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Museum Calendar
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Museum Reception December 10
for
Exhibition of Paintings by
Nicaraguan National Treasure Omar d’León
 A public artist’s reception on Thursday, December 10, from 5:00 to7:00 p.m. opens the Museum of Ventura County’s winter exhibition The Magical Realism of the Americas: The Art of Master Painter Omar d’León. Paintings by this internationally recognized artist, one of the most renowned Nicaraguan painters of the last 50 years, will be on exhibition from December 11, 2009 through February 28, 2010. The exhibit includes several recent works never before shown.
Fusing elements of Impressionism with magical realism, d’León earned critical acclaim at an early age. He is known for his light reflecting colors and surface textures, created by crosshatch scoring through oil and wax sometimes more then 20 layers deep. The exhibition includes photographs of this process, as well as d’León’s tools and sketchbooks.
 The artist fled his native country in 1980 and has been a Camarillo resident for 27 years. In 1970 d’León founded Museo-Galeria 904 in Managua, but Nicaragua’s massive earthquake of 1972 destroyed much of the museum, and many of d’León’s paintings were lost or looted. Several years later, he and his sister’s family were forced to flee after beatings and death threats from the Sandinistas. Despite being able to take only a few of his paintings with him, d’León has since created a new and prolific body of work. Today his pieces are in the collections of the Museum of Latin American Contemporary Art in Washington, D.C., the Ponce Museum of Art in Puerto Rico, the Chicago Art Institute, the Cuevas Museum in Mexico City, and the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, among other collections. In 1982 one of his paintings was reproduced in the form of a stamp for UNICEF.
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Chicano Rock Era Celebrated at Museum
October 9
Invitational Car Show, Documentary Film, & Musical Performance  Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the Museum of Ventura County with a stroll through their invitational low rider car show, and a screening of Chicano Rock! The Sounds of East LA, the documentary film by Emmy winning filmmakers Jon and Nancy Wilkman. The event on Sunday, October 9 also includes an expert panel discussion about music of that era, as well as a special performance by musician and songwriter Mark Guerrero, who led the popular East Los Angeles band Mark & the Escorts in the 1960s. The car show runs from 3:00- 4:30 p.m. and the film screening begins at 5:00 p.m. Admission is $15 for the general public, $10 for museum members, and also includes entry to all museum galleries. For reservations, call (805) 653-0323 x 7. Chicano Rock: The Sounds of East Los Angeles is based on the book, Land of a Thousand Dances by Tom Waldman and David Reyes, and traces the history of Chicano music in Los Angeles from the legendary Lalo Guerrero to the groups Cannibal and the Headhunters, Tierra and Ozomatli. It tells the story of how generations of young people from the country’s largest Mexican American community, caught between two cultures, created a unique musical voice and used it to express their identity. Narrated by Edward James Olmos, the hour documentary combines intimate interviews, and rare archival photos and film with the exuberant music.  A panel discussion will follow the film, and include such notables as the filmmakers Jon and Nancy Wilkman; musician, songwriter and Chicano music historian Mark Guerrero; music producer Max Uballez, formerly of the Romancers; Tom Waldman and David Reyes, noted authorities on Chicano rock and roll and co-authors of Land of a Thousand Dances: Chicano Rock and Roll from Southern California. The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.
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Museum Information
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Museum of Ventura County
100 E. Main St.
Ventura, California 93001
805-653-0323
Hours:
Galleries
11 a.m. to 5 p.m
Tuesday through Sunday
Research Library
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday through Friday
directions
Museum of Ventura County
Agriculture Museum
926 Railroad Ave.
Santa Paula, California 93061
805-525-3100
Hours:
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday through Sunday
directions
Admission
(both locations):
$4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17
Members and children under 6 free
Free Parking
(both locations):
Adjacent to the Museum
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