The Ojai Day poster has a long and rich history, with dozens of accomplished Ojai artists participating in this long standing tradition. We are honored to have Ojai Studio Artist Rex Kochel join their ranks. The vibrant colors of his watercolor City Centerpiece evoke a nostalgia of Ojai Days gone by. is an artist who lives in Ojai, California. His artwork spans over a 30 years, beginning as an instructor at Ventura High School before he retired in 2004. A long time member of both the Buenaventura Art Association and the Santa Barbara Art Association, he was juried into the prestigious Ojai Studio Artists group upon his retirement after 34 years in public education as a classroom instructor and basketball coach. Rex has had his work displayed in Avalon, Catalina Island at C.C. Gallaghers, but has focused most recent work on locations where he has traveled with the new found time as an educator retiree. The works displayed on this web site reflect Rex’s travels in Mexico, Peru, Panama, Argentina, as well as a large amount of time spent painting in San Francisco, California in addition to painting in his home locale of Ventura County, California. Rex’s artwork has evolved continuously since he first took classes in his mid-30′s. Constant has been his strong compositional focus, with his paintings frequently moving towards abstract realism. The characteristic whimsical and lyrical style is a result of Rex’s creative process. Many paintings begin as blind continuous line drawings on location, that are later adjusted and painted in his Ojai studio. Since 2007 his work has included collage and limited acrylic over painting. From his first solo show, entitled ‘Eclectic Explorations’, Rex’s work has been diverse, and will certainly continue to branch off in new directions. It is hoped that you can enjoy the ride as much as he has. Rex’s studio in the beautiful Ojai Valley is open for visits by appointment. Call (80S) 798-2916. He would enjoy showing you his current projects and meeting you. You can view other works by Mr. Kochel at www.kochelart.com
This year's theme for our 27th Ojai Day Mandala is "Trees". In the current state of the world there is not much that is more valuable than our trees and bees. Like last year's homage to bees, the Spherical Honeycomb Mandala, we have divided this year's circle into six. Six large trees rise to the canopy far above to the center of the Mandala. Around the canopy at the top is the Sky World which is bordered by a circle that represents the phases of the moon. Below is the Earth World. Each World has 6 large sections for artists to paint their magical realities. The outer border is the Underground World where, among the tangle of roots, are nestled worms and mushrooms, mice and trolls and all kinds of creatures both real and mythical that will be painted. In between the roots are bright crystal formations forming an overall star pattern. All of Ojai is welcome to join us in making the mandala. Mandala making night is a magical experience. We start out with dozens of people anxious to get started and we finish with a tiny die-hard crew in the middle of the night. We meet at 9pm on Friday night October 18, by the Post Office in downtown. First we scribe the basic design in chalk right in the middle of the street and we use templates to quickly mark areas for the children to paint. Then we plug in artists and painters. Amun Levy will be lighting up the Post Office with his psychedelic projections and Judy Nelson will bring us a coffee break, serving coffee donated by Stacy Guerin of the Coffee Roasting Company. At dawn on Ojai Day morning Brian Nager will be taking a drone shot of the Mandala. Mary Kennedy will have it printed at the Ojai Business Center and by early afternoon this year's prints will be for sale, alongside past years' prints, at our Ojai Day Mandala Artists booth. You can find our booth right by the Mandala, on the Oaks side of the street. Vaughn Montgomery of Greater Goods and Jim Bailey of Rock, Tree, Sky School will be helping us at our booth. Please join us around the Mandala at 10 am on Ojai Day for an opening ceremony with Vaughn and at 10:30 for an opening prayer with Julie Tumamait, our Chumash elder. Our Ojai Day Mandala tradition was originally started as a guerrilla art project to honor the Chumash, the original inhabitants of our valley. It has evolved to honor the land and all people who have, and do, call this valley our home. It has been my pleasure and honor to be a part of this tradition since it's inception and to be at it's helm for many years now. We are looking for a team of apprentices to teach our method to so we may pass this tradition to the next generation. If you are seriously interested in serving our community this way, please contact River Sauvageau at Studio Sauvageau in downtown Ojai. Thank you Ojai. With love, River Sauvageau
Ojai Valley Youth Foundation
Other Activities
Teen Stage
10:00 am Opening Ceremony with Julie Tumemait
MCs: Kyra Maal King and Kaylie Turner
11:00 am Madrigali Singers in the Arcade Tunnel
10:05 am Nordoff Dance
12:00 pm Matilija Junior High School
10:20 am Hadley Julca
2:00 pm
O’Daiko
All Day
Tours of the Jail in Lower Libbey Park
All Day
Free Hayrides at the corner of N. Signal
10:40 am Lily Fields 11:20 am Shannon David 12:00 pm Quinn Davis
and Matilija All Day
Car Show on N. Signal Street
12:25 pm The Senate Children’s Stage
1:00 pm
Lucca Kun
1:30 pm
Beckett McDowell
2:00 pm
Besant Hill School
1:00 pm
BRAVO! Music Education Program
3:00 pm
Kaylie Turner
1:30 pm
OYES Kids
3:45 pm
Kyra Maal King
2:00 pm
Team Sunny Reading
4:00 pm
Johnny Bennett
2:30 pm
Ojai Valley Improv
4:15 pm
Joy Mathebula
3:30 pm
Ojai O’Daiko
4:30 pm
Maggie Sonenshine
4:45 pm
John Geyer
11:30 am Ojai Tae Kwon Do 12:00 pm Story Time with Dads
Schools represented: Nordhoff HS, SBCC, Rock Tree Sky, OVS, Besant Hill, Ventura High, Thacher School, homeschoolers
Visit us on Facebook and ojaiday.com for entertainment updates
Libbey Park Gazebo
Flying Embers
Visit ojaiday.com for programming
Ojai’s Own Stage
provided by NEMA
9:00 am
Dave Cipriani Band
11:00 am
Kerri Climer Band
12:00 pm
” Rockin’ It Old School Seniors Choir” ABBA Tribute
1:00 pm
Danny McGaw and The 33
2:00 pm
The Turner Sisters
3:00 pm
Smitty and Julija
4:00 pm
Ojai Songwriters
Each year since 1991, the city of Ojai has set aside a single day in the month of October to celebrate our valley and community. The Ojai Valley is truly a special place and we are all so lucky to call it home. It takes a team of extraordinary, extra generous, dedicated people, businesses and organizations to make the Ojai Day celebration happen year after year. Ojai Day 2019 is brought to you by our generous sponsors and the wonderful team of zone leaders, zone support staff, stage managers, traffic managers, production specialists, mandala artists, and entertainment groups. They can not be thanked enough for their willingness to serve, making Ojai Day 2019 a success. Their contributions are so greatly valued. Their efforts, dedication, and hard work make Ojai Day the wonderful community event that it is. Thank you to our Ojai Day Team Members for coming out and making Ojai Day a fun and exciting event filled with laughter, music, art, food, and activities.
Ride the Ojai Trolley for FREE on Ojai Day!