VENTURA : Students Refurbish Display at Capitol

Thirty-five Ventura College students are sprucing up Ventura County’s aging window exhibit at the state capitol building in Sacramento.

“It definitely needs help,” instructor Jim Graca said of the outdated exhibit, which depicts historical highlights of Ventura County. The county’s photographs are displayed at the capitol along with exhibits from the state’s 57 other counties.

“It’s one of the poorest displays in the capitol building,” Graca said.

Working with a budget of $2,000 from the Ventura County Parks and Harbor Foundation, the students hope to renovate the current display, which has been neglected for nearly 15 years. The nonprofit foundation supplements funding for the county’s parks and harbors.

The new exhibit, which will be completed in January, will combine photographs and artifacts that illustrate the county’s past and present, Garcia said. For example, the exhibit may use centuries-old Chumash Indian artifacts coupled with memorabilia from the new Reagan Library, Graca said.

“It’s got to encompass where we’ve been, but also where we are going,” Graca said.

Students in advertising design and photography who are planning the new exhibit will get academic credit, Graca said. A professional designer could charge as much as $10,000 for the same services, he said.