The City of Ventura, on behalf of the Mayor, welcomes nominations for its annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. This program is intended to highlight the contributions that the arts provide to our cultural community as well as recognize artistic achievement.

Nominations can be made in seven categories and are open to the public. The deadline to submit is Thursday, September 6, at 5 pm. Nomination forms are available on the Mayor’s Arts Awards website or by contacting Kathryn Dippong Lawson at [email protected] or 805-658-4726.

In its 14th year, this program aims at honoring significant contributions by individuals, organizations, and businesses to the arts. It showcases the economic impact of Ventura’s creative businesses and develops new leaders and patrons for the arts. The seven awards categories, of the Mayor’s Arts Awards program, are Arts Patron, Artist in the Community, Creative Entrepreneur, Arts Leader, Arts Educator, Emerging Artist and Student Artist. Nominees need not be residents of the City of Ventura but must have had a substantive impact on the City of Ventura’s cultural life. While self-nominations are not accepted, nominees should be made aware that they have been nominated. Nominators need not be City of Ventura residents and may submit multiple nominations each year.

“The Mayor’s Arts Awards program is the City’s way of showing our gratitude to the leaders, artists, and emerging artists of our community. The program celebrates the way art is weaved into the fabric of our cultural community here in Ventura, and we are thrilled to honor them,” stated Kathryn Dippong Lawson, Cultural Arts Supervisor.

For more information on these categories and the program, please visit the Mayor’s Arts Awards website.

An Exhibition at Acuna Art Collective Social Security Building, 425 South B Street, Oxnard

Clay Coming To Life featuring the sculptures of  Jacqueline Biaggi,  Lynn Creighton and  Janet Neuwalder.

The clay itself is the messenger. Each artist in her own way has learned to interpret the results of the movement of the clay in her hands. Love and trust of the clay requires that each artist await the result of the interaction with the clay leading the way. Ventura artist Lynn Creighton’s forms flow from the process.

Opening: September 21, 5-8 pm; Closing: November 2, 5-8 pm

Special Event October 12, 6-8 pm: Exploring and responding to the Exhibition with the guidance of poets Marsha de la O and Phil Taggart

Galleries open Thursday through Sunday 12 to 5

Exhibition sponsored and funded by City of Oxnard Cultural Arts Commission

The inaugural show at the Buenaventura Art Association’s new Ventura home will be a joint exhibition by a dozen BAA artists. The Collage Lab gets together monthly to experiment with the medium of collage, often throwing in mixed media and assemblage just for fun.

Opening Sept. 6 in Buenaventura Gallery at the Bell Arts Factory, 432 N. Ventura Ave., and run through Sept. 30. Collage Lab members will be on hand 6-9 p.m. Sept. 7 for a reception in conjunction with Ventura’s First Friday gallery crawl. A closing reception is planned 2-4 p.m. Sept. 30. The musical duo Ruby Skye will perform.

More than two dozen works will be on display, including a collaborative piece assembled from 12 squares by the individual artists. That piece will be raffled off as a fundraiser to benefit BAA in a drawing at the Sept. 30 reception.

Initial hours for Buenaventura Gallery at Bell Arts Factory, 432 N. Ventura Ave., will be 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. For more about BAA and its programs, visit www.buenaventuragallery.org or call 648-1235 during gallery hours.

More than 40 talented chalk artists from Southern California will spend two days creating colorful, awe-inspiring chalk murals as spectators watch the images emerge on the Ventura Harbor Village promenade, September 8 and 9, from 10am to 5pm. The free, family-friendly Ventura Art & Street Painting Festival is also a benefit for local non-profits FOOD Share of Ventura County and Kids Arts Inc.

Children who attend the event may participate and create their own colorful work of art; for a $10 donation, kids will receive a box of chalk and a sidewalk square in the Children’s Chalk Area hosted by Kids Arts, Inc. of Ventura. Visitors are also encouraged to browse the original artwork by a variety of vendors, including handmade wooden toys, jewelry and textiles, ceramics, photography, mosaics and other one-of-a kind crafts available for purchase.

