“Tranquility” by Preston Fine Arts will be shown at an Art Reception at Very Ventura Gift Shop & Gallery – 540 E. Main Street, on Sat Jan 20 6pm-8pm. The exhibit features the vibrant paintings of William Burton and Joan (JJ) Prescott. Burton, a retired draftsman, works in acrylics, while Prescott paints in oils. They have combined their diverse talents to create Preston Fine Arts. Opening night is in conjunction with Arts & Eats, Downtown Ventura. Exhibit runs through March 4. 628-3540.
Category Archives: Ventura Art Scene
Downtown Ventura’s Arts & Eats January 20 featuring art of Hiroko Yoshimoto
Downtown Ventura’s Arts & Eats January 20, 6 – 8pm and Fox Fine Jewelry Art Reception featuring the art of Hiroko Yoshimoto. Arts & Eats will be held in downtown Ventura with fifteen galleries, restaurants and shops open for art receptions and complimentary tastes. The event is free to the public.
Hiroko Yoshimoto was born in Japan and became a US citizen in 1976. She has a BA and MA in art from UCLA and continued her studies in Florence, Italy at the Art Center College. Since her studies, Yoshimoto has exhibited her art internationally, with active exhibits in California, Colorado, Tokyo, Austria, and New York.
Art City expands
Performing and visual artist David Oliver at Under the Bed.
by Susan Torne
Art City Gallery and Studios, established in 1983, is a think-tank for experimental sculpture, installation, multi-media, assemblage, painting, film, performance, poetry, and theater. Founded by Paul Lindhard, artist, sculptor, studio builder, producer and patron of the arts for 50 years; Art City spans 31 years of art history in Ventura.
There are four components to Art City’s new expanded creative cluster. The first two components are Art City Gallery and Art City Studios (Art City’s oldest and most continuous component). Art City Gallery hosts curated exhibits and events. A community resource for culture and education, the gallery reflects Art City’s reason for being: Art 24/7; supporting collaboration, empowerment and no-holds barred exploration and implementation of ideas; from traditional gallery exhibits, to poetry readings, performances, lectures, talks, and cinema. Additionally it will be home to the San Buenaventura Artists’ Union for 4 exhibitions in 2018.
Over thirty years in the making, Art City Studios has evolved into a dynamic environment allowing artists to create in a supportive atmosphere. Throughout 22 studio spaces, stone sculptors represent the bulk of Art City Studio artists, existing side by side with film makers, playwrights, poets, performance artists, painters, wood-carvers, photographers.
A third component of Art City is Avant Garden. Referred to for the first years of its development as Art City Stone Garden, this sculpture park was given the name Avant Garden in 2017, casting light upon generations of Ventura’s avant-garde collaborating with Art City since the mid-1980’s. Paul Lindhard waited two years to get the bigger of the garden’s two main stones, intended as part of public art installation Dos Metates. The lead piece is a piece of imperial blue granite he obtained from San Marcos, California. The other, slightly smaller stone, is a beautiful sample of academy black granite from north of Fresno, California. Dos Metates is intended for the Mission Lawn between China Alley and Museum of Ventura County.
Lastly, Art City’s most recent fourth component is Under the Bed (UTB), a production space for contributing artists to create, share and expand their personal vision through music, film, digital media production, theater and performing arts. UTB is affiliated with Art City as an extension of the city’s cultural past, present, and future.
In High Style: The Photography of Neal Barr at Museum of Ventura County Jan. 13
“Let’s come together, our doors are open” is the theme of the opening reception for the new exhibition, In High Style: The Photography of Neal Barr, 5–7 p.m., Jan. 13, at the Museum of Ventura County. Sponsored by Union Bank, the reception admission is free and will feature plentiful refreshments from local downtown businesses. A no-host bar will also be available.
“We encourage everyone to join us for an evening celebrating the resilience of our residents, businesses and government agencies, while enjoying the art of renowned fashion photographer and Ventura native, Neal Barr,” said Elena Brokaw, Museum of Ventura County executive director. “We will not be charging admission to the opening in the hopes of encouraging folks to come downtown and gather in support of the community. Throughout the galleries we will have donation opportunities and 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to fire relief efforts.”
Neal Barr will be attending the reception and will offer opening remarks along with several other community officials. Barr, whose extraordinary career has spanned 50 years, started in Ventura before moving to New York City in 1958.
In High Style: The Photography of Neal Barr will be on display from Jan. 13 through April 8.
