‘Hang’ out at CAW 

Real estate is measured in square feet, the bigger the better, and buyers and renters pay for every one of those 12” x 12” bits of area. But it only takes one square foot to be a part of Ready to Hang, the pop-up style community art show open to all local artists willing to create a piece that measures a mere 12-by-12 inches in size.

The largest event put on annually by the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative on their home turf at the Community Arts Workshop, Ready to Hang offers the opportunity for artists of all levels and experiences to both show and sell new work and for visitors to experience work by hundreds of artists in a single one-day show.

Artist and curator Michael Long drew on other community shows around town in coming up with the concept, and adding some ideas of his own, he said. 

“I borrowed all my favorite aspects from other shows, boiled them together and came up with the idea of leveling the playing field by having everybody work in the same size,” Long said. “To be as inclusive as possible, you have to shrink the footprint a little bit because there’s only so much space at CAW. It’s pretty cool to see all the pieces up at once, like an onslaught of eye candy. It’s a lot of fun.”

Launched in 2019, the show quickly became popular, with last year’s edition exhibiting 450 pieces of art by more than 200 artists, with more than 1,000 people viewing the show. That induced a new limitation of just one piece per artist, and a maximum of 350 works, making the show even more egalitarian, Long said. 

The show is one of the more wide-ranging exhibitions around, as Long reached out beyond artists’ studios and various collectives to art educators, tattoo parlors, and more, resulting in a truly astonishing array of styles and formats. 

Scores of area painters, photographers, assemblage makers, tattoo artists, fabric artists, printmakers and others working with a theme of “Connectivity” are part of this year’s Ready to Hang, which takes place 4-9 pm on November 23. The artists price their own pieces, which usually range from a few dollars to a few hundred, with proceeds benefiting both the creator and CAW and the Collaborative. Purchases will be immediately available to “un-hang” and take home after 6 pm. 

“Artists love a challenge like this where there are limitations, and it also forces them to make something new and be ready to show it,” Long said. “And it’s great for the public because you get to come to an art show, see a piece that you like, and buy it right off the wall. Then the artist gets paid right away, too. Instant gratification for everyone.”

With music by Tripform – Pablo Manzarek and Norm Reed – available refreshments and lots of mingling to be done, the atmosphere is as much party as art show. 

“It’s a chance to come together to congratulate and encourage the art community and get to know each other,” Long said. 

Visit www.sbcaw.org/hang