Current Exhibitions
Muses and Inspirations: The Art of Vladimir and Gösta Iwasiuk — A Father and Son Exhibition
On view January 17, 2026, to May 10, 2026
“I have always needed to put down on paper, canvas, or in clay the things I treasure—things I care about, things that inspire me. My father was that way too.”
— Gösta Iwasiuk
This exhibition spans more than half a century of sculpture, painting, and drawing by physicians Vladimir Iwasiuk (1905-1986) and his son, Gösta Iwasiuk (b. 1943). Vladimir, who retired to Santa Paula in 1975, pursued his artistic practice alongside his medical career, producing over 350 works, primarily paintings, over his lifetime. Gösta started his career as a general physician in Santa Paula in 1973. Most of his artistic output consists of bronze sculptures created since he retired from surgery in 2018.
Iwasiuk (pronounced ee-VAH-syook) is a common Ukrainian surname. Vladimir was born in Eastern Europe in 1905, in a region that is now part of Ukraine. Gösta was born in Austria in 1943, in the midst of World War II. Both men experienced significant upheaval on their journeys to becoming physician-artists. Their artworks often hint at their heritage and history and convey an old-world sensibility. Above all, their work reflects their abiding passion for life. Many pieces portray the people who inspired them most: doctors, musicians, philosophers, and family members.
Gösta wonders whether his skills—both medical and artistic—stem from a gene passed down from his father, or rather from observation and encouragement. While Vladimir had an inclination toward psychology and a talent for portraiture and landscape painting, Gösta has translated his surgical expertise into sculpture that emphasizes dexterity and the human hand. Whether Vladimir and Gösta’s shared traits are a product of nature or nurture remains open to debate, but the father and son prove one thing: art is its own kind of medicine.
Below is a sampling of artworks featured in the exhibition. Click on any image to enlarge.
The 16th Art About Agriculture Exhibition
On view November 15, 2025, to March 8, 2026
Exhibit sponsored by Brokaw Ranch Company
Art About Agriculture was founded in 2007 by Santa Paula photographer John Nichols and painter Gail Pidduck. Growing up on a ranch in Santa Paula and spending her college summers working in Oxnard’s flower fields, Pidduck has long understood how deeply agriculture has shaped both the landscape and way of life in California and Ventura County. She and Nichols organized the first Art About Agriculture exhibit eighteen years ago to promote awareness of agriculture through art—from workers to water, from machinery to fields, to the food that fills our plates.
California is the nation’s leading agricultural state, producing more than 400 commodities and earning roughly $50 billion annually. More than half of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables consumed in the U.S. come from California. Crops thrive here for many of the same reasons artists do: year-round sunshine, fertile soil, and a mostly Mediterranean climate. Yet California agriculture also faces serious challenges, including fewer farms, water scarcity, global competition, and suburban development.
Ventura County has been called Southern California’s “last great agricultural landscape,” the result of deliberate local land-use policies designed to contain urban growth. More than a quarter of the county’s 1.2 million acres is agricultural land, with an estimated annual production value exceeding $2 billion. Ventura County’s top crops—including strawberries, lemons, and avocados—must be harvested by hand, employing more than 40,000 local farm workers whose labor sustains this vital industry.
Art About Agriculture invites you to take a closer look and to think more deeply about the life and land we cultivate.
Below is a sampling of artworks featured in the exhibition. Click on any image to enlarge.
From the Collection: The Santa Paula Portrait Project
On view November 15, 2025, to March 8, 2026
Inspired by Iowa artist Rose Frantzen's acclaimed 2005 series Portrait of Maquoketa, two Santa Paula artists embarked on a similar creative journey in their own hometown, calling it The Santa Paula Portrait Project. Beginning in January 2011, photographer John Nichols and painter Gail Pidduck spent two years creating portraits of people from across the community. Together, they produced more than 60 works, which were first exhibited at the Santa Paula Art Museum in 2013. Since then, the show has traveled to venues both locally and nationally.
Like Frantzen, Nichols and Pidduck sought to democratize portraiture by featuring everyday citizens who might not otherwise commission a portrait. The project encouraged the artists to open their hearts to their neighbors, resulting in a body of work that celebrates both the ordinary and the extraordinary facets of small-town life.
