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Ventura draws entrepreneur to city arts scene
Consultant is called 'notable addition' here
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Photos by Chuck Kirman / Star staff Renowned art consultant Sylvia White is setting up shop in Ventura. Her newly renovated 5,000-square-foot building on East Main Street will be the home to her consulting business, Contemporary Artists' Services, as well as the Sylvia White Gallery. Top, White talks with artist-designer Anne Crosse, left.
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More from Local NewsTo skeptics of Ventura's bold self-promotion as California's "New Art City," meet Sylvia White.
Urbane and articulate, White has forged a reputation in the art world as one of the country's leading career consultants, working with thousands of artists and arranging exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world, including Japan, Austria, Korea, Spain and the Netherlands.
White caused a flurry of excitement when she decided to relocate her business and gallery from Santa Monica to Ventura, committing to bring museum-quality work to Ventura County.
Her newly renovated 5,000-square-foot building on East Main Street will be the permanent home to her consulting business, Contemporary Artists' Services, and the Sylvia White Gallery, which hosts its first artist reception Saturday.
Art proponents say White's arrival, with her Rolodex of established artists and big-money collectors in tow, could further validate Ventura's vision of becoming a cultural arts destination.
"She's a notable addition," said Bill Lasarow, veteran publisher of ArtScene, which chronicles the arts scene in Southern California. "She is very credible and serious about her art."
Her consulting expertise, he said, could feed the quality of art coming out of Ventura, known for having a plethora of capable artists, but as a little fish in the nation's and West's arts pond.
"I think she is capable of making a difference there," he said, "and if she inspires some of her local peers in the right way, it could have a multiplying effect."
Since Ventura launched its "New Art City" motto in 2005, pledging to "weave art into everyday life," the city has gradually earned a reputation as an interesting cultural environment and destination, drawing new art entrepreneurs, audiences and important "cultural tourists" whose spending helps sustain local art producers and feeds city coffers. Revenues from city bed taxes, downtown eateries and boutique shops last year provided a boost to the city's flattening property- and overall sales-tax receipts.
While one gallery doesn't make a community, White's addition should burnish Ventura's national identity.
"We feel incredibly lucky Sylvia is taking a chance on Ventura," said Elena Brokaw, Ventura's cultural arts director, saying her fine-art gallery would complement the city's existing gallery collection and help fill a long-established need for more space. "Sylvia comes with so much knowledge."
To White and her husband, John, a respected performance artist and retired professor, Ventura was a perfect fit.
The couple first eyed their spacious building, with its brick walls and bowstring-truss roof, two years ago, a walkthrough "that literally took my breath away," White said. At the time, she never could have predicted an unfolding of events, including the serendipitous turn that made the couple the proud owners of a Ventura carwash.
The couple, who live in the hillside Malibou Lake area outside Calabasas, could have relocated the gallery elsewhere, but in Ventura, White said she saw something special, a community that shared her same core values.
"I thought it was really wonderful the city was bending over backwards to help artists," a group "usually viewed as the lowest part of the food chain," she said. "That deep respect for artists, the environment and history, that's not something you can find in Santa Monica or Culver City or even New York."
White is committed to bringing museum-quality work to her gallery, fine art likely to fetch five figures and up. In an interview, she jokingly accepted she "probably won't make any money." But that has never been the point. She easily could have slid into retirement, but the gallery presented a chance to put a spotlight on worthy artists and share her expertise and art appreciation in a town with similar sensibilities, and perhaps even have some fun. White credits Kerry Adams Hapner, a former city cultural affairs official, with opening her eyes to Ventura, initiating important introductions and bringing her back as a guest lecturer.
"Sylvia is making a real commitment to Ventura, and the caliber of what she is doing is terrific," said Josh Addison, founder of the Bell Arts Factory, a bustling community arts center and artists' studios converted from an old mattress factory on Ventura Avenue.
It was during walking tours of Ventura Avenue with Addison that White and her husband spied and later bought an aging carwash with the intention of renovating it into artists' live-work space. She even spent $10,000 on designs. She backed off after spending time at the carwash and finding it not only profitable, but also adorable. She fixed it up by adding art and renaming it the Gallery Car Wash.
"We realized we couldn't tear it down; there are people who rely on it," she said, breaking into laughter and describing its loyal customers as residents of "that friendly small town people always dream about."
During a recent trip to New York City for its annual Art Fair, White was peppered with the same question: "Why Ventura?"
"I must have answered it 100 times," she said. By the end of the show, people were joking she should receive recognition as Ventura's new arts ambassador.
"I'm ready to give back," she said, acknowledging she was closing in on 60. "Here's my chance. But the truth is, I know I am going to gain as much as I give. I know that in my heart."
