Four Special Exhibitions Mark Museum's Re-opening
Visitors to the Museum will now enjoy not only all the new building and renovations, but four new new exhibits. One focuses on the odd and unusual in our collection, another upon a legendary woman of mystery, a third upon the timeless beauty of stone, and the fourth features the return of the George Stuart Historical Figures®, with personalities involved with the American Revolution and founding of our nation.
Rare, Precious and Unusual: Treasures from the Collection
July 3 - September 6
From the mundane to the sublime, precious items, oddities and works of art from the collection, some never before shown in a museum setting. See priceless Chumash baskets, as well as the unexpected: the claws of Old Three Toes, a legendary bear who roamed the Sespe in 1780; an 
albino pocket gopher; and a Humboldt Penguin raised in an aviary in Fillmore. The museum began in 1913 when it opened with a collection of objects acquired by local doctor Cephas Bard, who came to Ventura after the Civil War and who often accepted historical objects in lieu of cash payment for his services. Today the museum collection contains more than 30,000 works of art and artifacts.
Between Fact and Fiction: The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island
July 3 - October 17
Highlighting a figure of both fact and fiction, this exhibition explores the different perceptions developed around the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, as people have sought the elusive truth about her. Celebrated in legend and books such as the children's classic "Island of the Blue Dolphins," this San Nicolas islander was left alone in 1835 on one of the most remote of the Channel Islands, until she was found and brought in 1853 to Santa Barbara, where she died within weeks of her arrival. The exhibit includes a specially commissioned, one-quarter life-size figure of the Lone Woman by artist George Stuart.
Liberty! The Genius of the People
July 3 - October 12
George Stuart Historical Figures® featuring personalities involved in the American Revolutionary period. These one-quarter life-size sculptures are renowned for their expressive faces and detailed costumes.
Romancing the Stones
July 3 - October 3
The light plays with surfaces and translucency in these beautiful stone sculptures by Ventura artist Michele Chapin.