SPSA to present 79th Art & Photography Show, entries open March 3

Artists throughout Southern California and beyond are readying their work for the 79th Annual Santa Paula Art & Photography Show, opening March 8 at Blanchard Community Library.

The Santa Paula Society of the Arts sponsored exhibit, the oldest such pre-juried show in the state offering $4,750 in prizes, will be on display through April 6.

The SPSA will be accepting entries on March 3, noon to 8 p.m. and March 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the library located at 119 N. 8th St. Artworks are to be brought to the backdoor of the library on the north side of the building. 

The gala reception and awards ceremony for artists and art lovers alike will be held Saturday, March 19, from 3 to 7 p.m. and feature music by acclaimed guitarist Barry Cooper.

Entries in Oils/Acrylics, Watercolor, Mixed Media/Graphics, Pastels will be judged by Sherry Loehr and Laura Long; Photography will be judged by Donna Granata. John Nichols is the Juror.

Each year hundreds of artists submit works to the exhibit, founded in 1937 by famed artists including Douglas Shively, Jesse Arms Botke and Cornelis Botke, among others living and creating in Santa Paula and Fillmore.

The annual show was the nucleus of the famed Santa Paula Art Collection, about 400 prize-winning works purchased over the decades and for/by the Santa Paula Unified School District, City of Santa Paula, Santa Paula Hospital and Blanchard Community Library.