Buenaventura Art Association’s 32nd Annual Open Competition
1st Place, 31st Annual Open Competition by Carson Pritchard
Call for Entries: Buenaventura Art Association’s 32nd Annual Open Competition
Deadline: Midnight, Saturday, January 6.
Cash Awards and Membership Benefits
- First Place $400
- Second Place $300
- Third Place $200
- Four Honorable Mentions at $75 ea.
1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners also receive a free one-year membership to BAA and their art in the Ventura Breeze. Honorable Mention winners receive a 6-month membership.
Juror: Carol Shaw-Sutton. Find out more about Carol at www.carolshawsutton.com.
For entry details go to Online Entry at BuenaventuraGallery.org
Sunset by Wendy Winet in current CMH show, “H2O”
Call for Entries at Community Memorial Hospital exhibit “Precious”
Deadline: Midnight, Saturday, January 6.
With the recent fires, Mother Nature has reminded us once again that we are not necessarily in charge here! For many who had to flee, last-minute decisions had to be made to take only those things that were most precious. For many, of course, it was their pets. For others, it was mementos of times past. Show us what is precious in your life. It could be pets, things, family, favorite activities or places that you find yourself returning to again and again. What, for you, is precious?
The love in the air is thicker than the smoke!
Juror: CMH and BAA panel
For entry details go to Online Entry at BuenaventuraGallery.org
Thomas Fire art by twelve year old Evin Brown
Twelve year old Evin Brown reflected on the Thomas Fire with his wonderful painting. It is not for sale by his grandparents because it is in their private collection.
Local Ventura artist Cassandra Tondro offers to replace her art burned in Thomas fire for free
Cassandra Tondro is a local Ventura artist who has offered to replace any of her art that burned in the Thomas fire for free.
Tondro received a comment on her Instagram feed from a couple who lost one of her paintings when their home burned earlier this month. Realizing that there were probably others who had lost her art, she saw that this was something she could do to help fire victims.
According to Tondro, “People who have lost their homes have bigger things to worry about right now than replacing lost art. Please contact me when you are resettled, even if it’s several years from now, and we will find something lovely to replace the paintings that burned.”
Tondro’s contact information can be found on her website www.tondro.com.
Art City Winter Solstice gathering Dec. 21
Art City Winter Solstice, a creative and community gathering will be held on Thursday, Dec. 21, 5—9:30 pm. From 5-8 pm, in the Art City Gallery, poetry by Kali Bennett, Phoenix Rising, a poetry, movement and sound performance by Amber Bassett, Maker Space, upcycling objects and materials left behind by the fire, (ash, stone, debris, personal objects, your heart, etc…). Plus local vendors and live silkscreen ‘Ventura Strong’ T-Shirt printing. (partial proceeds going to Thomas Fire organizations). Then, in the Art City Avant Garden, beginning at 8 pm Fireside Fire Stories, (Come share your story of the Thomas Incident), with singer/songwriter, Meaghan Thalia Lawrence.
Ventura’s Art City creative cluster, recently expanded to include three venues (Art City Gallery, Avant Garden, and Under the Bed) in addition to 22 active artist studios. For Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year…let us gather, create amidst the destruction, tell our stories and come together in a sense to recover our well-being and support one another. 197 Dubbers St. 648-1690 www.artcitygalleryandstudios.com.
Paintings by Mike Tiné, with sculpture by Jo Anne Duby, Greg Kailian, and Chris Provenzano at Art City Gallery grand opening exhibition
Art City Gallery grand opening exhibition runs until Jan. 6, 2018. Paintings by Mike Tiné, with sculpture by Jo Anne Duby, Greg Kailian, and Chris Provenzano.
The walls of this exhibition show breadth and power in Ventura’s painter and sculptor, Mike Tiné recent work. He obtained a BFA in painting at the University of Tennessee and an MFA in sculpture at the University of Wyoming. Currently residing and painting at the WAV artists’ complex. Tiné also keeps a sculpture studio at Art City Gallery and Studios.
Displayed in clusters of thought and form throughout the large exhibition hall, we see and experience free-standing stone sculptures by Ventura artists JoAnne Duby, Greg Kailian and Chris Provenzano. These artworks span the artists’ careers; exclamation points, question marks and periods punctuating prolific bodies of work in stone.
Art City Gallery 197 Dubbers St., 648-1690. artcitygalleryandstudios.com