Featured artist this year, Gus Moran, who has been street painting for fourteen years, says that some of the most enjoyable things about street painting are the interaction with the crowds and the appreciation people have for the artists’ work. This year marks Moran’s 5th appearance at the Ventura event and he adds, “the beautiful waterfront location in Ventura is especially fabulous — for us as artists and for people who appreciate art created in a scenic and vibrant venue.”

World renowned chalk artist and Ventura resident Tracy Stum will also return to the VASPF for a second year, along with accomplished artist Rod Tryon who brings his 30 years of street painting experience to the event.

This festival is hosted by Ventura County Art Events, Inc. and since 2011 has donated more than $50,000 to FOOD Share of Ventura County.

Event information: www.venturaartfestival.com/ or www.facebook.com/vtaartandstreetpainting/

Drink Me is a clear departure from the painterly experience of archetypal art exhibits. Showing until Sept. 23.Dab Art 1793 East Main Street | Midtown Ventura 805 626 8876 www.DabArt.me

Ventura Unified School District employee Maricela Valencia is the very proud mother of daughter Izabelle De-Paz who was just awarded an art scholarship to attend Otis College of Art & Design.

18-year old Izabelle, born and raised in Ventura is a recent graduate from Buena High. The forth of 5 children she has been painting since she was 5. She now paints mostly with markers and acrylics and will be majoring in computer animation and hopes to earn a BFA desgree.

Besides spending a great amount of time with school and her art she still manages to hold down 2 jobs (one at our Westpark) and still volunteers for non-profits when she has the time.

Established in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design is a non-profit institution and national leader in art and design education. Otis has less than 1,100 undergraduate students. The five-acre main campus is located on L.A.’s Westside near LAX and the Graduate Studios are in the Creative Corridor in nearby Culver City.

Her scholarship was awarded to her by Music And Art For Youth “Helping Young Artists To Create Their Vision” under the leadership of Ventura’s St. Pierre.

Izabelle told the Breeze “I gained interest in becoming an artist when I was really little. My mom took me to this drawing class in the animation building at California Adventure, and ever since that day I have continued to draw. I was never the best at making art when I was little, but something inside me drove me to continue drawing. My family noticed my raw talent and began to give me tools to get better at my craft, my biggest supporter being my mom. She found every possible way to help me grow as an artist.”

“My mom helped me get connected with Music and Art for the Youth (MAAFY) through a work friend. They knew about the program and decided to nominate me for the scholarship. MAAFY has given me some opportunities that would have taken me years to accomplish. The program has pushed me as an artist to make more work, talk to more people, practice new skills, and promote myself as an artist. This scholarship has given me my first art show as a featured artist and has done everything possible to give me more and more opportunities to be a known artist.”

A recent fundraiser was held for her at Winchester’s Grille where she sold 10 of her 16 paintings. They were mounted, framed and hung by her under the guidance of St. Pierre.

“Izabelle De Paz was awarded in our arts education program. She has excelled in high honors. Our Board of Directors has recognized her potential and bright future in the visual arts. Her career dream job is Disney Animation. She won a 4 year grant to Otis College Of The Arts & Design. She leaves for college August 18^th.” MusicAndArtForYouth.org recently applied for a grant for Izabelle to obtain a new VW Beatle automobile to help her transportation needs, and her busy upcoming college schedule. She has a positive attitude toward her own success. Her life is a good life. Izabelle is a great investment for the future in the arts” stated St. Pierre.

John Roberson painted a group of his family members He is pointing to his daughter Ashley and grand daughter Charlotte Photos by Bernie Goldstein

by Jill Forman

John Robertson didn’t pick up a paintbrush until he was in his late forties. Today he has super sized sports paintings in 40 major sporting venues all over the country.
How did a middle-aged businessman with a middle-class lifestyle recreate himself so radically? Robertson is willing to tell the tale.

Growing up in L.A., he had “…no interest in art.” He dropped out of high school at 17 and joined the Navy. “I wasn’t going to graduate anyway.” After the Navy, he “…bummed around.” Back in L.A., he drove trucks, married and started CSUN; got his degree in English while working full-time. He wanted to be a novelist and took graduate classes in writing. “I wrote four really bad novels.”

