Ojai: Talk of the Town

What if art wasn’t an elective — but the foundation?

On this special episode of Ojai Talk of the Town, I sit down with Lis Austin of Besant Hill School to explore a model of education where creativity isn’t an add-on, but the organizing principle. From studio art and ceramics to film, theater, and music, Besant Hill’s program is rooted in a holistic philosophy that traces back to the school’s founding — and feels more relevant than ever.

We also preview the upcoming Spring Arts Festival (April 17–18), a vibrant, community-wide celebration featuring student films, live performances (including Dear Evan Hansen), exhibitions, and an art auction supporting arts education.

We also talked about Ojai's special connection to the theater arts, through luminaries such as Michael Chekhov, Iris Tree, Ford Rainey, Charlie Chaplin and Woody Chambliss. We did not talk about Scottish salmon ghillies, the Samurai Civil War of the 1180s or the final episode of The Pitt's season two.

If you’ve ever wondered what school could look like when imagination leads, this is a conversation worth hearing.

For more information about the Spring Arts Festival, check out https://www.besanthill.org/2021-spring-arts-celebration/

Lawrence Yee has spent more than three decades working at the intersection of agriculture, water, and the complex systems that sustain both. His résumé runs deep —U niversity of California Cooperative Extension, founder of the Hansen Agricultural Research and Education Center, advisor on national food initiatives, and a decade shaping water policy at the regional level in California.

But if you want to understand his work, you don’t start in a boardroom. You start on a Sunday morning in Ojai.

Because that’s where the theory meets the table.

In this episode of Ojai Talk of the Town, Yee joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on what we misunderstand about our food system, why “local” is more than a lifestyle choice, and how water — California’s most contested resource—is managed in ways that rarely make headlines but shape everything downstream.

We talk about the promise (and limits) of sustainable agriculture, the hard tradeoffs between environmental priorities and working farms, and the deeper question beneath it all: can we design systems that actually work — for farmers, for communities, and for the land itself?

Along the way, Yee reflects on lessons from his work with visionary organizational thinker Dee Hock, his experience helping rebuild agricultural systems in Colombia as a Fulbright Specialist, and the long arc of Ventura County agriculture — what it’s gotten right, and what may be at risk.

It’s a conversation that moves easily between the global and the local, the abstract and the tangible. And it lands, fittingly, right back where it started: at the farmers market, where all the big ideas have to prove themselves in the simplest way possible.

Can you grow it?
Can you sell it?
Can people eat it — and thrive?

(Note: We did not talk about Amur tigers, echolocation or billionaire bunkers.)

After helping shape one of the most adventurous music festivals in the world, Ara Guzelimian is taking his final bow in Ojai.

In this episode of Ojai Talk of the Town, we sit down with the artistic and executive director of the Ojai Music Festival to talk about his final season at the helm — what goes into building a festival like this, why risk and curiosity matter in music, and what makes Ojai such a singular place for artists and audiences alike.

We talked about favorite festival moments, why the Festival matters and why it matters more and more in a complicated world. And, of course, the momentous return this year of the inimitable Esa Pekka Salonen as Music Director after 21 years.

We also look ahead to what’s next, as conductor Teddy Abrams prepares to take over in 2027. We did not talk about Great Lakes steelhead fishing, Australian wildfires or the casting choices in Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value."

It’s a conversation about legacy, transition, and the strange, enduring magic of making music under the oaks at Libbey Bowl. Learn more about the festival at ... https://www.ojaifestival.org/

When Jack Piatt and partner David Breschel first joined Ojai Talk of the Town last year, Singers was a promising short film — ambitious, disciplined, and quietly powerful.

Now, it’s an Academy Award winner, in a stunning historical anomaly, tying with Two People Exchanging Saliva, the French entry, for the first time ever in this category, only the seventh overall. Piatt, Breschel and director Sam A. Davis shared the glory.

