Chocolate Reception Opens Museum’s Beatrice Wood Exhibit
Santa Paula News
Published: March 07, 2007
The remarkable Ojai artist Beatrice Wood attributed her longevity to “young men and chocolates,” so it is appropriate that the Museum of Ventura County’s exhibit of her famed luster glaze ceramics, sculptures, and drawings opens with a Chocolate Celebration Reception on March 17.
The remarkable Ojai artist Beatrice Wood attributed her longevity to “young men and chocolates,” so it is appropriate that the Museum of Ventura County’s exhibit of her famed luster glaze ceramics, sculptures, and drawings opens with a Chocolate Celebration Reception on March 17. The exhibit, entitled Beatrice Wood: Art and Alchemy, will run from March 18 through June 10, with the opening reception Saturday, March 17 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. The reception is $10 for guests, and free for museum members. RSVP to (805) 653-0323 ext. 10.
Beatrice Wood, named by the Smithsonian Institution as an “Esteemed American Artist,” led a creative and rebellious life until her death in 1998 at age 105. An actress and artist active in the lively New York Dada art scene of the 1910s, Wood eventually moved to Los Angeles where she serendipitously enrolled in a ceramics class at Hollywood High School. Her whim became a passion, and in her forties she began to gain national fame for her innovative ceramic vessels, sculptures, and unique luster glazes.
For the last 50 years of her life, Wood lived in Ojai, where visitors to her studio could see the by then beloved icon throwing ceramic pieces on the wheel, wearing her trademark Indian saris.
The Museum of Ventura County exhibit will feature Wood’s drawings, ceramic vessels, figurative sculptures, and photographs of the artist .
The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura, across from the San Buenaventura Mission. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children, and is free to members and children under 6 years old. For information, please call (805) 653-0323 or go to www.venturamuseum.org.
The Museum also has a satellite location in The Oaks Shopping Center in Thousand Oaks, where the exhibit Tradition and Transition: The California Missions is running through May 20.
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