Collecting Art For the New Millennium: Museum Exhibits Recent Choices

What do you add to a museum’s art collection? See what the Museum of Ventura County decided in Art For The New Millennium: Museum Acquisitions since 2000. The exhibit runs December 9, 2007 - March 2, 2008, and includes pieces by 31 artists whose works were purchased or donated in the last eight years. An Artists’ Reception, free to the public, will be held Saturday, January 12, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. RSVP to (805) 653-0323 ext 10. The exhibition includes a powerful new painting entitled Hubris Redefined by contemporary Ojai artist John Nava, as well as two of his tapestries, in which centuries-old tradition is brought into 21st century art. This is the first time all three have been displayed in Ventura County. The Nava painting was purchased with funds from the Bonita McFarland Trust, and the tapestries were given anonymously. Another exhibit highlight is a rare Chumash basket, woven of juncus fiber at the turn of the 20th century by Ventura resident Petra Pico. It was recently purchased through donations both large and small. Demonstrating a strong artistic kinship to Pico’s basket is The Gathering, a 2006 fiber art assemblage by Gerri Johnson-McMillin of Port Hueneme, woven of fishbone, glass beads, monofilament and plastic. It was purchased by the museum through a trust.In the new millennium the museum has expanded efforts to add more works by contemporary artists, while they continue to collect works by artists with long established reputations, such as recently acquired ceramics by Beatrice Wood and Vivika & Otto Heino, photographs by Horace Bristol, etchings by Cornelis Botke, and paintings by Jessie Arms Botke, Douglass Parshall and Douglas Shively.The museum collects photographs, paintings, prints and sculpture by Ventura County artists or artists who have worked in this region.