If you love art, you won’t want to miss ArtWalk Ventura 2017. ArtWalk Ventura is one of Ventura’s signature events, drawing thousands every year. Run by an all-volunteer group, this weekend event is fresh and festive and focused on Ventura’s authentic cultural community. Now in its 24th year, ArtWalk Ventura is a fun, virtually free, self-guided tour of dozens of galleries, studios, pop-up venues and transformed PODS Containers in Ventura’s Westside Cultural District and historic Downtown.

Free the 3rd Annual ArtWalk Collector’s Reception will precedes ArtWalk. On Wednesday, Oct 4 from 6-8pm, the City of Ventura and the Museum of Ventura County will host the reception for a preview of juried works by 2017 ArtWalk featured artists. Hosted in the Smith Pavilion at the Museum of Ventura County, selected works will be on display from all ArtWalk venues. The event will begin with the Mayor’s honoring the 2017 ArtWalk Ventura Artist of Distinction Maribel Hernandez and Global Artist of Distinction Shamsia Hassani. The evening will include music, hors d’ouevres and a no-host beer and wine bar.

Also returning is the Bowl Hop, a unique fundraiser where you can buy a beautiful, hand-crafted Bowl Hop bowl and receive a punch card that allows visits to participating restaurants during the weekend for a delicious sampling of their cuisines! A Bowl costs $25, with all proceeds benefiting Downtown Ventura’s Family Reconnection Program, which has helped nearly 150 needy.

ArtWalk Ventura provides a free shuttle pick-up is at the parking lot entrance to the Museum of Ventura County .The shuttle goes from the Museum to Bell Arts Factory, dropping you within a block of Stoneworks Studios. The shuttle then heads over to Art City on Dubbers Ave and then to the WAV before it returns to the Museum.

For more information, directions and maps please visit www.artwalkventura.org.

Three Oxnard artists — photographers Julianne Martin and Tomi Murphy and watercolorist Lorna Amundson — will be featured in individual shows Oct. 10-Nov. 11 at the Buenaventura Gallery.

All three women plan to attend an opening reception 5-7 p.m. Oct. 14 at the gallery.

Works by many other BAA members will be presented in the remaining gallery space during these shows, after which the nonprofit will offer its annual Holiday Boutique in late November and December.

Buenaventura Gallery, 700 E. Santa Clara St., is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. For more about the Buenaventura Art Association, a 63-year-old artists cooperative, and its programs, visit www.buenaventuragallery.org or call 648-1235 during gallery hours.

On September 10, at NAMBA Performing Arts Space artist Jane Peterson discussed her current solo exhibition, Circumstantial Evidence.

In this body of work, Peterson continues to explore the spectrum of human emotion, adopting a “forensic” approach to her subject matter. Each piece contains the elements of a story; objects in context with an environment.

Peterson aims to create a new form of realism, where narrative truth is found in the simple relationships of objects. Her deceivingly simple imagery and textual juxtapositions convey the temporal coexistence of these objects in both the real and the imagined world. By resisting any single cohesive meaning, Jane’s ensemble functions as a strategy that reveals her ultimate subject matter to be the viewer’s experience.

Ventura watercolorist Dean Seagren is exhibiting paintings featuring local scenes at Ventura City Hall, Room 117, through October 26th. He is a member of Ventura Watercolor Artists and the National Watercolor Society.

Seagren’s watercolors and drawings have received numerous awards at fine arts competitions in Ventura County including a watercolor awarded First Place in the professional division at the 80th Annual Art and Photography Show of the Santa Paula Society of the Arts

The work of the late Mississippi artist, writer and poet Gertrude McCarty Smith (1923 – 2007) will be on display during the 25th Annual ArtWalk Ventura October 7 & 8 at the WAV Gallery. “Worlds Beyond My Window” is the West Coast debut for Ms. Smith whose work has been shown throughout the Southern region of the United States and now at the Working Artists Ventura (WAV) Gallery. The show runs through October 22 and is a retrospective of work created by the prolific award-winning artist from over a 60-year period.

The show will kick-off with two Southern-themed receptions – invitation-only event on Thursday, October 5 followed by Ventura’s monthly First Friday “gallery crawl” the following night for the public from 6-9pm.

The show will continue at the WAV gallery on weekends only through October 22nd, 11am – 5pm or by appointment.

Most importantly, as an “Art with Heart” fundraiser, 50% of show’s net proceeds will benefit the WAV Ventura and the Gertrude McCarty Smith Foundation, supporting under-served Mississippi students, emerging artists and local communities through in-school art classes, scholarships, grants and special programs.

Ventura College presents the 37th Annual Faculty Exhibition in its New Media Art Gallery. A variety of techniques from painting, printmaking, photography, digital art, drawing, sculpture, multi-media, and ceramics will be on display through Thursday, Oct. 5. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and parking is $2.00.

“Ventura College is an extension of the local community and we invite everyone to take advantage of these events that provide culture and entertainment for families and residents of all ages,” stated Ventura College President David Keebler.”

Running concurrently to the faculty exhibition is a student art exhibition in Gallery II. For more information about both exhibitions and the Ventura College Art Department, contact Ventura College Professor of Art and History Ann H. Bittl, Gallery Director, at 289-6264 or [email protected] or visit http://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/academic/art-department.

These are exciting times for this decades old organization. Artist Union is partnering with Art City to offer the art community in Ventura County and beyond a beautiful gallery in a working community of artists. Please come join on Wednesday September 13, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm to get reacquainted, visit the gallery, listen to some good music, and have some wine. Video Presentation on historic Artist Union Gallery shows compiled by Phil Taggart. Russell Erickson Award Ceremony. Art City Gallery,197 Dubbers St.. [email protected].

The winning entries from this year’s California Coastal Art & Poetry Contest will be on display at the Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center until November 12

Each year, students throughout the state, from kindergarten through 12th grade, participate in this statewide contest, which is sponsored by the California Coastal Commission.

Local sixth grader, Duke Nicolson, from Santa Barbara received an honorable mention for his acrylic painting of a California coastline. The art and poetry display includes 51 pieces that were selected as winners and honorable mentions from nearly 2,800 entries.

The Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center is located at 1901 Spinnaker Dr. and is free and open daily from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Dab Art is pleased to present AHORA, a solo exhibition by artist Dominga Opazo at NAMBA Arts Space in Downtown Ventura at 47 S. Oak. Opening Reception Saturday, September 16, 6-8pm.

Dominga plays out her imaginative ideas through images and textiles, engaging in a constant and passionate pursuit to discover the divine through art. AHORA is a mixed collection of Dominga’s most current work. Dominga Opazo resides in Ventura, emigrating from Chile a decade ago. Her mixed media work consists mostly of prints and textiles, as well as wood burning, paintings and drawings.

On Saturday, August 26th Arline Tepper donated a very special sculpture to the Ribbons of Life Breast Cancer Foundation. The name of the sculpture is L’Chaim (to Life) Mikiko. It was made to honor a very dear friend who fought breast cancer. Mikiko (Miki) fought breast cancer for 12 years. She died in 2013 at the age of 44. Her mother, in Japan, died shortly after of the same disease. Her courage, strength, and beauty inspired Arline to sculpt this piece. It is dedicated to her, and to all women who have had breast cancer – the victors and the losers.