THOUSAND OAKS : Art Guild Donates to Plaza Exhibition Plan

Giving a fledgling Thousand Oaks art group a welcome push, the Westlake Village Art Guild is donating $4,500 to help bring major art exhibits to the Civic Arts Plaza.

Marta Timm, head of the Civic Arts Plaza Visual Arts Committee, said the group intends to use the money to install an exhibition-quality hanging system in the building.

They hope to use the expansive walls and airy hallways of the Civic Arts Plaza to attract traveling exhibits of painting and sculpture.

“These will be really high-quality artworks,” Timm said. “I see these as being like masters-of-tomorrow shows.”

The donation from the art guild is both a step in the right direction and a vote of confidence in the visual arts committee’s future, Timm said. She has taken several prospective donors to see the building, she said, but it has not been easy persuading them of the arts plaza’s potential as an exhibition space.

“It’s kind of like trying to sell someone milk who has never had it,” Timm said.

But the art guild responded. “They were really enthusiastic,” Timm said, adding that she hopes to have the hanging devices installed within the next two months and that the group is aiming to stage its first show in mid-September.