The finished installation may be seen in the lobby and from California St. and sidewalk.

In 1933 Earle Stanley Gardner, a lawyer at the firm, published his first novel: “The Case of the Velvet Claw”. It featured something previously unknown to detective fiction, a crime-solving lawyer. Perry Mason became an instant hit, and by the mid-1930’s Gardner would leave the law to write full time. In all, he would write 82 novels featuring Perry Mason.

The painting was inspired by this poem by Michael’s son.

“Dusk is when time halts.
Dust hanging in the air.
Still, yet in motion.
Lifeless, but living.
The clouds pulsate slow, like gold veins.
Such lavish taste must have a cost.
Is this where the lovely ones go?’

Devin Brendan Kelly 2017.

Bell Arts Factory and the Westside Community Development Corporation (WCDC) are excited to announce Primavera on March 21, 2020 from 11am until evening along Ventura Avenue. Primavera is the third event of the Va Por La Avenida event series, a creative place-making project funded in part through the California Arts Council and the City of Ventura’s Cultural Affairs grant program.

Primavera is themed in everything Spring – soft colors, rebirth, and everything in between. Throughout the day there will be pop- up events at various businesses.The event will end at Bell Arts Factory with Teatro en Español and live music.

“We are excited to continue the first Va Por La Avenida of 2020, Primavera, which will be celebrating Spring,” says Maribel Hernandez, the General Manager of Bell Arts Factory.

For more information about how to participate or to stay updated about the event please visit the website at www.vaporlaavenida.com.

Buenaventura Art Association: Our Members Shine

Louisa Wallace Jacobs received an Honorable Mention for her painting, “Terra Incognita #5” in the Thousand Oaks Art Association Open Juried Show in February.

Lisa Skyheart Marshall is a featured artist and will be showing her new botanical watercolor+ink paintings, March 2-27, at Gallery 113 in Santa Barbara, reception on March 5. Her show is titled “Flowery,” and she’ll be exhibiting alongside other artists at Gallery 113, 1114 State St., #8, Santa Barbara. Painting shown here is: “Nasturtiums and Garden Spider”, 8×8.

The Ventura College New Media Gallery is honored to present Ojai artist Cara Lasell Bonewitz in her first local solo exhibition, “Current in the Shadows.” On Thursday, March 12 from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm there will be Opening Reception.

Bonewitz’s latest body of material engagement and dedicated observation features a range of historical trends in naturalism and art, such as botanical gardens, Victorian seaweed collections and pressed flowers. Bonewitz is a graduate of Yale University and earned her master’s degree at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland.

The exhibition runs through April 9, 2020. The New Media Gallery is located at 4667 Telegraph Road. Gallery Hours are Monday – Thursday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Parking is $2.

Bruce Grabin, Morning Clouds

The Ojai Studio Artists is a collective of 81 artists. Its mission is to encourage and support he development of art in the Ojai Valley. OSA encourages emerging artists, raises funds to award local educational scholarships and introduces the public to the talents of professional artists at work in their studios, vibrantly reflecting the meaning of community.

More information visit www.OjaiStudioArtists.org.

If it is March, it must be Mermaid Month at Ventura Harbor. Mythological creatures come alive and the Ventura County Potters’ Guild (VCPG) Gallery is jumping into the water for this fun event. Mermaids (and Mermen) and the sea creatures they befriend will appear adorning all forms of ceramic surfaces. Being at the beach has its benefits!

On March 21 from 1-4 PM, featured artist Ellen Williams will demonstrate how she creates her fanciful, feminine ceramic creations. Originally a painter, Ellen transitioned to clay as her canvass. Using a watercolor approach to her work, she is able to balance serious art with whimsey.

Gallery members will also have theme related art work for sale. Don’t miss out on a chance to get a glimpse of, or take home, a real ceramic mermaid.

The VCPG Gallery is located at 1567 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 105 in Ventura Harbor. The Gallery is open seven days a week from 11-6. For more information visit www.venturapottersguild.org.

A Moment of Mentor, oil, Aliza Bejarano

Buenaventura Art Association will present “Connecting,” an exhibition of paintings by Aliza J. Bejarano, March 5-29 at its gallery in Studio 30 at Bell Arts Factory on Ventura Avenue.

The solo show will feature some small oil-on-canvas works by Bejarano, who joined Ventura’s creative community after earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting from California State University, Long Beach, in 2018.

Also at the gallery during those March dates will be a members’ choice show, in which BAA artists will showcase their styles and subject matters. A reception for both shows will take place 6-9 p.m. March 6 during Ventura’s monthly First Fridays gallery open house.

In addition, Bejarano teaches a weekly class on Figure Drawing at Bell Arts Factory that meets 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays. She produces her own art in Studio 79.

Examples of both her artwork and artistic process can be found online at alizabejarano.com and @aliza_b_ on Instagram.

Buenaventura Gallery at Bell Arts Factory, 432 N. Ventura Ave., Ventura, is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. For more about the 66-year-old nonprofit cooperative and its programs, visit www.buenaventuraartassociation.org or call 805-648-1235 during gallery hours.