Museum of Ventura County update for Sept. 22

Attention volunteers and teachers! Come learn about the many volunteer opportunities and quality education programs available at the Museum of Ventura County and the Agriculture Museum at the Educator Showcase and Volunteer Fair, Wednesday, September 27, 3–7 p.m. If you are interested in history and/or art, we have many ways to get involved as a volunteer or docent. For teachers, we offer a wide selection of quality K through grade 12 education programs, both free and fee-based, to support your students’ learning.

Light refreshments will be served. Located at 100 E. Main Street, Ventura.  For more information, visit www.venturamuseum.org.

Ayer y Todavía

Experience Chicano culture and history, as well as current struggles and social issues, as seen through the eyes of Chicano artists in this unique exhibit, Ayer y Todavía.

Featured artists include Margaret Garcia, Frank Romero, Leo Limón, Salomon Huerta, Jack Vargas, Harry Gamboa, Diane Gamboa, Ignacio Gomez, and Patssi Valdez among others.

The exhibit will be on view through November 26. For more information, visit www.venturamuseum.org.

Exhibit and event are sponsored by the Port of Hueneme, Clinicas del Camino Real, Inc. and Santa Paula Latino Town Hall.

Special thanks to the MVC Latino Advisory Committee.

Artists Wayne Healy, Ignacio Gomez, David Botello and Margaret Garcia will speak about their own works, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., September 28, and discuss the recurring images found in Chicano art and why those images define Chicano identity. The panel will be moderated by Chicano art collector Tomás Sanchez.

The event will take place at Museum of Ventura County, 100 E. Main Street, Ventura. Free for members; $5 for non-members.

Chicano Art Exhibit tours are available for student and adult groups Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.– 5 p.m. Docent-led tours provide insight into the art and the artists included in this inspiring exhibit. Please schedule two weeks in advance with Megan Gately, mgately@venturamuseum.org, 805-653.0323 x310.

It’s Free First Sunday, October 1, 11 a.m.– 5 p.m. with free admission for all! Come share your ideas and engage with your community in a fun and positive way through this museum day devoted to community activism. Visit the new exhibit showcasing Chicano art, enjoy free crafts from 1–3 p.m. including designing your own poster, coloring sheets for kids and political cartoons. This program is generously sponsored by Museum-supporter Mimi Allin.

Icons and Archetypes

A new series of large-scale oil paintings by Ojai-based artist, Tom Hardcastle, explores the artist’s perspective of popular cultural icons and exploitative archetypes that have come to represent more than their own personal identity and in some cases, a paradoxical delineation. Exhibit runs throughOctober 1. For more information, visit www.venturamuseum.org or call 805.653.0323.

This year the museum will be hosting the third annual ArtWalk Collector’s Reception, Wednesday,October 4, from 6 – 8 p.m, 100 E. Main Street, Ventura. The ArtWalk Collector’s Reception is a preview of juried works by 2017 ArtWalk Ventura featured artists. This free special preview event provides art patrons and artists an opportunity to reserve works for purchase in advance of the two-day ArtWalk.

?The Museum of Ventura County will be participating in the 24th annual ArtWalk Ventura, October 7-8 with free admission both days. Highlights include featured artist Hiroko Yoshimoto in the Pavilion, and our new Chicano art exhibit Ayer y Todavía in the main gallery.

One of Ventura’s signature events, ArtWalk Ventura will take place 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Saturday, October 7, and noon–5 p.m. Sunday, October 8. Visit ArtWalk Ventura  for full event details.

Betsy Chess, great granddaughter of Nathan Blanchard and current Limoneira board member, be the featured speaker at the next “Speaking Of Ventura County” speaker series, Tuesday,October 10, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. at the Agriculture Museum, 926 Railroad Avenue, Santa Paula.

Chess, whose family has a long history of success, philanthropy and leadership in the agricultural industry, will chronicle the early beginnings of the lemon business in Santa Paula, named by her pioneer relative Nathan Blanchard, to a current citrus powerhouse company, Limoneira.

