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The Santa Paula Art Museum invites art lovers and collectors to its 16th Annual Fine Art Auction Fundraiser on Saturday, August 15, 2026, where dozens of exceptional works of art will be offered in support of the Museum’s arts education programs. Proceeds from the event help provide inspiring arts experiences to more than 6,000 Ventura County K-12 students each year.

The event begins with a silent auction from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., followed by a live auction from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., led by professional auctioneers from California Auctioneers. Admission to the event is $15.00 for SPAM members and $20.00 for non-members.

This year’s auction features a carefully curated selection of museum-quality artworks by celebrated California artists, including Jessie and Cornelis Botke, Jean Mannheim, Susan Petty, Douglas Shively, and more. Guests can enjoy beer, wine, and hors d'oeuvres as they browse the collection and place their bids. The 20 live auction artworks are available to preview online at www.santapaulaartmuseum.org/auction.

The fundraiser also includes a raffle for an original watercolor painting by renowned Santa Paula artist Jessie Arms Botke (1883-1971). The painting may be previewed online, and raffle tickets may be purchased by phone or at the Museum during regular business hours. The winning ticket will be drawn during the auction, but the winner does not need to be present to claim the prize.

The Santa Paula Art Museum’s 16th Annual Fine Art Auction Fundraiser is generously sponsored by CalNRG, Ventura County Credit Union, and Rotary Club of Santa Paula.

On the night of December 16, 1916, a group of conspirators murdered Grigori Rasputin, Russia’s “Mad Monk”. While meant to strengthen the Romanov dynasty, merely two months later this murder brought on their downfall and ushered in a year of two revolutions that ended with the Bolshevik takeover of Russia and the eventual murder of the Tsar and his family. In many ways, Russia and the rest of the world are still dealing with the consequences of that murder.

Most narratives in books, films and even songs about the murder of Rasputin focus on the victim, whereas this course will shed new light on the perpetrators of the crime. Our story will take us not only to the magnificent Yusupov Palace in Saint Petersburg, but also to the Yusupovs’ estates outside of Moscow and in Crimea, as well as to Oxford, Malta and Paris.

This course takes place Wednesdays from 1:30-3:30pm (PT) on Zoom.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Following our recent explorations into the world of the Iliad and the Odyssey, a natural question often arises: what actually happened to the magnificent, interconnected civilizations that inspired these epic tales? While the stories of Troy and Odysseus capture our imagination, they serve as the romanticized folk memory of a highly sophisticated era that suddenly and violently unraveled. This three-week course picks up exactly where those epic narratives leave off, transitioning from the mythology of Homer into the startling historical reality of the Late Bronze Age. We will examine how a thriving, globalized network of palace economies collapsed into a centuries-long "Dark Age," exploring the cascading systems failures that brought the ancient Mediterranean to its knees. (This course can be taken independently of the pervious explorations of the Iliad and the Odyssey).

This three-week course takes place on Wednesdays from 10am-12pm (PT) on Zoom and at the Thousand Oaks campus.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Welcome Back to Moorpark Women’s Club. Our speaker is Jenny Calcoen who spent twenty-six years in corporate leadership, including seven years running a global single-family office for a billionaire family, before leaving to build a private practice for women moving through the transitions that success doesn't prepare them for. She is the founder of Inner Earthquake, and she works privately with women at turning points in their lives and their careers. Her talk is called “The Other Woman in the Room”. It is about leadership, and about the women sitting in the room.

Lunch: Boxed Lunch from Corner Bakery, with five options.

Join us for a talk by historian Neal Graffy
Wednesday, September 23
5:30 PM 

TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finding-saint-barbara-talk-tickets-1994242542127?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

Join historian Neal Graffy as he chronicles the origin and stories of our city’s patron saint, uncovering many places where her image and influence endure.

Finding Saint Barbara
In 1602, Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno gave her name to the Santa Barbara Channel, forever linking the saint to California's central coast. Over the centuries that followed, her image moved beyond churches and devotional art into civic life, appearing in festivals, monuments, and community celebrations. Few places have embraced Saint Barbara as enthusiastically as the city that bears her name.

Presented in conjunction with the Museum's newest exhibition, Finding Saint Barbara, this talk traces her journey from church altarpieces to parade floats, and asks why one small city has embraced its patron saint so completely.

Thursday, September 3
6:00 PM Show
(Galleries open: 5:00 - 8:00 PM)
FREE

Join the Museum for a special opportunity to see early California history brought to life through the song and dance of Flor y Canto, performed in the courtyard of the 1817 Casa Covarrubias, one of Santa Barbara's oldest homes.

Guests can also enjoy wine and view our latest exhibitions Finding Saint Barbara & Arte de los Mantónes along with our permanent galleries. All ages are welcome.

🔥 A roadside nightclub. A dangerous attraction. And a love triangle headed for trouble.

On Sunday, August 23, the Ojai Art Center Film Branch presents Road House (1948), a sultry film noir where jealousy, obsession, and desire take center stage.

Ida Lupino stars as Lily Stevens, a tough, independent nightclub singer who arrives at a remote roadhouse and quickly attracts the attention of its volatile owner. But when she falls for his best friend instead, romantic rivalry takes a dark and dangerous turn.

With Lupino’s smoky performance, a menacing Richard Widmark, and plenty of simmering tension, Road House serves up a different flavor of noir—part romance, part psychological thriller, and all trouble. 🖤

This is a model contest and swap meet sponsored by the local Ventura Chapter of the International Plastic Modeling Society. Hundreds of beautifully made cars, airplanes, ships and other models will be on display. there will be vendors and food trucks and the parking is free. A wonderful fun event for families and children in a great venue.

For three centuries and under several forms of government, Russia has been the largest country in the world, steadily extending its rule over massive portions of Eurasian territory. Its repeated efforts to amass and maintain this sprawling dominion have led many to regard Russia as intrinsically, if not uniquely, expansionist. Is this fact? Stereotype? Or something in between? Explore this timely question in "Building the Imperium," which surveys the ebb and flow of colonial and hegemonic tendencies throughout Russian history, up to and including the Kremlin's illegal war against Ukraine.

This course takes place on Thursdays from 1:30-3:30pm (PT) on Zoom.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

They’re young. They’re in love. And they’re running out of time.

On Sunday, August 30, the Ojai Art Center Film Branch presents They Live by Night (1948), a hauntingly romantic film noir about two young lovers trying to escape a world that seems determined to pull them back in.

After escaping from prison, Bowie dreams of starting over. Then he meets Keechie, and for a brief moment, a different life seems possible. But with the law closing in and the past never far behind, their chance at happiness becomes increasingly fragile.

Directed by Nicholas Ray in his feature-film debut and starring Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell, They Live by Night brings tenderness and vulnerability to the dark world of film noir. Its influence is felt in generations of lovers-on-the-run movies that followed.