Sacred Spring, Delphi by Gerd Koch. Courtesy of BAA

A free, four-day exhibition at the Museum of Ventura County next month will celebrate seven colorful decades of cultural contributions by members of the Buenaventura Art Association.

Visitors can enjoy “Retrospective: BAA’s 70th Anniversary Celebration” from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. June 13-16 in the Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Pavilion. A reception from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, June 15 will feature awarding an Honorary Lifetime Membership to a couple of current members for service to the group and the area arts community, plus a presentation about recent BAA accomplishments.

Distinguished top-tier BAA artists, both current and past, and their collectors are lending pieces for the show, which will include artworks by Gerd Koch, Norman Kirk, Dorothy Hunter, Hiroko Yoshimoto, Gail Pidduck, Len Poteshman, Rex Kochel, Don Fay, Margy Gates, Carlos Grasso and more than 20 others, many of them BAA Honorary Lifetime Members.

The association’s roots date to the April 1954 founding with city help of the Ventura Arts and Crafts Association to promote interest in and participation by schoolchildren, adults, and professional and amateur artists. The group arranged art classes, exhibits and an annual Ventura arts festival. Initial endeavors also included drama, dance, literature, minerals and rocks, and science as well as painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and weaving.

A formal meeting a month later at the Pierpont Inn set the association’s structure, leadership and goals, and work began on bylaws and articles of incorporation. The first general meeting was Sept. 24, 1954, and that year 76 people paid dues to join. Charter members paid $5 that first year, then general memberships were $3 a year. Students paid $1, and a lifetime membership cost $100.

The association currently operates Studio 99 in Bell Arts Factory, 432 N. Ventura Ave., downtown Ventura, and Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts, 1559 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 106, in Ventura Harbor. For more about BAA and its programs, phone the gallery at 805-648-1235 or visit buenaventuraartassociation.org.

The County of Ventura’s Older Americans Month art exhibit will be unveiled next week. The exhibit, which will feature artwork produced by older adults in the county, is a collaboration between the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging (VCAAA), the Optimal Aging committee of the VCAAA’s Advisory Council, the Ventura County Arts Council (VCAC), and County of Ventura Arts & Culture. Approximately 50 residents from across the county registered their artwork for the show.

The exhibit will open next Monday (May 13) at the County of Ventura’s Hall of Administration Atrium Gallery (800 S. Victoria Ave. in Ventura). The Hall of Administration is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The artwork will be displayed through the end of June.

The opening reception will be at the Hall of Administration next Wednesday (May 15) from 5-7 p.m. In addition to viewing the works of art and the potential opportunity to meet some of the artists involved, there are plans for an intergenerational poetry reading. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Ventura Pottery Gallery invites you to join a special Mother’s Day Market Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 from 11 – 6 . Over 40 local artisans will exhibit hand-crafted pieces perfect gift giving. You’ll find mugs, vases and more in every price range.

Enter our free raffle when you visit the gallery starting April 19 to win a gorgeous mug by gallery artist Kristen Clawson.

Ventura Pottery Gallery is located at 1567 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 105 in the Ventura Harbor. The Gallery is open seven days a week from 11-6. More information can be found www.vcpg.org. Can’t make it to the Gallery? Please visit our Online Store at www.venturapotteryonline.com

Brand New Day, 2nd Place, BAA’s 34th Annual Open Competition, Lois Bloom.

Call for Entries Now Open! BAA’s 35th Open Competition
A juried show for members and non-members
Exhibiting May 4 – May 29, 2024 at Ojai Art Center
Call for entries is now open on “Entrythingy” on our website!
Deadline: Friday, April 19, midnight

We used to be able to say, ” Annual Open Competition” but the pandemic interfered with that! Our last Open Competition — our 34th Annual — was in 2020. It’s finally here again, not quite “annual” but greatly anticipated!

Awards:

First Place $500,Second Place $350,Third Place $250

Four Honorable Mentions at $100 ea.

All winners also receive a free one-year membership to BAA.

Juror: Chuck Kovacic. Find out more about him at https://cfkovacic.wixsite.com/chuckkovacicarts

Artist Eligibility: Artists must be 18 years or older and may submit up to three (3) works of art for consideration. Open to all professional and amateur artists in the United States. Shipping information given upon acceptance.

