Pictured above are four members of the Santa Paula Art Museum Board of Directors with Museum Executive Director Jennifer Heighton: Front row (L)Ginger Gherardi, (R)Museum Executive Director Jennifer Heighton; back row (L) Guy Cole, (center) Scott Dunbar, (R) Mike Hause. Gherardi and Heighton are holding the magnificent Gail Pidduck painting which will be raffled off at the May 17th event.

Santa Paula Art Museum to debut new home on May 17th

April 24, 2009
Santa Paula News
After five years of planning, and many more years of hoping and dreaming, the Santa Paula Art Museum is becoming a reality. Mary Alice Orcutt Henderson, President of the Museum’s Board of Directors, announced recently that the historic Limoneira 10th Street landmark building, designed by famed local architect Roy Wilson, Sr., will be renovated and reopened as the new Santa Paula Art Museum. To introduce the public to the new location at 117 N. Tenth Street, a City-wide “Paint Me Santa Paula” celebration is planned for Sunday afternoon, May 17th, from 2-5:00pm.“We’re inviting everyone to come view the bare walls and share our excitement at an “Empty Museum Party” said Jennifer Heighton, Executive Director for the new Museum. Guests will see the inside of the classic two-story structure before the renovations begin, and hear how it will be transformed into a first-class art museum.” The highlight of the event will be the raffle of an original painting by Gail Pidduck, a widely-acclaimed local artist. Admission to the event is free with local favorite Xavier Montes providing musical entertainment. A silent auction, dessert and many opportunities for the public to help sponsor the new museum, by becoming a donor or “Founding Member” of the museum will be available. Raffle tickets for the Gail Pidduck painting are $40 each, or, 3 for $100, and may be obtained by calling the museum at 805-229-6110, or by email at info@santapaulaartmuseum.org. Tickets are also available in person at the Oil Museum and at the office of the Santa Paula Times. You need not be present to win the raffle.The renovation and conversion of the Limoneira building will take place in two phases, with Phase I to begin immediately, so that the museum can open in November, 2009. The renovation includes preparing the first floor for exhibition spaces of approximately 4,000 square feet by removing temporary walls, opening up the atrium to the ceiling, making Americans With Disability (ADA) act accessibility improvements, installing proper lighting and furnishings and stocking the gift shop. Ultimately the Museum will occupy the entire structure of approximately 8,400 square feet.A permanent home for the heralded Santa Paula Collection has long been the dream of the Santa Paula art community. “We’ve been working on ways to do this for a long time”, says Santa Paula’s Bill Orcutt, a prominent art historian and preservationist. “For the first time, a true Museum will assume curatorial management of the Collection’s 300-plus pieces of art by administering, cataloging, storing, archiving, conserving, preserving and exhibiting select pieces. It’s a thrilling concept for an art lover, and we’re about to make it happen for Santa Paula!” The Collection includes works by such renowned plein air artists as Al Dempster, Emil Kosa Jr., Ralph Holmes, Milford Zornes, Robert Clunie, Jessie Arms and Cornelis Botke, Paul Lauritz and notable local banker/artist Douglas Shively.
“The history of the Collection is a wonderful story in itself”, added Orcutt. “In 1937, local artists convinced the Chamber of Commerce to sponsor an art competition, which eventually grew into the annual Santa Paula Art Show. Offering ‘purchase prizes,’ these founding local artists encouraged fellow artists from near and far to enter the Show. Over the ensuing years, the City of Santa Paula, the Blanchard Community Library, the Santa Paula Elementary School District and the Santa Paula Union High School District purchased winning entries each year and this gradual accumulation of paintings evolved into one of California’s finest community-owned art collections.”“The site is perfect”, noted Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Blanchard. “It is adjacent to the established California Oil Museum and the proximity of the two museums in the historic downtown district will establish both a cultural destination and will be a keystone for the City’s ongoing revitalization program.” Additionally, the location is within walking distance of the Aviation Museum of Santa Paula at the famed private airport, the Santa Paula Murals Project, the restored train Depot and the new Ventura County Farm Heritage Museum, which will be located in the historic “Mill” building now undergoing restoration. “We encourage everyone to become a part in making the Santa Paula Art Museum happen” said Mary Alice Orcutt Henderson. For further information, please call the museum at 805-229-6110, or email them at info@santapaulaartmuseum.org.



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