Last updated: 9/28/2011
424 South "C" Street
Oxnard, CA 93030
Thursday - Saturday
10 AM - 5 PM
closed holidays and between exhibits
Adults $10
Seniors $7
Students/Children $6
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Suzanne Bellah
phone: 805-385-8179
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This unique "Greek Temple" hosts special changing exhibits from international art collections and Museum's permanent collection of California Impressionism and Hollywood photography.
Organizations that serve children, such as Scout Groups and Boys and Girls Clubs, are encouraged to visit the museum for a guided tour. Tours can be tailored to fit the needs and special focuses of a group like earning a scout badge or developing writing skills through art. Tours can also be extended to include a workshop that concentrates on a particular skill, technique, or element of art.
Local colleges and universities are encouraged to participate in a guided tour of the museum's current exhibition. An Education Department staff member will provide an in-depth discussion about the featured artist(s) and their style of art. Tours can be tailored to fit the needs and special focuses of the group.
The CAM welcomes adult groups and organizations to schedule guided tours of the museum's most current exhibitions. An Education Department staff member will discuss the highlights of the current artwork on display, provide background information about the artist, and facilitate discussions among the group.
The Blue Star Museum initiative is a partnership among Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts, and more than 1,000 museums across America. First launched last summer, Blue Star Museums, including SBMA, once again are offering free admission to active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Much of the success of the Carnegie Art Museum is due to the generous support of volunteers. We encourage you to share your valuable time and skills with us through a variety of rewarding opportunities. You will meet new people, develop new skills, and support the arts. For many of our volunteer positions, you will work individually with members of a small but dedicated staff. We hope that you enjoy exploring some of the different ways that you can give back to the Arts and the Community by helping the CAM share the wonders of art.
The Carnegie Art Museum, owned and operated as a non-profit museum by the City of Oxnard since 1985, traces its beginnings back to the best spirit of American business philanthropy. Originally, the City of Oxnard’s first Public Library site, it was built in 1906 as one of the free public libraries funded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie. After the Library outgrew the building’s size in the 1960’s, and moved several blocks to a new facility, this gracious building was used for a variety of purposes including a Chamber of Commerce. In the early 1980s, after extensive earthquake retrofitting, the Carnegie Building reopened as a Cultural Arts Center. Due to the growing importance of its permanent art collection, the Carnegie was designated by the City as an Art Museum in 1985.
In order to enhance the Museum’s services, the auxiliary fund-raising group, the Carnegie Art Museum Cornerstones, was incorporated in January 1998 and received its 501(c) 3 designation from the Internal Revenue Service. Headed by volunteers and business leaders from around the county, the CAM Cornerstones helps the Carnegie be a major resource in Ventura County for arts education and exhibitions, through grant writing, museum membership, funding raising and events. The non-profit group is a mainstay of the Museum’s strong education programs for all ages.
In 2009 a long standing goal of the Carnegie Art Museum Cornerstones to foster the development of the Museum’s governance in order to advance future programming and financial sustainability was achieved. On June 22nd, the Carnegie Art Museum Cornerstones Board of Directors proposed to the City of Oxnard that the Board take on responsibility for managing the City owned facility, art collection, and operations of the Museum. A contract relationship with the City, which continues to retain museum ownership, was unanimously supported by the City Council. This significant change presents unlimited opportunities to expand the Museum’s educational mission and to greatly enhance cultural offerings and artistic resources for the Oxnard and greater Ventura County community.
The Museum’s permanent collection owned by the City of Oxnard, was established in the 1920s. It primarily focuses on the art of California. A strong point of the collection is in its California plein-air holdings, including paintings by Emil Kosa Jr., Colin Campbell Cooper, Paul Lauritz, and Cornelius and Jessie Arms Botke. Along with a diverse collection of multi-cultural and ethnographic artifacts, another strength is its Hollywood portraits by photographer George Hurrell, from the classic film noire period of the 1930-40s. Currently, acquisition places emphasis on collecting art inclusive of all California art movements, and of educational value to a population that is highly diverse. For example, major paintings by Latino artists, Frank Romero, and contemporary California artist Michael Dvortcsak have been acquired to implement this expanded emphasis. Acquisitions have included Europa by John Valadez, Enter Tormenta by Gronk, Quiet Steps of Approaching Thunder by Alexey Steele, Rural Pearl a scanogram by Darryl Curran and Lost Creek, Bantiquos Lagoon by Peter Adams, President of the California Art Club. Major donations of art are a vital source of building the permanent collection. Past art donations have been received from the Lannan Foundation, Peter & Eileen Norton, who donated thirty contemporary works including Watch Out for Snakes When You are Looking for Diamonds by Therman Statom, along with promised bequests from the California Art Collection of Nancy Dustin Wall Moure and Ventura County Art Collector Jackson Wheeler, as well as gifts from artists themselves.
exhibitions, children's classes, concerts, teacher training, lectures, hands-on workshops, performances, gala events, guided tours, outreach to schools, fundraising events
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