The Scripps Howard Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the media company E.W. Scripps, recently approved a volunteer grant in of $1,250 for the Buenaventura Art Association, Ventura’s 64-year-old nonprofit artists’ cooperative. BAA is relocating its downtown gallery to Bell Arts Factory, 432 N. Ventura Ave., and will use the funds toward constructing three moveable walls to increase the display space in its new home.

The grant will cover about a quarter of the cost of the 4-by-8-foot double-sided modules, which will add 192 square feet of wall space to the gallery.

Retiree Don Scott, a longtime BAA member and former board director, applied for the foundation’s help based on his 36-year career at the Ventura County Star and its predecessor, the Ventura Star-Free Press, both of which were Scripps newspapers. He and his wife, Mary Kolada Scott, also a BAA artist and former Scripps newsroom employee, have successfully applied for similar grants over the past several years for BAA projects. #SHFoundation

A memorial and celebration of Joe’s life will be held Saturday July 21, next to Art City in the Avant Garden, 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm, 197 Dubbers Street, Ventura, off Olive Street up from West Main Street. Refreshments will be served. His friends and art associates are invited. (Park in nearby lots and take care walking across Olive.) Hosted by ARTLIFE, INC. a 501c3 organization.

Joe Cardella was born in 1945 in New Britain, Connecticut. An early stint in the U. S. Navy to Greece and Mykonos made a lasting impression. He eventually made the southern California coast his home to evoke that idyllic sun-lit ocean place of myth, art, and creative energy.

Settling in Ventura in 1988, he helped transform the local art scene into an innovative community, inspired local artists and encouraged others to make art, many for the first time. Works on paper, mail art, conceptual art, Fluxus art, sculpture, assemblage and graphic art were his own media. He helped form the Ventura Artist Union.

He also began publishing the international magazine ART-LIFE in 1981. He solicited artists here and around the world to submit 200 multiples of their single work that he bound in the Original Limited Edition Monthly magazine for 25 years—“A masterpiece in every issue,” he boasted.

He died May 15, 2018 of esophageal cancer. His ashes will head back to Greece for dispersal. His legacy of promoting the creative arts here and elsewhere will continue through a trust he leaves behind.

Some of the wonderful water colors by Beverly Cunningham can be viewed in the lobby at the Poinsettia Pavilion. Others at beverlycunningham.com. (805)659-1489.

Arts & Eats will be held in downtown Ventura on Saturday, July 21 from 6 – 8pm. Fifteen galleries, restaurants and shops open their doors for art receptions and complimentary tastes. The event is free to the public.

Richard Franklin and Susan Seaberry will display their artwork at Fox Fine Jewelry from July 12, – September 9, with an Art Reception on July 21 from 6 – 8 pm. Musician George Spike will sing and play guitar during the reception.

Richard Franklin was born in Berkeley, CA and has studied art across the country and Italy. He has studied fine arts including drawing, pottery, and ceramics.

Susan Seaberry, blends romanticism and classicism, has created art her whole life. She says, “It’s always been art. It’s always been my main focus.”

If you can get to Bell Arts Factory before school starts you might meet Gabriela Molina, a young artist who has been given a studio there until school starts. Gabriela has been attending Bell Arts kid’s program since she was five. She stated “as I reflect on my years spent at Bell Arts it is evident that it’s played a key role to my artistic growth and my desire to pursue a career as an art educator. I will dedicate my remaining months at Bell Arts as a guest artist.” This wonderful artist will be attending U C Riverside in pursuit of a Bachelors in Fine Arts degree.

The Museum hosted the U.S. premiere of an exhibit of paintings by prominent Cuban artist and educator Pedro González Pulido on Friday, June 8. The event featured a reception and screening of the documentary “Hearing is Believing” by Ventura filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano, which inspired Pulido’s work. World-renowned musician Rachel Flowers, from Oxnard, is the subject of the film and performed her music at the opening reception. Proceeds benefit the Flowers family, the Museum of Ventura County and Hearing is Believing Productions.

On his website, http://rickmonzon.com/, his Southern California houses sway and undulate with a dreamy surrealism. A conspicuous lack of doors and windows gives these structures a mysterious presence.

Rick is participating in the upcoming book From the Fire. This book is a collection of writings – poems, prose, reflections – and photographs that document the fire experience from the flames to the ash to the regrowth that is happening.

http://rickmonzon.com/

Jun 22, 8-11 pm, Art City Gallery hosts Electronic Summer Nite, organized by sound, print and performance artists Cameron Leggett as closing party for Bad Exhibition: Value in Art at Art City Gallery. Three ingenious electronic bands; Sukia, Volt Per Octaves, and Mister Moonbeam share their sonic ingenuity with a crowd come to celebrate what’s best in both music and Ventura County’s underground sound. $5-10 Suggested Donation. Art City Gallery, 197 Dubbers St., 805.836.1095 www.artcitygalleryandstudios.com

Pastel drawing class on June 30th from 1:30 to 4:30pm at The VC Arts Collective Studio in Pacific View Mall, 2nd floor next to Sears. Teacher Tasia Erickson will be doing these lovely macaws. This is a class to learn about colors and how to apply pastels. Tasia is a great instructor and you will go home with a wonderful piece of art. Require paid reservations by Friday the 29th at 1pm. Cost is $64.00. [email protected] or 805-676-1540 for more information.