Book Club: Thought Forms by Annie Besant & C. W. Leadbeater Saturday, May 7, 2022

Book Club: Thought Forms by Annie Besant & C. W. Leadbeater
Saturday, May 7, 3:00 pm, reception to follow at 5:00 pm

Join us for a short symposium exploring the book Thought Forms and related ideas around consciousness and the history of Ojai with Rosha Yaghmai and invited special guests. You are encouraged to read along with us these next few weeks and arrive ready to discuss the book on May 7th. Books may be purchased locally at Barts Books, or at your local bookstore.

The symposium will conclude with a closing reception for the exhibition.

Please note time change to 3:00 pm.

Thought Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation is a seminal occult book compiled by the leaders of the Theosophical Society, Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater. It was originally published in 1905 in London. According to the teachings of Theosophy, thoughts and emotions create distinctive patterns of color and form in the human aura—visible only to those who are gifted with a sufficient degree of clairvoyance and can see beyond our normal perceptions. Besant and Leadbeater dictated their clairvoyant “thought-forms” to a group of friends who then created the 58 magnificent illustrations contained in the book. This book was a major influence on the artists Hilma Af Klint and Wassily Kandinsky among many others but has long been overlooked as a foundational pillar in art history.
Image: Artwork plate from Thought Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation, Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater

On Heidi Bucher, Saturday, April 23, 2022

On Heidi Bucher
Saturday, April 23, 5:00 pm

Join us for a conversation with Rosha Yaghmai as we discuss her interest in the work of Heidi Bucher. The Swiss avant-garde artist Heidi Bucher (1926-1993, born Adelheid Hildegard Müller) distinguished herself particularly through her legendary “mouldings”, focussing and exploring the architectural space and the body through sculpture. It is a transformative and poetic work, that deals primarily with private spaces and belongings, architectural fragments from mostly the 19th century, feminism, domestication and the individual or collective experiences and memory.

We will be referencing the Heidi Bucher symposium produced by Haus der Kunst on the occasion of the retrospective Heidi Bucher. Metamorphoses with The Estate of Heidi Bucher. Watch the previously recorded symposium online.

Image: Heidi Bucher, Untitled, 1991, December, Postcard collage, 16,7 x 14,8cm, Copyright 2021 The Estate of Heidi Bucher.

Year One: Ojai Institute Family Art Experience Kit – free download

Introducing the Ojai Institute Family Art Experience Kit!

We are pleased to share this new effort to continue to provide free art experiences during these unprecedented times. Learn things, get free stuff, dream big.

Visit the exhibition,
interpret the constitution,
be a mail activist,
go on a poster scavenger hunt,
and for extra credit, draw a map…

Each individual or family receives free merch each time they complete a project! Free buttons, stickers, posters, yard signs and t-shirts!

Please click here to download PDF.

Cole M James: 3 Movements, Student Workshop: February 29, 2020

Ojai Institute Presents Books That Breathe: Non Linear Storytelling

Free Student Workshop with Cole M James, Artist in Residence

Location: Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation, 248 South Montgomery Street, Ojai

  • Saturday, February 29, 2020, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

 

Students of all ages are invited to attend a free workshop with Cole M James, Ojai Institute Artist in Residence. Students will have the opportunity to tour the art exhibition Cole M James: 3 Movements, meet the artist, and participate in a book making workshop. Lunch and all materials will be provided.

Our memory has the amazing ability to collapse and expand time. Books That Breathe is a design based workshop. We write or draw memories or information on sheets of paper that are folded and combined into collapsible and expandable books.

The work of Cole M James is that of a negotiator, navigating the African Diaspora, circling the expanse of queerness and fumbling through womanhood. James’ interdisciplinary work explores the intersections between digital production and the analog collections of lived experiences. James was born in Chicago and raised in Moreno Valley, California. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Cal State San Bernardino and Masters in Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate University. James currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

With 3 Movements, the artist is inviting the viewer on a personal diaspora journey, with moments of reflection, and a closing event that offers the viewer resources to pursue their own journey. The inherent generosity of this project explores being comfortable or mindfully uncomfortable in the unknowing of one’s cultural heritage. 3 Movements has been informed by the artist’s recent time spent this past summer in Ghana, and an ongoing exploration of cross cultural ethnomedicinal knowledge especially as to how it relates to the female body.

To register please contact:

Frederick Janka, Executive Director, [email protected] or 646.334.1006

Cole M James: 3 Movements, Special Guest: Sade Musa: Saturday, February 22, 2020

Ojai Institute
Cole M James: 3 Movements
Special Guest: Sade Musa

Saturday, February 22, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation
248 South Montgomery Street, Ojai

Sade Musa is an herbalist, wellness educator, and activist. She founded Roots of Resistance (@rootsofresistance) — a project which aims to reconnect people with their ancestral healing practices and address health disparities and other forms of injustice impacting marginalized communities. 

2019 Annual Student Artist Exhibition: October 12 – November 2, 2019

Please join us as we celebrate our student artists!

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 12, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. Gallery will remain open until 5:00 pm.

Gallery Hours during the exhibition:

Saturday, October 12: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday, October 24: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday, October 25: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday, October 26: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday, October 31: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm – Costumes encouraged! Candy for kids!
Friday, November 1: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday, November 2: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

And by appointment. Please contact Frederick Janka, Executive Director, [email protected], 646.334.1006