Duane Eells New President of Ojai Studio Artists

Ojai Studio Artists announces new leadership for 2021-2022. Duane Eells is OSA’s president, Christine Beirne is vice president and Deborah Lyon is treasurer.


Eells, a 33-year resident of the Ojai Valley, is a portrait and figurative painter whose numerous awards include a third place in the Portrait Society of America’s national competition in 2018. He has been an OSA member since 2016.


“I am honored and looking forward to serving as president,” he says. “I would like to thank Pam Grau for her excellent service these past two years. Her commitment to the Ojai Studio Artists, her endless energy and her love of the arts has been an inspiration to all of us.”

Vice president Chris Beirne, a landscape painter and longtime OSA member, is the office manager and webmaster of Focus on the Masters. Treasurer Deborah Lyon is a nature and portrait photographer who has been an OSA member since 2018.

The year 2020 was a challenging time for all. OSA cancelled all exhibitions and events, including, for the first time since its inception in 1984, the annual Ojai Studio Artists Tour. “However we are looking forward to a new beginning as we venture into the unknown territory of 2021,” says Eells.

OSA hopes to resume its Second Saturday mini-tours in the late spring and has started planning the Studio Artists Tour for Columbus Day weekend in October. “The tour has become a beloved event in Ojai that attracts art lovers throughout California and beyond,” says Eells. “Our goals are to encourage interest and excellence in the arts and to promote art education through our outreach and scholarship programs. My hope is to expand our reach and increase awareness of the thriving art scene in the Ojai Valley.


“The Ojai Studio Artists is a diverse group of talented and dedicated artists who work in a variety of media. It is our belief that the arts are an essential part of life, and exposure to the arts is vital to the fabric and wellbeing of society. As artists, we feel we have a responsibility to express and evoke ideas and contemplations to our community and world.”