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Santa Paula Art Museum — ‘Gail Faulkner: A Lasting Impression; Opens Saturday

by Community Contributor • September 16, 2026 • Comments Off

Let’s Go Back to School!

After a career in the medical field, Ventura watercolorist Gail Faulkner (1947-2023) enrolled in art school in her 30s, proving it’s never too late to go back to school—or try something new.

Scroll down to learn about our new exhibition honoring Gail, get to know Museum Educator Janice Allen, check out our fall-themed art classes, and more.

Loquat Bouquet by Gail Faulkner, 2020, Watercolor on paper, Collection of Ellen Brokaw.

Exhibition Premiere

Gail Faulkner: A Lasting Impression

Saturday, September 19, 2026, from 4 PM to 6 PM

$5 SPAM Members, $10 Non-members

Join us at the Santa Paula Art Museum for the premiere of a special retrospective exhibition honoring the late Ventura painter Gail Faulkner (1947-2023), who devoted the final two decades of her life to watercolor painting.

Inspired by the meticulous realism of 17th-century Dutch still life painting, Faulkner developed a highly detailed approach to watercolor that earned her recognition and awards throughout Ventura County and beyond.

Drawn from private collections and the Museum’s permanent collection, Gail Faulkner: A Lasting Impression will be on view from September 19, 2026, through January 10, 2027.

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5 Questions With…

For Teachers

Meet Museum Educator Janice Allen! With school back in session, Janice is busy leading SPAM’s education programs, from ArtSPARK Museum Tours and Free Family Days to after-school and in-classroom art lessons. We asked Janice five questions to help you get to know her better.

What’s your favorite part of your job?
Creating new projects. I love finding new ways for kids to explore art techniques and materials, especially knowing it might be their first time touching clay, trying a new painting technique, or discovering how colors work together.

What’s the best question a kid has ever asked you on a tour of the Museum?
“Are we going to see the Mona Lisa?” tied with, “Did you paint one of these?”

What’s one thing you wish everyone learned about art in school?
That for every male artist in your history book, there was a female artist executing those ideas and techniques successfully at the same time.

After spending so much time teaching others about art, has your own way of looking at art changed?
Yes! I’m honing my skills as an art critic. My college art history studies, combined with hours spent closely examining the Museum’s exhibitions, have helped me better recognize the techniques and qualities that make an artwork successful.

What kind of art could you happily talk about all day?
Printmaking. I love all kinds of printmaking: screen printing, gelli plates, linoleum blocks, intaglio, and dye prints to name a few!

Fall-Themed Classes

Kids’ Clay Sugar Skull Workshop (Ages 9+)

Sunday, September 27

12 PM to 2 PM

$40 for single session

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Handbuilding: Ghosts & Pumpkins

Starts Thurs., October 1

10 AM to 12:30 PM

$125 for 3 sessions

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Kids’ Paint & Sip: Autumn Leaves & Boba (Ages 7+)

Saturday, October 3

10 AM to 12 PM

$40 for singles session

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Handbuilding Ceramics: Ghosts & Pumpkins

Starts Mon., October 5

6 PM to 8:30 PM

$125 for 3 sessions

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Felting Workshop: Vessels

Friday, October 23

6 PM to 9 PM

$42 for single session

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Oil Painting Workshop: Skulls

Sunday, October 25

1 PM to 5 PM

$60 for single session

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Art in the Classroom

This school year, we’ve expanded our in-classroom programs, bringing teaching artists and multi-week art lessons directly to local schools. Teachers can now choose from our curricula exploring ceramics, Mexican folk art, and/or local art featured in the Museum’s current exhibitions.

We’ve just received our first batch of coil pots created by students at Glen City Elementary School in Santa Paula! We’ll glaze and fire the pots in our kiln before returning them to the classroom.

From the Archives

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Recent visitors to our Cole Creativity Center may have noticed several works from our permanent collection by the late Ventura artist and longtime Ventura College art instructor Carlisle Cooper (1919-2013).

We recently came across this 1937 article written by Cooper at just 17 years old, touting the benefits of continuous learning. He went on to find success as a cartoonist before beginning a nearly 50-year career as an art teacher.