Ray Strong at Historical Museum

In your introduction to the cover story on the Channel Islands and Frederick Caire Childs’s new book on their history, you mention the upcoming events throughout Santa Barbara to pay homage to Ray Strong, a towering figure on the local art scene for many years. You neglected to mention, however, that the Santa Barbara Historical Museum will also mount an exhibition of Ray’s work, including 15 major paintings of Santa Barbara County.

The exhibition opens June 4. In addition, on June 11 the Historical Museum will present a program about Strong; speakers will include Arturo Tello, cofounder with Ray of the OAK Group; Michael Drury, Ray’s “adopted painter son”; Marlene Miller, whose Arlington Gallery represented the artist for many years; and Jeremy Tessmer, editor of the upcoming Ray Strong publication.