It’s Your Life / People, Places and Things to do. : WAYS OF THE CHUMASH : Art Demonstration Wraps Up Program
An ornamental art demonstration Saturday concludes the summer-long Chumash Community Outreach Program sponsored by the Ojai Valley Historical Society and Museum.
Chumash descendant Julie Tumamait is the series instructor. Cultural preservationist Susan Baldwin, formerly of the Smithsonian Institution, reconstructed techniques used by the original inhabitants of Ventura County.
“We wanted kids to relate the workshop to the present, so Julie’s adapted traditional methods for contemporary use,” says society trustee Janice McCormick. “The Chumash didn’t have cars, obviously, but we’re allowing the kids to make things like key chains. The boys will carve Chumash dice because it’s hard to get them to sit down and decorate anything.”
The workshop is open to children in grades 7 through 12. Aside from seeing the ornamental art, they will study natural resources through the eyes of the ancient Chumash, California’s original environmentalists. Sponsors hope this will help create a future generation concerned with preserving and respecting nature.
The series celebrates the museum’s move to St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel.
* Cost of the workshop is $12 for museum members, $15 for non-members; Ojai Valley Historical Society and Museum, 130 W. Ojai Ave.; 646-0445
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