Deadline: Midnight, Friday, April 19, 2024. Notification of accepted work will be sent Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

Andres Salazar is having an exhibit of his art work at the WAV Gallery (175 S. Ventura Ave.) with an opening reception on May 3, 6-9pm and on the weekends May 4-25th  from 1-4pm.

This exhibit dances with the raw energy of action painting and landscape expressionism.  Infused with movement and life, the canvas shows the process of making the art.  It is a journey of both spaces and emotions.  Each canvas serves as an open invitation, a playground where viewers can embark on their own journeys through the constellations of my shapes, forging their own connections and narratives. 

Andres has considered Ventura his home for the last 20 years, and is a resident of the WAV community.  Graduated at UCSB, he has always been involved in creative arts and worked in the graphic novel publishing industry. Story and art have always influenced his work and he brings that storytelling to the canvas using vibrant colors and dynamic shapes.

Photos by Patricia Schallert

On March 30th guests were able to step right into a world of artistic talents at an incredible art show hosted at the Seaward Brewery and organized by Thomas Trigo. Local artists Betsy Laban, Summer Vaughn, and Sean Foster displayed captivating paintings, mesmerizing jewelry, and thought-provoking photography. Guests were immersed in a symphony of colors, shapes, and emotions while having a delightful beer. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore the boundless depths of creative expression.

Homeward, Acrylic on canvas, Judy Suzuki

Buenaventura Art Association, a creative force at Ventura Harbor Village since 2005, is proud to add painter Judy Suzuki and photographer Michael Maloney to the roster of talent at its seaside showcase.

Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts, a BAA member enterprise, welcomes visitors and art lovers at 1559 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 106. The shop, which moved to its current site in 2016, is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week.

Suzuki, a third-generation Japanese American, lives in Ventura and has spent decades immersed in the local arts community as a graphic artist, muralist and teacher.

“By practicing tuning into my intuitions, I think less and follow the creative journey through expressions of the brush and paint,” she said. “Whether it’s people, animals or nature, I love capturing the essence of life.

“My intention as an artist is to continue practicing seeing from my heart, not from my head, and remember to have fun in the creative process,” Suzuki said.

If Ghosts Could Talk, Photography, Michael Maloney

Maloney is a former newsman now living in Woodland Hills who also pursues art by closely observing nature.

“My background is nearly four decades of photojournalism, mostly with the San Francisco Chronicle,” he said. “With the fast-paced, always-a-deadline world of news and sports photography behind me, I am now retired and enjoying the slower pace of nature photography.

“I am self-taught in photography, starting back in the days of film and darkrooms to currently using the latest in digital cameras and photo processing. I believe that printing in itself is an art form and I take pride in the process,” he said.

Maloney added, “With my images, I hope to encourage you to get out and explore this world we live in with a spirit of curiosity, astonishment and hope.”

BAA, an arts cooperative founded in 1954, also operates Studio 99 in Bell Arts Factory, 432 N. Ventura Ave., which is open noon-4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and has members’ artworks on display at SpiceTopia, a retail store at 576 E. Main St., Ventura, that’s open daily, but hours vary.

To learn more about BAA and its programs, phone the gallery at 805-648-1235 or visit buenaventuraartassociation.org.

Enjoy the art of Carrie Bezler.

Our next solo exhibitions in Studio 99, Buenaventura Art Association’s gallery and headquarters at Bell Arts Factory in Ventura, will feature two artists’ viewpoints on the wonder—and increasing volatility—of humanity’s relationship to our world.

Eva Montealegre will present oil paintings on canvas she says draw from “ancient charts and cave drawings and tribal characterizations” to explore “our life’s blood connection to all that is.” “Blood Mandala” is what Montealegre names her show.

Carrie Bezler, who signs her work REY, will display selected pastel drawings in “Returned to the Sea,” a title alluding to her recent California return after a dozen years in Germany. The show will include pieces from her “ocean-inspired … mostly realistic” Sea Creatures series, she said.

Art lovers can meet and talk with the artists during First Friday open gallery receptions from 6-9 p.m. April 5. Exhibit Runs until April 27, 2024.