Posted by VivaVentucky on July 4, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A very interesting story, for sure, but why did the writer leave out the location of Ms. White's newly renovated building? The writer mentions that it is on the part of Main Street that is known as "East". Thats great, now we know which few hundreds of yards the place isn't, that is, the small commercial strip on West Main. But doesn't the Star think that anyone from Ventura reading this story would like to know if the business is in Mid-town, down town or out by the mall? Mentioning the location would deepen one's understanding of the story being told here. It would really be interesting if the business is in Mid-town. One would assume the business is in down town, but since downtown is such a rich and active place, telling us which block it is on would make lots of sense. Or better yet, list the actual address, so perhaps someone could call a friend and arrange to meet at an interesting event mentioned in the paper and have a complete grasp of it's location. I wonder if mentioning the actual address is somehow against editorial policy, but I know that giving a general idea of the district the business is in (as opposed to this reader making an assumption) is good reporting. What were those 5 W's again?
Posted by VivaVentucky on July 4, 2008 at 10:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Plus, the caption on the photo is wrong.
Posted by VivaVentucky on July 4, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And while I am complaining.... I wish the captions on the photos did not start with the photo credits. Perhaps use a different font for the credits, or use parenthesis or some other punctuation (a period!) to differentiate the credit from the caption, or have an empty line between the credits and the caption, or have the credit appear after the caption. As it is, it is awkward.
Posted by scott on July 4, 2008 at 2:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
she will leave when she realize she move to ventucky , not some weathly community say santa barbara
Posted by ArtAdvice on July 4, 2008 at 8:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The address of the gallery was listed in the paper edition, but was omitted for some reason from the web edition. The public is invited to the opening reception Saturday, July 5, 2-5 pm. The Gallery is located in mid town, at 1783 East Main Street. For more information, please call 805 643 8300 or visit the gallery website www.sylviawhite.com
Posted by dragstripgirl on July 8, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The building is next to Scratch the Surface Tattoo on Main street and Pacific.
Posted by kristinppl on July 10, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't understand what Sylvia White is doing for the artists of Ventura??? She has a form email that tells any artist that contacts her that they need to pay her 1200 a month. Is she joking? As a artist I have been promised many times by agents and find out they are broke or coning me. I hope she is the real thing but asking for 1200 a month up front made a lot of people laugh.
Posted by scott on July 10, 2008 at 10:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
some opening from the look of things there were like 20 people there. And the LAites that could not find the valet parking just kept driving there benz around the block it was hilarious. oh there was no valet. lmao
Posted by Carl on July 12, 2008 at 1:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Raising the bar with a high caliber gallery such Sylvia White's will tremendously help local artists. Ventura's local art scene is strong, and what is missing is a gallery that reaches beyond the city/county borders and attracts artists and collectors to Ventura. Importing art is as valuable as exporting it on many levels. The more eyes on Ventura, the better it is for the whole art community.
Posted by ArtAdvice on July 14, 2008 at 6:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Dear Scott, in fact, there were over 500 people who attended the opening reception. I was thrilled with the warm response and enthusiasm Ventura has extended.
Posted by ArtAdvice on July 14, 2008 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Dear Kristin, Contemporary Artists' Services is a separate business from the gallery. We offer career assistance for visual artists who can afford our services. We also offer free services and a number of free resources on our website www.artadvice.com
Posted by SMLewis on October 13, 2008 at 12:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As a well known East Coast artist I wanted to take a moment to congratulate Silvia
White on the opening of her new gallery. There was once a gallery in the downtown L A area that
I showed at because of what they were doing for the area. It was run by a young
art couple that work hard to bring art to the area. As an established artist I took a risk by joining
them for a year. Silvia's dedication to art occupies a very different but still similar place. In the
world of art, Silvia is a high end professional. Based on the photos and descriptions of
her gallery she clearly brings a great thing to the area. In Plantation Florida there is another unsung hero of art -- Max Schacknow.
He spent a fortune to build the SMOFA museum in Florida dedicated to the visual arts. While quite different
from Silvia's Gallery this museum is also a wonderful gift to his community and the arts. And then there is
the gallery that represents my work in New York City, the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery. This gallery is also
founded by another heroine of the arts -- Ruthie Tucker and the Ambassador Alton Louis Amsterdam III.
While each of these people are quite different -- they all share a common destiny. Each bring fine art to a
community and do it because they have no other choice. They love art and the idea of bringing its light to the
communities they have chosen to grace. For all of them art is not just an occupation but an avocation that demands
and drives them to provide these wonderful venues for those of us that are driven to create fine art
and our patrons who are driven to visit that art.
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