2023-24 VUSD Art Show

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 16

• 4:00 - 5:00 pm: Elementary and Middle School Viewing Times

• 5:00 - 5:30 pm: Elementary and Middle School Artists Acknowledgement 

• 6:00 -7:00 pm: High School Viewing Times/ Refreshments served by Buena HS Culinary Students

• 7:00- 7:30: High School Art Awards

Viewing dates and times:

• Friday, May 17, 6-8pm

• Saturday, May 18 , 12-4pm

• Sunday, May 19, 12-4pm

We are excited to announce that the VUSD District Wide Student Art Show at Vita Art Center. The show is made possible through the efforts of the Ventura Education Partnership, Vita Art Center, and the Ventura Arts Collaborative, a cooperative program of Ventura Unified School District. The juried show will highlight our incredibly talented high school, middle school and elementary school student artists. In total over 50 works by high school students have been selected from hundreds of submitted pieces, including watercolors, photography, acrylic paintings, pencil drawings, and a wide variety of media.

HEAD-SPACE

• OPENING: June 1, 2024

• 4-5pm: Members & Artist Preview Gala

• 5-7pm Opening Reception, open to the public

• Exhibit Dates: June 1 - July 14

Carlos Beltran

Chuck Close

Daniella Garcia

Jo Ann Block

John Nava

James Gilbert

Katia Tirado

Mary Heebner

Michael Rhode

Peter Liashkov

JAVIER CARILLO

• OPENING: June 1, 2024

• 4-5pm: Members & Artist Preview Gala

• 5-7pm Opening Reception, open to the public

• Exhibit Dates: June 1 - July 14

ARTIST STATEMENT: The new color reduction prints grew out of an earlier series from 2018 portraying trucks carrying heavy cargo. These images are important to me because they showcase the lives of working people in my community. In this new body of work I wanted to go larger and add more dimension to reflect the pride and the inner lives of working people. I added an overlay to the plexiglass of images that reflects the people who use these trucks. I wanted to use gold leaf as well because of its reference to religious paintings. For the people driving, the trucks are worth more than gold. It is how they support their families. The trucks are dented and patched together but to me they carry deep meaning, dignity, and beauty. Materials are piled high and balanced like a moving sculpture. Food is a big part of the latinos culture. The food trucks provide food comfort to our community. They bring back memories of my childhood in Mexico. 

SANDRA TORRES, PORCELAIN

• OPENING: June 1, 2024

• 4-5pm: Members & Artist Preview Gala

• 5-7pm Opening Reception, open to the public

• Exhibit Dates: June 1 - July 14

• Originally trained as an architect, Sandra Torres eventually transferred her creative outlet into clay work. Her ceramic education started under the wing of a master ceramist at an experimental studio in Mexico City. She then continued hands on learning in Southern California in three different studios.
  
  Her ceramic education was augmented by traveling to China and Mexico to learn about traditional clay work and techniques. An apprenticeship at Studio Pieter Stockmans in Genk, Belgium, had a great impact on her work, and later directed her to be an Artist in Residence at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary.
  
  She currently works at her home studio in Ojai, California.