Tucked away at the foot of the Topatopa mountains is one of Ventura County’s hidden gems – the Santa Paul Art Museum.
Founded by the Chumash Indians and known for its citrus fruits and fields of avocados, Santa Paula isn’t a place that most people would think to look for an abstract painter or contemporary artist.
I had stumbled upon them by accident when my family and I went exploring Santa Paula looking for new restaurants to try. I was stunned to find that Santa Paula’s Art Museum has one of the most beautiful collections of art.
Like many museums and galleries, they have recently started showcasing their contemporary art online in a virtual exhibit. Now collectors can view work from Duane Dammeyer and Rima Muna – two artists who find inspiration from the world around them.
Years ago, after their art was placed alongside one another in a local exhibit, both artists discovered they shared strikingly similar influences in their body of work. From the shapes and colors, they see while hiking to the world they see while traveling, their artwork seemed to go hand in hand with one another.
They began to explore questions such as, “What inspires an artist to create?” and “What influences the final style, shape, or color of what is created? Dammeyer and Muna agreed to partner together to create a dual exhibition to explore these type of questions.
As an abstract painter, Muna, has developed a series of large scale works that are inspired by other abstract expressionists and the emotional immediacy of their paintings.
Dammeyer found lifelong inspiration from Michelangelo’s intricate stone carvings during a trip to Italy. Although he didn’t start carving stone immediately, he eventually began creating his own stone master pieces.