Free for members; $5 for non-members. Light refreshments will be served.

Experience the story of the Mayan civilization, begun nearly 10,000 years ago and inhabiting today’s area of southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and portions of Honduras and El Salvador, as told through ‘Lost Empires: The Conquest of the Americas’ at the Museum of Ventura County, now through April 2018 at the Museum of Ventura County.

Featuring the highly-detailed and historically-accurate George Stuart Historical Figures Collection, visitors will learn about the early beginnings of the Mayan civilization and its advancements in sophisticated art and mathematics, evident in 500 BC, as well as its architecture which rivaled that of Europe.

For more information, visit www.venturamuseum.org.

Special guest, Roberto Vargas will present the use of ofrendas (altars) and ceremony for honoring our loved ones as reflected in the exhibit, 6 – 7 p.m.,October 26, in the Huntsinger galleries. Free for members; $5 for non-members. Museum of Ventura County, 100 E. Main Street, Ventura.

The Museum of Ventura County is looking for volunteers to help support the museum’s events and educational programs in the following areas: school tours, front desk services, special events, programs and in the research library.

All prospective volunteers are invited to attend upcoming training workshops on Tuesdays, October 17, 24, 31, and November 7, 14, 21 from 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
The workshops will offer an overview of Ventura County history, museum history and collections, with training for tours and working with the public.

For more information, contact Director of Education and Outreach Megan Gately atmgately@venturamuseum.org or (805) 653-0323 ext. 310.
Located at 100 E. Main Street, Ventura.  For more information, visitwww.venturamuseum.org.

Celebrate Dia de los Muertos in
Santa Paula, Sunday, October 29,
11 a.m.–  5 p.m.

The Art Museum, Oil Museum, Pierce Brothers Cemetery and the Ag Museum have partnered for a community celebration.  Make monarch butterfly crafts, hear about the symbolism of the Monarch butterfly and bring something to add to our community offrenda.

At 2 p.m., professional storyteller Evie Ybarra will spins tales
of “La Llorona” and other scary tales from her book, Ghosts
of Ventura County’s Heritage Valley, and other favorite ghost stories?.

The Chicano Moratorium, the massive mobilization in 1969 to raise awareness of the Vietnam War as a civil rights issue in the Chicano community, is the topic of a panel discussion, 2–4 p.m., November 11, at the Museum of Ventura County, 100 E. Main Street, Ventura.

Set at the height of the disproportionate death rates of Mexican-American casualties in Vietnam–20 percent of the casualties as compared to 10 percent of the American population–the march was the largest anti-war action of any oppressed nationality in the history of the U.S., drawing over 30,000 Chicanos in protest.

Free for members; $5 for non-members.

Ventura College professor and avid art collector, Tomás Sanchez, will be featured speaker at the Nov. 14 “Speaking Of Ventura County” lecture series, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m., at the Museum of Ventura County, 100 E. Main Street, Ventura. Light refreshments will be served.

Mr. Sanchez has been a serious Chicano Art collector since the mid-1980s. Featured artists in his collection and this exhibit include Carlos Almaraz, Roberto Tito Delgado, Elsa Flores, Salomón Huerta, Leo Limón, Roberto Gil de Montes, Frank Romero and Patssi Valdez. At Ventura College Santa Paula, Sanchez teaches World History, Western Civilization History, United States History and Chicano History. This presentation will be a combination of art and history as it intersected during the Chicano Movement in southern California.

Free for members; $5 for non-members.

The museum offers Free First Sundays and free admission for featured groups on designated Appreciation Weekends.

September 23-24 – Zip code 93066
October 1 – Free First Sunday
October 14-15 – City and County Workers
October 28-29 – Zip code 93015-93016, 93040
November 5 – Free First Sunday
November 11-12 – Grandparents
November 25-26 – 93062 – 93065