A Conversation with John Robertson Sunday, October 29, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
591 Collection Blvd.

John Robertson is a self-taught, primitive, impressionistic painter, whose paintings are much more than a visual, realistic copy of the subject. Full of movement and depth, the works are created with a variety of techniques, using cement trowels, brushes, wood scrapers, cans and plastic cups to apply acrylic paint to canvas. The paintings are then hung without a structure, similar to a tapestry.

John Robertson will be presenting his new group of large-scale painting, Fields, at the Vita Art Center Gallery, 432 N Ventura Ave, Ventura. All are invited to the opening artist’s reception, November 3 at 6:00 pm. To learn about John Robertson, visit www.StreetCredibleArt.com

Make your reservation today at www.FocusOnTheMasters.com or 653.2501.

Admission is $10 for the public; $5 for seniors.

Nance Hodge has been making art for over 40 years. “As a lifetime member of BAA, I am proud to present an overview of my accomplishments. My artworks have been my life’s journey. It is a major part of who I am.” Her subjects include women, music, and horses, plus a cat or two!

Some of Nance’s quotes on her art include: “Beauty is not in the face, but a light in the heart.”

“You have a treasure within you that is greater than anything the world can offer.”

Come see her treasures at the Harbor Village Gallery, open 7 days a week, 11am-6pm, (until 9pm on Sat.).

The inkspots of San Buenaventura, Ventura County’s only fine art printmaking group will be exhibiting their new works at 643 A Project Space. Come meet the artists at the opening reception Friday November 3rd 5 to 8pm at 643 Ventura Ave.

The exhibit titled “ImPRESSive” will showcase work by artists Christina Altfeld, Karen L. Brown, Beverly Decker, Virginia Furmanski, Rosemarie Gebhart, Judy Gibbs, Bay Hallowell, Tiger Huang, Colleen Kelly, Ines Monguio, Minga Opazo, Jane Peterson, Leslie Plimpton, Betsy Quinn and Monica Wiesblott.

A free drawing for their annual folio project will take place at the reception that includes a signed and numbered print by fourteen artists in the group.  Three additional folios will be offered for sale.

A series of special events will be taking place at the gallery each Saturday of the exhibition:
For more information please contact Leslie Plimpton [email protected] or call
850-8848. inkspotsventura.com.

The Ventura County Arts Council is offering a variety of classes and activities that use art in various forms to help area residents understand, appreciate and celebrate the upcoming holiday Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.

Activities include free Dia de Los Muertos art classes that will focus on both traditional and contemporary art methods. Classes will be taught by local artists, including MB Hanrahan, who is also the driving force behind the collection of classes and events.

Musician Juan Mendoza will convene classes for youth that will focus on singing and the playing of musical instruments, while poet and writer Fernando Albert Salinas will guide participants in creating poems for the dearly departed.

All classes and events will take place at Pacific View Mall inside the Arts Collective Studio. The studio is located on the second floor of the mall by the Sears store.

Activities will run through Nov. 5 .

All workshops are free. Sign up for any or all of them by emailing the VCAC at [email protected], registering online at http://vcartscouncil.org/arts-collective/dia-de-los-muertos/ or by calling 676-1540.

The VC Arts Council’s Dia de Los Muertos activities will culminate in a special free community celebration on Sunday, Nov. 5 on the Pacific View Mall’s Center Court Stage.

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.