His company was impressed by his industry and work ethic. Over 23 years, he worked his way into senior management. So there we have the businessman, family man, homeowner…

To restate, he had never been interested in art; “I didn’t know a thing about it.” What did interest him was why the Getty Trust paid $50 million for a painting called “Irises” by some guy named Van Gogh. He lived near the Getty Museum in Malibu, so went on over to check it out.

His life changed. He saw the painting, “…burst into tears” and understood. He drove to the paint store to buy house paint – that’s what you paint with, right? They told him, “That’s not the right way” and sent him home with canvases and oils and turpentine. He stopped writing that day and has painted almost every day since, close to 30 years. This “obsession” (his word) cost him his job and marriage.

When that particular dust settled, he was living in a room on the Speedway in Venice (parallel to the Boardwalk,) selling paintings along the beachfront, having shows, promoting himself, “…able to survive.” He got a space in a frame store as a studio. The store faced a busy street in the Palisades and drivers couldn’t see his work so he made his paintings large for passers-by to appreciate. The frame store got a percent of the sales plus the framing. For 3 ½ years, five days a week, he made a living there as an artist.

He painted local musicians and writers; one of them was doing a bookstore poetry reading, and asked to borrow the painting of himself to put in the bookstore window for publicity. Other writers and bookstores followed with orders; at one point five stores displayed his paintings.

About 15 years ago, paintings of musicians in the windows of a nightclub on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica caught the eye of a guy from Fox Sports, who wanted paintings for an NBA commercial. Today his works hang in the 49ers stadium, the Packers’, the Vikings’, the Bucks’ and many others. You can see them at johnrobertsonsportsart.com.

These days John paints at a studio on Front Street, and lives in a guest house in Ventura with his wife, fellow artist Lynn Hanson. His daughter Ashley lives close by and his granddaughter Charlotte is a constant joy in their lives.

His current show, at the Ag Museum in Santa Paula, runs until September 9. He has a Gallery Talk there on August 23.

A new City Public Art project is currently in its installation phase. The “Beautifying Bins”: Trash Can Public Art Project can now be seen at the Santa Clara street parking garage in downtown Ventura. This was a collaborative project between the City of Ventura Parks, Recreation & Community Partnerships department and the Environmental Sustainability division.

The project sought out artist(s) to transform trash bins into functional and artistic receptacles. The project encouraged the chosen artist to transform the bins into works of art to minimize vandalism, encourage recycling, and instill a sense of community pride. The Commission selected artist Cathy Winton for her creative designs that were attractive, fun, and the colors corresponded to the floors of the parking structure.

“Providing the public immediate daily access to high-quality works of art is key to building Ventura’s civic pride and community identity. It is the goal of the Public Art Program that the entire city serves as a showcase that weaves art into our residents’ everyday life,” stated Tobie Roach, Public Art Project Specialist. For more information on current public art opportunities visit the Public Art website.

The Studio Gallery in Channel Islands Harbor, will be open until 7 pm on August 7th, National Night Out. Dotty Pringle will show 8 rocks that will be the first in series of teaching/representing a bit about each Channel Island, with a different American Indian mermaid and story. Each are originals and never duplicated.

Dotty will do another 8 American Indian mermaids with different stories about each one in her second in the series. She has finished San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz mermaids and these first 3 will be at the Studio Gallery, Fisherman’s Wharf in Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.

Pop-up exhibit opened on July 28 for Ventura artist John Robertson’s large-scale acrylic paintings celebrating scenes from the Ventura County Fair, a favorite past-time of the artist and his family. It will be on display at the Agriculture Museum through September 9.

Known nationally for his large-scale sports paintings, many of which are on display at major stadiums, Robertson paints what he sees–local people and scenery–using house paint on large rolls of canvas to accommodate the grand-scale size. The Agriculture Museum is located at 926 Railroad Avenue, Santa Paula.

For more information visit venturamuseum.org or call 805-525-3100.