Eubanks family gives Western art to CLU

Exhibit will also feature works from Reagan Library

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Western art donated to CLU by Bob Eubanks and his family is on display in the Rolland Gallery.

Photo: Brian Stethem

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – May 30, 2012) Former game show host Bob Eubanks and his family have donated more than $170,000 in Western art to California Lutheran University, and it will be displayed in an upcoming exhibit.

“Western Salon,” which will also include works from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum collection, will be on exhibit from Saturday, June 16, through Saturday, Sept. 15, in CLU’s William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art. The paintings will be hung salon-style, closely next to and atop one another, and a series of informal salon gatherings will celebrate the exhibit.

The show will feature the four bronze sculptures and 26 acrylic and oil-on-canvas paintings, pencil drawings and fine art prints that the Eubanks family donated to CLU. Eubanks connected with the university through his friend Rick Lemmo, a CLU regent. The collection includes works by sculptor Herb Mignery and painters Martin Grelle and Donald Putman.

The Reagan Library is loaning 41 paintings and sculptures for the exhibit. The former president enjoyed Western art. This is the first time this collection, which includes sculptures by Dante V. de Florio and Pierre Jules Mene and an oil painting of John Wayne by Jerry Venditti, will be displayed together.

Eubanks, a Westlake Village resident and motivational speaker, and Andrew Wulf, curator of the Reagan Library, will speak at the opening night reception slated from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 16.

From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 28, Eubanks will discuss his varied career, touch on his friendships with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, and answer questions during “An Afternoon with Bob Eubanks” in the Lundring Events Center at CLU.

Wulf will discuss the exhibit’s art during a “Tea and Talk” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 14, in the Rolland Gallery. “Variations,” featuring classic Western theme songs played and discussed by Armenian-born master pianist Mikael Oganes, will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, in the gallery.

Eubanks, who started out as a DJ at an Oxnard station, hasn’t just been the host of “The Newlywed Game,” an artist manager, concert promoter and television producer.

The 74-year-old is also a cowboy. He owned a working cattle ranch in Santa Ynez, and his family enjoyed roping and riding. Eubanks participated in rodeos and became a gold card member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He amassed a collection of Western art, and the prestigious Peppertree Art Show was held at his family’s ranch for 33 years, first hosted by Irma Eubanks and then by their son Trace Eubanks after she passed away.

The gallery is inside the William Rolland Stadium on the north side of Olsen Road between Campus Drive and Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus. It is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, and by appointment. Admission to the gallery and all events is free. No reservations are necessary. For more information, contact curator Jeff Phillips at 805-493-3697.

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