Ojai Valley School junior Jocelyn Gonzales has been selected to take part in an annual student art show that opens Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation in downtown Ojai.
High school artists in the show, called Finding the Figure In the Landscape, will be honored at an opening reception Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 248 South Montgomery Street.
The Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2015 by artists, family, and friends to celebrate the legacy of esteemed art patron and private art dealer Carolyn Glasoe Bailey.
Based in Ojai, the organization is committed to supporting the arts and sciences, and educating the public about the importance of continuing its support.
This annual student artist exhibition happens this weekend, in a gallery that supports younger artists by showcasing their work. It will showcase the work of 15 student artists from Ojai Valley School, Nordhoff High School, Besant Hill School, and The Thacher School.
Chia Hersk, the AP studio art teacher at OVS, recommended that Jocelyn participate in this event. Jocelyn started painting in 2016, then started using pastel last summer in the City of Ojai Arts Commission’s Summer Mentor Program which only take four students, and each student can work with an artist individually.
Jocelyn has already dropped her art pieces at the art show location, and on Saturday she will attend the event to speak with visitors and answer their questions about her work.
But she didn’t do the paintings specifically for the show; these three paintings are for her AP Art portfolio, and she worked on them for about one week each.
Jocelyn’s concentration is depicting ocean waves in pastel, although she notes that painting ocean waves can be incredibly hard.
“They are challenging enough to make an interesting concentration,” said Jocelyn, “yet do-able in the sense that there are lots of different ways to paint the ocean.”
Around this time last year, Jocelyn had public reception at Ojai City Hall in recognition of her pastel paintings after the mentor program she participated in the previous summer.
This is not the first time that OVS students have taken part in an art show at the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation. Senior artist Thomas Christopher participated in the event last year. And a couple of years ago, when the show still called “Porch Gallery,” OVS had several students join the show then too.
Ms. Hersk likes to see her students playing a role in public art shows.
“It is a good experience to show your works, and get your artworks out there… to see what it’s like to show in the gallery,” Mrs. Hersk said. “Go to an art opening, and have to describe and talk about yourself and your artworks.”
The public is welcome to attend the opening reception. The artist exhibition will run from Oct. 12 to Nov. 2.
