Buenaventura Art Association will honor the three winners of the 2017 Collegiate Student Art Competition with a reception 5-8 p.m. March 17.

A body of their work will be on display in the Student Winners exhibition March 14-April 14. Christopher Borel was first-place winner, Omar Soto took second place, and Jasmine O’Campo was third.

Photographer Borel, a Ventura College student, won for a piece entitled “Lemon Shark Sunset.” Soto, also attending Ventura College, won his prize with a pencil drawing called “Lost in Thought.” Moorpark College student O’Campo took third with marker and crayon drawn, anatomical overlays entitled “Anatomy of Her.”

First place came with an $800 scholarship; second place, $600; and third, $350. The winners also received a free one-year BAA membership with free entry fees.

Also showing is an open competition called “Stories.” Artists who submitted artwork to this show also had to submit a written paragraph describing what inspired the piece.

A duo show by BAA members Helle Scharling-Todd and Mary Westheimer will also be on exhibit.

Buenaventura Gallery is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information about the Collegiate Competition, these exhibitions or the nonprofit Buenaventura Art Association, call 648-1235 or visit www.buenaventuragallery.org.

A Conversation with Karen Carson
Sunday, March 25 – 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Oxnard’s Levity Live at The Collection
591 Collection Blvd.

To learn about Karen Carson visit www.KarenCarsonArtist.com

Karen Carson, a major figure in the Los Angeles feminist art movement, has employed varied techniques and materials to reflect and comment on the turbulence of everyday life. She is concerned with both what can be a dangerous natural world and an equally disturbing world of politics and world events. Donna Granata’s conversation with Karen Carson will trace the development of an artist whose oeuvre takes us from abstract zippered canvases, tableaux with feminist themes, the muscular tractor series, and to her current exploration of form and color on bas relief wood.

The Artist Spotlight and panel discussion is open to students attending as a class assignment free of charge. FOTM is happy to assist with tracking attendance and sign-in sheets. Reservations required.

To RSVP visit www.FocusOnTheMasters.com or call 653.2501.

Join us for a celebratory dinner at the Vita Art Center hosted by Ginny Furmanski and The Old Broads Catering Company immediately following the Artist Spotlight Interview. Paid reservations are essential and required prior to March 20. We expect this AfterGLOW to sell out.

$30 FOTM members, $40 Non-members.
Maps will be given to paid guests at the interview.

Arts & Eats will be held in downtown Ventura on Saturday, March 17 from 6 – 8pm. Fifteen galleries, restaurants and shops open their doors for art receptions and complimentary tastes. The event is free to the public.

Christine Leong and Andrea Vargas will display their art at Fox Fine Jewelry from March 15 – May 13, with an Art Reception on March 17 from 6 – 8:00pm. Musician Corinn Conant will sing and play guitar during the reception.

“A Line In the Sand” is a collaboration between Christine Leong and Andrea Vargas. Their friendship is unique in that they work on pieces of art together, combining different mediums and techniques. Usually, one will work on the background before giving the piece to the other to complete the artwork. In “A Line in the Sand,” they again co-create, showing us just what makes Ventura home.

Christine Leong, from Hong Kong, has a special talent for painting Koi fish and florals on rice paper. She has been using rice paper for 30 years, and recently has explored and started painting wearable art on raw silk.

See the website for gallery shows info:
http://www.foxfinejewelry.com/event/article/arts-eats/

Print Exchange Anthology Exhibition, Saturday, March 24, 6-10 pm, curated by Trent Stevens and Sophia Kidd, is an Art City Gallery pop-up exhibition. Print Exchange is an idea that your art has worth. It has exchanges monthly since 2015 and the idea has spread from Ventura to Colorado, Nicaragua and Sri Lanka. We thought it was time to feature 22 of Print Exchange’s most visionary disrupters. From photography and letterpress to zines and one-off prints, all print-makers are welcome to come and show, swap, sell or buy artworks on the open-source wall. Art City Gallery, 197 Dubbers St. 648-1690. www.artcitygalleryandstudios.com.

On March 11^th, Art City Gallery will host its 3^rd artist talk, welcoming a panel of regional experts and artists to speak with John White about his recent paintings and mixed-media works; and with Paul Lindhard about his ‘Topographies in Stone’; both bodies of artwork on display at Rugged Tableau exhibition through March 18. The first 20 guests to arrive for the artists talk will be automatically entered into a door prize contest. There will be a silent auction featuring one work each by the two masters. 197 Dubbers St. 648-1690. artcitygalleryandstudios.com

Dab Art is pleased to present Seeking Light, a solo exhibition by Glenn Carter at H Gallery in Midtown Ventura. 1793 E. Main.

Glenn Carter has developed various approaches to construct and design as both a process and vehicle for content. Carter’s approach is based on an untiring duality: a pragmatic methodology to the materials and creating of art coupled with a fascination for psychologically charged relations engrained in objects and environments. Seeking Light is an intimate and interactive solo exhibition of 37 works of astounding caliber and composition.

Curated by Yessíca Torres

Ventura muralist MB Hanrahan has completed a striking mural on the SOHO Apartments at 1150 N. Ventura Avenue.

SOHO Apartments is a workforce housing project built by the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura.

The kite idea came to Hanrahan “out of the blue,” she said. “The intention was to create a space of whimsy and high-flying hopes for anyone driving and otherwise moving down the Avenue.”

The work was completed high in the air from a lift donated by Greg Rents. The kites were engineered by Eric Howes. Artist Steve Knauff helped with the installation.

“The Housing Authority believes public art is an important contribution to the community.” said Denise Wise, Housing Authority Chief Executive Officer.

Patti Brandenburg’s “Heading In” embodies the spirit behind the Thomas Arts Festival held at the Ventura Unified School District Office (see article). Patti painted this as a tribute to the single firefighter who lost his life, and there is a reflection of a firefighter in the side mirror in the closest truck. 20″ x 30″ Acrylic painting on canvas.

In our last issue we had a fascinating story about “homeless by choice” Stuart W. Smeltzer known as “Bear”. Stuart is an excellent artist and graphic designer. He can be reached at [email protected].