by Board of Directors of BAA
The Board of Directors of BAA (Buenaventura Art Association)would like you to know about our upcoming changes and where we are in this process. We are very excited about all the new opportunities ahead!
We are starting negotiations for the soon to be vacated Vita Arts Center located in the Bell Arts Factory (Vita will be moving to 28 West Main St.), located on Ventura Avenue. The board and staff have worked very hard to investigate all of our options, including looking at several locations. We are also looking at new programs and exciting new art gallery ideas to help with our mission of supporting art and artists in our community. Ultimately, the decision-making responsibility lies with the board, and we are taking that very seriously!
Bell Arts is already an arts destination in Ventura County. Possibilities there include curating the community room, maintaining open hours for the whole space, helping to coordinate activities, having space for both solo and group shows, the artisan store, more community workshops, talks and demos. We also hope to include a large, flat screen TV with AV hookups to screen art-related videos for informal gatherings and discussion, and to present slide shows of previous exhibits.
This is our chance to reinvent our business model, and who we want to be as a cohesive and sustainable group! We are also looking at collaborating with the Museum of Ventura County, as well as having future goals of online art sales, and our very own Ventura Studio Artists Tour.
The sale of our building (which turned out to be a great investment, thank you Clophine Dooley!), will allow us to build out the new space for what we need. We will also be able to improve our website.
On Saturday, May 19, 5-8 pm (this will coincide with Arts and Eats which usually draws a large crowd) please come raise a glass to all the wonderful years so far, share your stories, and join in the good wishes for our future going forward.
The Avenue area is steadily regenerating and is a cornerstone of the arts in Ventura now. With most of the major art organizations and galleries over on the west side, up and down Ventura Ave. or just off the Avenue we feel like we would be joining a wider group where we can better participate in First Fridays and ArtWalks.
Please join us in the celebration and participation of our future together. 700 E. Santa Clara.
