Museum Goes Big with 300 Small Works

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art celebrates its fifth anniversary with a fundraising exhibition, “5x5: Celebrating Five Years,” from Aug. 28-Sept.11. The exhibition features more than 300 small-scale pieces of art that will be available for purchase through an online auction (www.westmontmuseum.org/5X5) that ends Thursday, Sept. 11, at 5 p.m. An artists’ reception with live music on Tuesday, Sept. 2, from 4-6 p.m., is free and open to the public.

Renowned artists Frank Gehry, Jessica Stockholder, Milton Glaser, Mark Ryden, Kinuko Craft and Chris Raschka have contributed to the fundraiser, which benefits the museum’s outreach and educational programming. More than two thirds of the contributing artists are from the local Tri-County area, including Dane Goodman, Richard Aber, Linda Ekstrom, Nicole Strasburg and Marie Schoeff.

“I’ve been delighted by the generous response to our fundraiser from Santa Barbara artists as well as nationally known artists,” says Judy L. Larson, Askew professor of art history and director of the museum. “We are grateful for their willingness to support the museum’s educational outreach efforts.

“It’s amazing how small, 5-inch squares of paper can be transformed into unique works of art.”

The exhibition features artwork in a variety of media, including oil paint, acrylic, watercolor, ink, printmaking, drawing, photography, sculpture, assemblage and collage.

The exhibition kicks off an ambitious season at the museum that features the west coast premiere of internationally famous Chakaia Booker (Dec. 11-Jan. 31) and “Rembrandt and the Jews” (Feb. 12-March 28).

The museum first opened during the 2010-11 season with an art collection of 453 objects, valued at $2 million. As of June 2014, the collection has grown to 1,545, valued at more than $15 million.

The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. It is closed Sundays and college holidays. For more information, please visit www.westmontmuseum.org or contact the museum at (805) 565-6162.