Ojai author Dr. Pat B. Allen will visit the Ojai Library at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 7 to present a book talk for her recent work Cronation. Dr. Allen is an author, artist, art therapist, and teacher who connects to the creative source through art, writing, and nature. Author of numerous professional articles, book chapters, and several films, Dr. Allen lectures and delivers workshops using the Open Studio Process which she co-created. She is formerly an adjunct associate professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is presently a member of the visiting faculty of the Expressive Arts Institute of Prescott College in Arizona.
Cronation is a novel set in a near future populated by characters whose mission is to midwife the birth of a new era of creative partnership and community collaboration in gratitude, joy, and celebration. It is a manifesto and a shout-out to all the women who claim the Crone identity and embrace the rights and responsibilities that entails.
This event is free and open to the public. The Ojai Library is located at 111 East Ojai Ave. Hours of service are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
The Ojai Valley Museum Celebrates The Libbey Centennial
One hundred years ago this spring, the Ohio glass magnate Edward Libbey transformed the dusty, ramshackle town of Nordhoff into the sparkling, Spanish-style village of Ojai, setting an example for Santa Barbara and the rest of Southern California to follow. On January 7, the Ojai Valley Museum will open “Inventing Ojai,” an exhibit exploring why Libbey did what he did here, and why it still matters.
Mission Revival architecture had been popular in the region since the 1880s, but Libbey was the visionary who first deployed it as the unifying style for an entire town. The museum’s exhibit traces his inspiration to the City Beautiful Movement, which Libbey had first encountered at Chicago’s legendary World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Two decades later, he put those principles to the test here in the Ojai Valley.
He set out to build – quite literally – a better community, using architecture to create a beautiful setting that he hoped would inspire people to become better citizens. Some would argue that his experiment succeeded, and that today’s town is the proof of it. The museum’s exhibit examines the continuing influence of Libbey’s legacy, in Ojai and beyond.
The “Inventing Ojai” opening gala will be held at the museum on Saturday, January 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. This event is open to the public, free of charge.
The Ojai Valley Museum is located at 130 W. Ojai Ave. Free parking is available behind the museum, off Blanche Street. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday noon to 4 pm. Group or school tours available by appointment.
For more information, call the museum at 640-1390, ext. 201, email [email protected], or visit the museum website at OjaiValleyMuseum.org.
