This month, we present: PAT RICHARDS:

Q. When did you fall in love with the arts?
P.R.: The arts have always been part of my life, in one form or the other. I just remember the pure joy of the first day of school and getting a brand new box of crayons...

Q. Who and What inspires you?
P.R.: What inspires me? God's blessing, courage, small children singing Away in the Manger, a piano concerto, a congregation singing Amazing Grace, seeing the works of the great masters of art in person, a wonderful book, any chapter of the Bible, my son's sermons, the change of the tides, dolphins surfing the Rincon, the hills surrounding CSUCI at dusk, my peers at SCIART who continue to amaze with their talents and creativity, sunsets and sunrises, the change of seasons, children playing in the surf, especially my own grandchildren, trees, good friends and love.

Q. What has been your favorite museum exhibition?
P.R.: The Van Gogh exhibit in Amsterdam and at the Kroller- Muller Museum in 1990.

Q. What is your first museum memory?
P.R.: I grew up in Pasadena so I suppose it was the Huntington Museum but I was most impressed with the mummies in a museum in San Francisco at a very early age. Going to museums was just part of our lives.

Q. What are your earliest memories of art?
P.R.: My first memory of art is about drawing horses and illustrating my own stories (usually about a horse or a dog).

Q. What, if anything, are you currently obsessed with?
P.R.: I am devoted to my family. I have three sons, Dr. Rick, a dentist and fellow Rotarian; Scott, a pastor in Tucson; and Erik, a musician, who lives in Camarillo. I am blessed with two beautiful and talented daughters-in-law, Pam and Dolly. I have four grandchildren; Kaya, Sean, Alexis and Sara. All have been subjects of my paintings.

Q. Where were you born?
P.R.: I was born in Globe, Arizona. I lived on the San Carlos Indian Reservation until I was two when my father had the good sense to move his family to Santa Monica, CA. Thank you, Dad.

Q. What is your favorite amusement park ride?
P.R.: Hands down, Mr. Toads Wild Ride. The Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty cool, too...no, wait - The Matterhorn. Oh, I give up! Disneyland in the 1950's was just too fabulous.

Q. Schooling?
P.R.: I think I was a drop-out of nursery school. I hated it and pitched such a fit that my mother came and picked me up and that was that. I went to Altadena Grammar School, Eliot Jr. High in Altadena and then we moved back to Santa Monica where I attended Lincoln Jr. High and Santa Monica High. SaMoHi had a fabulous art department; with classes in painting, drawing, design, ceramics, life drawing, etc. I recieved a scholarship to Chouinard Art Institute when I was 16 and studied life drawing there one summer. I later attended the University of Washington, majoring in Fine Art, with a minor
in English. After many years of raising my family, I returned to school at Ventura Community College. I studied with GERD KOCH, MARY MICHEL, and HIROKO YOSHIMOTO for over 10 years.

Q. What are you currently reading?
P.R.: I recently finished a re-read of The Great Gatsby and The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. Some of my favorites include On Mexican Time; From Paris to the Moon ; War & Remembrance, The Secret Life of Bees and most of Barbara Kingsolvers early works. Currently I am reading the books of Isaiah and Ecclesiastes. A trip to Barnes & Noble or the Book Worm is almost as much fum as going to Graphaids for new art supplies!

Q. Until quite recently you daily donned another hat - that of a banker. What now?
P.R.: Now that I am retired from banking, I can enjoy my wonderful studio and my work. My first solo-exhibition in years, New Perspectives: Through My Mind's Eye, was featured in the Gerd Koch Gallery [here at SCIART concurrent with the Camarillo Art & Jazz Festival and ended on September 2nd.] I am exploring some new ideas and will be working towards other exhibits next year. In the meantime, it is time to just let the paint flow and see where it takes me.


SCIART would like to add that PAT RICHARDS is one of our key founders and without her vision and commitment we couldn't have developed into the exciting community art center that we are today. Our tradition of giving an annual art scholarship to a student of CSUCI was officially renamed, in 2004, to the Pat Richard's Scholarship for the Arts. We are currently seeking to make the scholarship fund an endowment. For more information on how to participate in the creation of this endowment, please contact Michele DePuy Leavitt at T. (805) 383-1368 or by email at michelesciart@earthlink.net.


Pat Richards with Sam Hunter, 2004 Scholarship Recipient.
It should be noted that Sam Hunter has gone on to be the focus of the Ventura Art Walk, has curated exhibitions and has had her work shown in several museum venues.