Ventura College Drama Professor, Edwin Hugh Barron,

Leaves His Estate to Studio Channel Islands Art Center!

Studio Channel Islands Art Center (SCIART) is the fortunate recipient of the Edwin Hugh Barron estate. Mr. Barron, known as "Eddy", was a professor of drama at Ventura College from 1971 to 1991 and passed away on August 27, 2007. It has recently been disclosed that the estate amounts to a figure close to $90,000. This generous gift has been named the Eddy Barron Endowment.

Gerd Koch, a SCIART co-founder, was sited as a key reason for the Endowment. Gerd, an active arts advocate, was a full time professor in the art department of Ventura College from 1967 to 1995 and led European art tours for SCIART. Eddy Barron went on two of these tours. Gerd made quite an impact. Gerd Koch continues to support SCIART and once again made history for the Art Center when he curated a stellar exhibition celebrating it's 10th anniversary, Celebration SCIART, which ran from July to September last year.

Eddy Barron was a Shakespearian actor when he joined the faculty of San Jose State's theater department in 1964 where he went on to earn a Master of Arts degree. He was employed by Ventura College in 1971, and taught drama courses while directing and producing various plays for 20 years. He was accepted to the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar in 1983, and pursued study with performances in Ireland under a similar program for several years.

Among his many plays were: Ring Around the Moon, Phantom Toll Booth, What the Butler Saw, The Importance of Being Earnest, Night of the Iguana, Ten Little Indians, and the musicals Magic Flute and Orpheus in the Underworld.