In this return conversation, Piatt pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to move a film from idea to execution to Oscar night. We revisit the early instincts that shaped Singers, the critical decisions that made it work, and the behind-the-scenes reality of navigating festivals, momentum, and the often opaque awards process.

Piatt and host Bret Bradigan also share a common thread: military service — Bret in the Air Force, Piatt in the Army’s 82nd Airborne — bringing a perspective on discipline, risk, and long-term commitment that informs both storytelling and business.

This is a conversation about craft, leverage, and timing — and what happens when the world finally catches up to something you believed in early.

In this episode:

• The moment Singers became a contender
• What actually drives a short film to Oscar recognition
• The balance between art and campaign strategy
• How winning changes access, pressure, and decision-making
• What comes next after the breakthrough

In this episode of Ojai Talk of the Town, we sit down with photographer Joe Sohm and acclaimed composer Peter Boyer to explore their sweeping new collaboration, American Mosaic — a multimedia concert work created in the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary.

Boyer is widely regarded as one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers of his generation, with more than 900 performances of his works by over 300 orchestras worldwide. His breakthrough piece, Ellis Island: The Dream of America, a moving work for actors and orchestra built on immigrant narratives, has become one of the most performed contemporary American orchestral works of the past two decades, earning a Grammy nomination and national broadcast on PBS.

His commissions read like a survey of American cultural institutions: the Boston Pops, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, and even “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, which premiered his Fanfare for Tomorrow at the 2021 presidential inauguration.

Beyond the concert hall, Boyer has worked extensively in film and television, orchestrating scores for major Hollywood composers across dozens of films — bringing a cinematic sweep and emotional immediacy that carries directly into his orchestral writing.

That sensibility is central to American Mosaic.

The project brings together Sohm’s decades-long photographic journey across all 50 states — his Visions of America — with Boyer’s richly textured score and spoken narration. Structured in 11 continuous movements, the 32-minute work is designed as a unified experience of image, sound, and story: a portrait of the American spirit that is both expansive and intimate.

We talk about how a lifetime of visual observation becomes musical language, how Boyer approaches composing for narrative and national identity, and how both artists wrestle with the central question of the project: how do you represent a country this vast, this contradictory, this unfinished?

With a 2026 premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a growing national tour — commissioned by leading orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Symphony — American Mosaic positions itself as a defining artistic statement for this historic moment.

This conversation is about scale, ambition, and synthesis—what happens when two master practitioners attempt to translate America itself into art.

Learn more about Peter and Joe ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Boyer

https://www.visionsofamerica.com/

DeWayne Boccali says he picked the three worst areas in which to make a living; music, farming and restaurants. But somehow he and wife Marilyn are still here, plugging along with all three for 40 years.

On May 16, Boccali's Pizza & Pasta celebrates 40 years in business — a milestone few independent restaurants ever reach.

In this episode of Ojai Talk of the Town, DeWayne and Marilyn Boccali reflect on four decades of farming, feeding Ojai, and adapting to everything from droughts and freezes to shifting food trends and economic swings.

We talk about:

• The financial and farming hardships that led them to open the restaurant
• The evolution of Ojai agriculture over 40 years
• Winemaking in the valley
• Their iconic strawberry shortcake and tomato salads
• Pumpkin patches, haunted hayrides, and building traditions that span generations

This is more than a restaurant anniversary. It’s a story about land stewardship, resilience, and what it takes to stay rooted in one valley for four decades. We did not talk about spud bars for ice fishing, batter's glove designs or the latest Tyler the Creator album drop.

If you’ve ever lined up for strawberry shortcake in May, this episode is for you. Check out Boccali's at https://boccalis.com/

After nearly three decades after founding, and leading, the Rubicon Theatre Company, James O’Neil is stepping into his next act.

As Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, Jim helped transform a regional dream into a nationally respected theater — earning Drama Desk recognition, Ovation and NAACP awards, and, more importantly, the enduring loyalty of a community that learned to gather in the dark and think together.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Jim reflects on:

• Why live theater remains a civic necessity, not a luxury
• The mystery of inhabiting complex characters, from Pontius Pilate to Clarence Darrow
• The tension between artistic risk and financial survival
• The highs, near-misses, and standing ovations that shaped the Rubicon
• And what it means to hand over something you built with your own hands

As Jim and his wife, Caryl Lynn Burns, retire and head to Kansas City to be closer to family, we take stock of a career that proves culture doesn’t happen by accident — it’s made, night after night, by people willing to step into the light. We did not talk about fish species in Lake Malawi, palm oil deforestation or whether the KC Chiefs can get their groove back.

This is a conversation about legacy, community, and why the stage still matters. Check out more about the Rubicon at https://rubicontheatre.org/

What does it mean to build a life in images?

In this episode of Ojai Talk of the Town, I sit down with Ojai-based artist Dennis Mukai, whose career spans commercial illustration, celebrity portrait photography, and a strikingly original fine art practice.

Born in Hiroshima and raised in Southern California, Mukai trained at the Art Center College of Design before building a nationally recognized career as an illustrator and photographer. Over the decades, he has worked with major brands, major periodicals such as Playboy, photographed musicians and actors, and developed a meticulous layered painting technique in which he sands through pigment to reveal what lies beneath — work that feels at once cinematic, nostalgic, and quietly subversive.

We talk about:

• Growing up between cultures• The discipline of commercial art versus the freedom of fine art• Photographing public figures (especially beautiful women) — and searching for the private human inside the persona• Why process matters as much as product• How Ojai’s light and stillness shape his current work• Reinvention, longevity, and what it means to keep evolving

This is a conversation about craft, patience, beauty, and the long arc of an artistic life.

We did not talk about cherry salmon, tiger maple or the architectural highlights of San Miguel de Allende. If you care about art, photography, discipline, or the creative journey itself — you’ll enjoy this one. Check out Dennis' work at ...

https://www.dennismukai.com/

Running a town is an act of stewardship — of land, money, people, and possibility.

Ojai City Manager Ben Harvey joins host Bret Bradigan for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about what that stewardship looks like in practice. We unpack the real constraints of municipal governance — housing mandates, fiscal realities, and the delicate balance between preservation and change.

And then we talk music.

From Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers to Okkervil River and Damien Jurado, we reflect on how live music shapes community — and tease some exciting possibilities for Libbey Bowl this coming season.

Because in Ojai, civic life isn’t just policy. It’s culture. It’s memory. It’s the shared experience of gathering under the oaks for a show.

A conversation not just about how towns are run, but how they are felt.

In this special tribute episode of Ojai Talk of the Town - a repost of an episode from 2025 - we honor the remarkable life of Helen Allen, a vibrant and pioneering spirit in the Ojai Valley whose impact will be felt for generations.

Helen — together with her partner Lynne Doherty — co-founded Ojai’s first Pride Walk more than 33 years ago, beginning in 1991/92 with just six marchers down Ojai Avenue and blossoming into a beloved annual celebration of LGBTQ+ community and visibility.

Beyond her role as a pride pioneer, Helen was a dedicated tennis coach, sharing her love of the game with countless children and adults through the Ojai Tennis Tournament and local schools. She was recognized by the Rotary Clubs of Ojai as an Ojai Living Treasure, known around town for her quick wit — “often bad but always funny jokes” — and her ready smile at any corner café, park bench, or community gathering.

In last year’s episode, Helen and Lynne shared memories of building community, the joy of connection, and the importance of passing the torch — which they’ve since done with Queers of the Ojai Valley leading the next generation of Pride.

In this deeply personal conversation, we revisit that interview, celebrate Helen’s legacy, and hear from friends and neighbors whose lives she brightened. Whether you knew Helen well or are just learning her story, this episode reflects on a life lived in full embrace of love, community, and laughter.

Thank you, Helen, for bringing us together — in pride, on the courts, and around the heart of this valley.