A Conversation with Margaret Garcia
A Conversation with Margaret Garcia
Sunday, February 15, 3:00 – 4:30
“I define Chicano art by creating it,” Garcia states. The Los Angeles native began her career as a muralist, involved in the murals that swept through the 1984 Olympics. Identified as one of 24 artists who have had an impact on LA Art , Garcia’s work consists of oil paintings saturated with a wildly expressive palette. Flat compositional space is firmly rooted is the tradition of Mexican folk art. Her paintings are in the collections of LACMA , the Laguna Art Museum and the personal collection of Cheech Marin. For more information, visit www.margaretgarciastudio.com
Sponsored by: Margaret Nielsen & Michael Reichert
AfterGLOW Host(s): Vita Art Center
FOTM is thrilled to be partnering with
NAMBA Performing Arts Space
for the 2026 Artist Spotlight Series.
Venue Location
Namba Performing Arts Space
47 S Oak St, Ventura, CA 93001
Ticket Pricing
$20 for general public
$15 for seniors
FREE to FOTM Members
AfterGLOW Fundraiser
$40 FOTM Members
$50 Non-Members
Maps/directions provided to paid guests at Spotlight Talk.
A Note to Educators & Students
Artist Spotlights are open to students attending as a class assignment free of charge. Reservations required.
Please call (805) 653-2601
Season Production Sponsors:
Scott Miles - The Scientific Photographer
Dee Finning - Virgin Moon
David & Reesha Tuomi
Passion Flowers
2026 Spotlight Artists
A Conversation with Joe Adams
A Conversation with Joe Adams
Sunday, April 19. 3 – 4:30
Whether an underwater sculpture of stone, a pair of metal fins diving into a concrete sea, or an other-worldly being captured in graphite and scrolled onto a wall, Joe Adams’s talent promises to deliver lyrical, stunning, and breath-taking art. Joe’s artistry glides through a fantastic array of mediums including stone, photography, metal, tile, oil paint, graphite, and graphic design. Also having designed for theater and production, Joe has chosen to distill our shared surroundings and atmosphere into their own unique entities and design. The beauty in his art begs us to consider the majesty in nature and calls on us to recognize our significance as stewards in our planet’s wellbeing. A member on the board of directors for the Friends of Hopkins, and a member of the Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Joe is a friendly, inviting, non-suspect arts activist of the most cunning degree. His artwork, in multivarious forms, may be found all over California and across the United States. Learn more at www.JoeAdamsArt.com
Sponsored by: Richard & Yvette Franklin
AfterGLOW Host(s): Larry Manson & Delia Gorey
A Conversation with Lori Cozen-Geller
A Conversation with Lori Cozen-Geller
Sunday, June 7. 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Lori Cozen-Geller is a minimalist sculptor working in metal, wood and fiberglass, overlaid with automotive paint. The artist creates geometric shapes that stand alone and as wall sculptures with cutout shapes. The incised pieces create an interplay between positive and negative space. Cozen-Geller’s career as an artist was born from the intense grief of the loss of her father. The work is driven by emotion and intuition. She explains her process as “a journey that begins with a feeling” and develops into a piece of art by “…freezing emotions and placing them into concrete form.” The work is highly crafted and reminiscent of the Finish Fetish School utilizing high gloss surfaces. “Although my art is an expression of my own personal feelings, these emotions are universal to all mankind. Human beings share the same emotional palette even though each of us has a differing set of life circumstances.
To learn more about Lori, visit www.LoriCozenGeller.com.
Sponsor(s): James & Mary Galbraith
AfterGLOW Host(s): Teri Willison
A Conversation with Bruce Freeman
A Conversation with Bruce Freeman
Sunday, August 30 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Most recently recognized for the wine label he created, Clos des Amis, Bruce Freeman’s exceptional wine producing capabilities are the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to creativity and artistic expression. A true local of Ventura, Bruce’s artistry is emblematic of the nuances that make his home distinctive in multitudinous ways. His mark as an artist on Ventura was already taking form in 1976 when he and Bill Murphy founded an art gallery and organized exhibits. Since then, he’s designed and fabricated Ventura Museum exhibits and taught at the former Brookes Institute and Ventura College. A celebration of the land and sky and sea, Bruce’s prints, artwork, and designs reflect the sincerity with which he observes, appreciates, and emulates precisely where he is and what he is doing and honors the viewer with an invitation to do the same. Learn more at www.closdesamis.com
Sponsored by: Richard & Yvette Franklin
AfterGLOW Host(s): Larry Manson & Delia Gorey
