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Location

Vita Art Center is located at 28 W.Main St., Ventura, CA 93001

Featured Artist

Joanne Julian

Image Gallery

About the Exhibition For ArtWalk Ventura 

Night Flights: New work by Joanne Julian

Julian has studied and traveled in Asia, which is immediately noticeable in her work. Critic Robert McDonald, past senior curator of the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, says, "She has developed a reductive style," and adds, "Critics have often identified a Zen quality in her work...a gentle merging of natures, a unification of humanity and all living things, of yin and yang, the discipline and spirit of Taoist painting." McDonald also wrote, "The works of Joanne Julian remind us that drawing is a physical enterprise. With the sureness of an athlete or a dancer, she has always tamed energy with grace. A sense of energy in motion, irrespective of imagery, dominates her works. They are both refined and vigorous, dramatic and beguiling, complex and reductive." He concludes that her works are truly exceptional, saying, "They are visual, yet they also have qualities associated with music and dance. They express graphically the energy that informs all phenomena." Author Betty Ann Brown sees Julian as "a modern American master of haboku ('flung ink' style.) Usually associated with Zen Buddhism, haboku was practiced by monks who, after years of arduous training, sat in meditative repose until they sensed a oneness with the universal life force. The monks then moved from meditation to art allowing the force to flow through them, through the brush and onto the paper in rapid dexterous strokes." Julian has mounted 20 solo exhibitions and over 60 group exhibitions nationally. She works often on a commission basis on site-specific pieces for international corporations. Critical reviews, essays and reproductions of her works have been published in The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Artweek, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Images and Issues, Arts, Press Telegram, Art Scene, Art in America, Forum 2001, and Perspectives among others. Joanne Julian was born in Los Angeles. She received her BA and MA degrees in sculpture and printmaking from California State University, Northridge and her MFA degree in painting from Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. She has been a faculty member at College of the Canyons in Valencia, CA since 1973 where she was Chair of the fine arts department and Gallery Director. She has also taught and lectured at Art Center College of Design, Glendale College, University of California, Los Angeles, and California State University, Northridge. She has exhibited at Jan Baum Gallery [Los Angeles], Thomas Babeor Gallery [La Jolla], Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Newport Harbor Art Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and many others. Public collections of her work include Atlantic Richfield, Bank of America, Grand Wailea Resort, Home Savings of America, The Irvine Company, Nestle, Nikko, Price Waterhouse, and Teneco Oil. ARTIST STATEMENT: My work is about restraint as well a spontaneous expression. It is about grace and violence. It begins with quiet order and climaxes in wild celebration. It is the way I think I am, and how I wish to be. Making art for me means perpetually bridging the gap between form and content until they both merge into the truest vision of myself. The concerns of my art are those of clarification and passion. I do not wish to tell stories or illustrate. I seek to evoke an emotional response from the viewer, perhaps no different from what I wish to achieve with the rest of my life. I wrote this statement nearly 35 years ago, and much of it still applies. Although most people know me as a no-nonsense, practical, organized animal, for me, today’s world also requires a good measure of dreaming, and even more courage. I want to experience as well as provide that venue and take a soulful ride along with the viewer. Joanne Julian

About the Venue

Since opening the doors in 2007, the Vita Art Center has stayed true to its mission to engage the public in the arts through education, exhibits, and events. Vita Art Center offers local youth a safe and nurturing environment during their least structured and, therefore, highest-risk times: after school, on weekends, and during the summer months. Consistent, quality art education and mentoring positively impacts youths' social development, academic achievement, and vocational opportunities. Studies shows that when youth have substantial engagements with the arts they are more likely to go to college, get good grades, and obtain a degree; to hold a full-time job. Help our community and our children.

EDUCATION:
Whether you are looking for a creative outlet or are a working artist, Vita Art Center has classes for all levels of experience and ages. We provide high-quality enrichment experiences in the visual arts for children, teens, and adults. Professional artists and instructors teach classes in a wide variety of media and subject-matter, with plenty of classes to choose from. To ensure personalized instruction, we limit enrollment to 10-15 students per course.

IN SCHOOL PROGRAMS
We are committed to supporting our local schools by providing arts programs to K-12 students. Our Schools visual arts programs integrate visual arts with core CA education standards to help children succeed in school.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS:
The Vita Art Center offers professional development programs for educators seeking to increase their knowledge of the arts, and to improve their skills so they can provide quality arts education for students.

www.vitaartcenter.com