Ojai, CA

The Spirit of Art Among the Trees

Is it possible to seek perfection and find it? An hour and a half north of Los Angeles lies Ojai, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Los Padres National Forest, thick chaparral, and scrub oak.

Ojai, home to 7,862 residents, was known as Shangri-La in the film Lost Horizon and is one of the world’s exceptional places. One can amble away a morning or afternoon cruising art galleries, sipping a cup of café mocha at the local coffee hangout, hiking in the hills surrounding town, visiting the Ojai Valley Historical Museum housed in the old St. Thomas Chapel, or simply enjoying a lazy sit in the park under a huge live oak tree.

The Ojai Valley is a haven for artists from all over the world and boasts a seasonal highlight each October when residents put on the annual Ojai Studio Artist’s Tour, attended by thousands of art lovers and residents.

Among the favorites is the Beatrice Wood Studio, located in the upper Ojai Valley. Wood created her celebrated artwork here until three years ago when she passed away at 105. “Beato described her art as sophisticated primitive,” says Martin Gewirtz, director of the Beatrice Wood Studio. “You walk through the front door and see the beautiful pink walls, her favorite color. Then tour the art gallery and her workroom-studio. Beato held court and received her visitors here,” comments Gewirtz. The studio opened in May 2000 with more than 1,000 visitors.

“It is the dream of the estate to establish a culture center here. Wood didn’t want a museum but would have loved to have visiting artists,” says Gewirtz. “We have a gallery next door for that purpose.”

Gewirtz marvels at the balance of people within the area: “Ojai is a wonderful eclectic mix. You have the artistic types, the spiritual types, business people, Hollywood types, and fundamentalists.”

Otto Heino, born in Finland and educated at the University of Southern California, found his way out West in 1952 and has made Ojai his home for 30 years. Heino, a full-time potter, keeps two wood kilns, two gas kilns, and a salt-glaze kiln busy year-round, shipping roughly 2,000 pieces of art around the world annually.

Heino’s studio is in the hills, at a 1,200-foot elevation. “Where I am is quiet, a perfect place to create,” he says. “There is a nice spirit to this town.”

In the foothills overlooking the national forest, at the Studio of the Hills, is The Walk—created by Zubin and Shahastra, two inventive Ojai artists. “The walk came from an inspiration to go into the woods behind our home on 18 acres,” says Zubin. “No one had gone in them for 30 years because of the thick chaparral.”

And Zubin didn’t stop for six months, not until he completed The Walk and the contemplation stations, an interactive self-discovery experience. “People ask questions and go through a process to receive answers. It is similar to a labyrinth but with content,” Zubin offers. “You have to interact with yourself, art, and nature. The Walk has deeply touched people.

“There are certain towns in this country that attract artists, certain places that artists seem to go where it is open to their expression,” he says. “Ojai is a wonderful mix of a variety of people who are fortunate to live in a community surrounded by mountains, streams, where people are open and friendly.”

Like a true art colony, there is always something happening in the arts in Ojai. In addition to regular performances at the Ojai Center for the Arts, art studios line Bryant Street; and if you drop in at the bookstore on Thursday evenings you might catch a poetry reading. Grab another cup of café mocha and relax.

As the night sky descends on the quietude and beauty of the Ojai Valley, it is a sure bet most visitors will return to Ojai. The real difficulty is in leaving.

Judith Stock is a freelance writer from Granada Hills, Calif.

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