Volunteer Museum

A host of newspaper articles recently about happenings in Thousand Oaks that are prompted by the advent of the new Civic Arts Plaza, urges me to speak out against misinformation that gives rise to erroneous conclusions.

The Conejo Valley Art Museum is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1978 by approximately 20 educators, business persons and artists, to promote the talents of our artists and to present to the community the contributions being made to the visual arts in our time. It is not city-owned, operated or supported in any manner by the city. It is still an organization operated by volunteers, headed by the volunteer president, Maria Dessornes.

It is true that the Conejo Valley Art Museum is now actively searching for a permanent location, but not because our city leaders or the construction of the Civic Arts Plaza fostered it. It is because a private collector--a friend and past board member--has promised to donate his extensive collection of art, valued at more than $5 million, to the museum once the museum has a permanent home.

And lastly, I do not believe that the Conejo Valley Art Museum has ever stated that it is “tired of having its works hidden in a corner of the Janss Mall, where there is little foot traffic,” as you reported Aug. 14. On the contrary, the museum owes considerable gratitude to the Janss family for its generosity over the years in supporting the work of the museum and providing a rent-free space for the museum.

I do hope that this will help to avoid erroneous conclusions that people might have because of the flurry of activity that seems to have excited some imaginations.

W. RAYMOND DION

Thousand Oaks

W. Raymond Dion is director of development for the Conejo Valley Art Museum.