Ojai Valley Museum ~ Apr 28 thru June 12 ~ Made in Ojai IX "Know Hope" Just Looking?
The Ojai Valley Museum Ojai Studio Artists Group Exhibition, Artists' Reception & Scholarship Awards Ceremony, FREE Open to the General Public. Ojai Studio Artists showcased in a group exhibition for a 9th consecutive year. Michele Pracy, Museum Director and Curator, asked the participating artists to create works of art based on the concept, "Know Hope." (In opposition to "No Hope" and an obvious play on words.) Fifty exhibiting artists have taken the concept seriously, producing pieces in all media. Started with an understanding that "Hope" is the belief in positive outcome, the artworks are devoid of pessimism highlighting faith in a "goodness" filled future. Pracy provided several written inspirations for producing the concept artworks. One, by Emily Dickinson: "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul." The other, a Greek myth of "Pandora's Box," wherein Pandora opens a forbidden sealed container. However, impelled by her natural curiosity, she opened the jar and all evil contained in it escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole content of the jar had escaped, except one thing that lay at the bottom, which was HOPE. Days later, Pandora opened the jar again fixing her earlier mistake by giving mankind the greatest gift of all: HOPE. HOPE permeates everyday life; recognize HOPE is present in countless aspects of popular culture; and acknowledge that HOPE remains present in our world of chance and change. The Ojai Valley Museum, established in 1967, is generously supported in part by Museum Members, Private Donors, Business Sponsors and Underwriters, the Smith-Hobson Foundation, Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, City of Ojai, Rotary Club of Ojai. The Ojai Valley Museum ~ 130 W. Ojai Ave., Ojai, 640-1390, www.ojaivalleymuseum.org