Ojai Collects the Holidays
At Ojai Valley Museum
Just when you think Ojai has run out of creative ways to reveal its collective psyche, the Ojai Valley Museum throws open its doors and says, “Hold my eggnog.”
This Friday, November 21, from 5 to 7 PM, the museum debuts Ojai Collects the Holidays, a new exhibition showcasing twenty-four collections from Valley residents, each one tied to a holiday, whether traditional, obscure, or invented. Admission is free all day (10 AM to 7 PM), and the show runs through January 4.
On the surface, it’s a classic OVM ‘Ojai Collects’ show: curated personal obsessions, meticulously assembled, displayed like miniature shrines to the human urge to gather things that spark joy. But there’s something different pulsing underneath this one, a warmth, a weirdness, a kind of emotional charge that hits harder than expected.
And if you walk through the gallery this weekend, you’ll feel it: this isn’t really an exhibition about holidays. It’s an exhibition about people, and, by extension, about Ojai itself. Because the longer you stand in the room, the more the whole thing reveals itself as a portrait of the Valley: Ojai is Ojai because of its people.
The 24 Collectors:
Richard and Susan Amend
Fern Barishman
Eva, Sadie, and Briana Bebee
Brian Berman
Lucy Belllwood
Robert Davis, Jr.
Bernadette DiPietro
JoEllen Depakakibo
Joel Fox
The Ojai Valley Green Coalition
Jody James
Jennifer Jordan Day
Kristin Laursen
Andrea Manning
Lin Meyer
Jack Nesbitt and John Patterson
Kathy Nolan
Christopher Noxon
Jennie Prebor
Joe Rockwell
Darlene Russell
Jamie Stratford
Joann Yabrof
Kendra Yoes
Support VORTEX
Most of our stories live behind the OLO members-only paywall. Memberships help keep this project alive, but they only cover the basics.
If you’re a local business, sponsoring a story is the most direct way to reach our readers while supporting independent coverage in Ojai. You can choose to sponsor this story and bring it in front of the paywall, or back future stories that matter to you.
We don’t have a sales team chasing sponsors — so if you value VORTEX, now’s the time to step up.
