MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, came out of lockdown this month, featuring its newest interactive sci-art exhibit titled, “LunchBoxing with Lasers,” by veteran laser artist Mike Gould. Found on the second floor in a darkened room, the lasers are constantly creating a moving visual, with varying brightness, shapes, and speeds. The lasers […]
The roaring sound of 1955 Vintage Beech T-34 Mentors Air Force and Navy planes in a V-formation broke through the cloud cover as they flew over the Montecito Association’s Village 4th Road Show starting gate on San Ysidro Road on Sunday, with 18-year Montecito resident, veteran, and Montecito Association member Michael “Viper” Maloco leading the […]
The Wildling Museum’s Valley Oak Gallery current exhibit, “Art from the Trail: Exploring the Natural Beauty of Santa Barbara County,” is a collaboration of Stacey Otte-Demangate (Director of the Wildling Museum), Margaret Weiss (Health Education Director, Sansum Clinic, Steering Committee for Healthy People Healthy Trails SB) and Mark Wilkinson (Executive Director of SBC Trails Council). […]
The total local student graduates for this week are 120 — with 74 at Cate School, 11 at Laguna Blanca Lower School, and 35 at Crane Country Day School. For the year, there were 246 graduates at all Montecito schools. We at the Montecito Journal wish all the 2021 graduates success going forward and congratulations […]
Our community of schools held their 2021 graduation ceremonies through a mix of family-only, in-person bubbles at the school’s open-field areas and via live virtual for all attendees. The total number of local student graduates for this week was 126 students, including 24 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, 13 at Montecito YMCA Preschool, […]
Rod Rolle is both an esteemed professional news and public relations photographer and local jazz drummer with Tom Murray of 30 years in their duo, The Stiff Pickle Orchestra. His motto “Images with A Global View” is most accurate, currently an affiliate with SIPA USA, he has worked as a stringer for Getty Images, Associated […]
Rick Caruso — founder and chief executive officer at Caruso, the owner/developer of Montecito’s luxury resort The Rosewood Miramar Beach, philanthropist, and USC Board Chair — is now taking on cryptocurrency in what is being listed as a real estate industry first, with the exception of ManageGo, a cloud-based real estate company in New York […]
Nicole Lamartine, PhD, is the new Sorenson Director of Choral Music at UCSB, filling a position vacant since Michel Marc Gervais retired in 2016, and will oversee all UCSB’s choruses and ensembles. Originally from New Mexico, she comes to Santa Barbara from the University of Wyoming Department of Music faculty (2008-2020), where she won the […]
A new media arts x science exhibition launched in March, 2020, and is nested in a retail-shop-turned-museum at La Cumbre Plaza called The Museum of Sensory & Movement Experiences or MSME (“miss me”). This interactive all ages exhibition allows one to get “lost” in time, imagery, sound, and perception of what really can be transmuted […]
Professional dancer-choreographer Harout Aristakessian self-describes as being at the intersection of three nationalities – Lebanese, Armenian, and American, as well as a gay-feminist-cisgender Christian, ultimately seeking to break the social constructs of sex, gender, race, nationality, and creed through dance. He is the founder and artistic director of the Dance with Harout (DWH) Performance Company […]
For 35 years, Read ‘N Post (RnP) has been our town’s local meeting spot for posting your mail and packages, finding the perfect card for any occasion, stationary supplies, and the largest ongoing racks of real glossy high-end magazines from around the world. Due to unforeseen expenses incurred from our over one-year lockdown and other […]
Jana Goldbloom Brody is a multi-faceted artist entrepreneur, owner of Paint Jam USA, and our local community arts outreach expert. This February she started a position at Leading From Within as their Courage to Lead Alumni Community Coordinator, working directly with its Executive Director Ed France serving both its Santa Barbara and Los Angeles chapters. […]
Baret Boisson is an American artist currently working from her studio in Carpinteria. Her renowned series, “Inspiring Greatness,” which opened at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis in 2016, continues to this day with a new portrait of Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, commissioned by Lisa Loiacono Lloyd. The series began humbly with her passion […]
Sharon Hendrix is an icon. As a black American female singer working in a predominately white-male, music industry since 1978, her vocals, dance routines, stellar stage outfits, nonstop smile, professionalism and business savvy grace the world’s top performing arts venues. She’s played the London O2 Arena, Broadway Theatre, Las Vegas, and Europe, numerous TV specials […]
The multi-faceted bi-racial Ashley Woods Hollister is an arts champion and curator, and supporter of the Santa Barbara nonprofit community. She’s served on the boards of Explore Ecology, on the Santa Barbara Mental Wellness Center since 2007, and just joined the board of the Foundation for Climate Change Action. She is the co-founder of T.W. […]
Brayell is a multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, and music producer in the genres of rap, hip-hop, and alternative. He has recently explored a version of indie pop music in his just-released single titled, “Made Her Feel Good,” a heartfelt song reminiscent of a breakup. He began recording at age 15 and, in 2017, started releasing his […]
NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) held its annual Los Angeles trade show online this year January 18 through 22, along with the annual She Rocks Awards. The NAMM Foundation’s Believe in Music bravely took to the virtual platform to bring all its usual content to its members across all time zones, using the Swapcard […]
Millennial entrepreneur Jacob Tell, CEO and founder of Oniracom, is celebrating 20 years as CEO of a small business built during his studies at UCSB, with a mission to provide unique branded services to the arts and music artists, their agencies, and venues. He navigated his business into commercial branding and during lockdown pivoted to […]
All things bright, beautiful, and birds are well noted even during our cold winter lockdown, thanks to the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, who decided to hold its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) after weighing in on all the variants. The team organized the count with proper precautions and rules in place, including masking, distancing, and […]
As you are reading this, it’s the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s birthday (January 8) and I’ve been talking to Steve Binder, an American producer and director born in Los Angeles. Steve, who just celebrated his 88th birthday last month, is currently working as a creative consultant on Baz Luhrmann’s film Elvis, where Dacre Montgomery is […]
Montecito schools held a new format for their holiday concerts and winter sings, given the new state lockdown restrictions announced on December 6. Through careful planning many schools conjured up a new direction for the holidays, including virtual concerts sent out exclusively to each student’s family, new charity funding initiatives and holiday Zoom singalongs for […]
The Moon Kids rock band is taking on new steam with a local film contract and music videos. But these working class heroes from Scotland wouldn’t have been known in the U.S. without the magic of the legendary Rodney Bingenheimer, who is renowned for discovering numerous bands. He came across The Moon Kids when he was […]
You’ve got to hand it to Christopher Bell, the administrative analyst and public information officer for the Santa Barbara Waterfront Department. Instead of tossing a bilge pump into the harbor when city holiday events were cancelled due to the new lockdown orders, Bell turned the beloved annual holiday Parade of Lights into a virtual contest […]
Richie’s Barber Shop has held its annual toy drive for kids for nine years and this time it has added an element for our lockdown times: adopting a pet from the local animal shelter. The shop’s annual Christmas tree is decorated with photos of the pets for adoption, and the American Flag stands proudly at […]
Prodigious drummer George Pendergast picked up his first drum kit at the age of five after watching The Merv Griffin Show, and at 21 went on to live the dream as a professional musician recording in Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Santa Barbara, which remains his home base to this day no […]
Epically known as the one director who can harvest the funniest talent for his movies, Ivan Reitman continues his film making legend during lockdown with eight screenplays in the works, a sequel to Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting, and the next installment of the Ghostbuster series, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, to be released in theaters in June […]
Music output is a good way to assess a society’s health, and right now we are unhealthy, so it’s a good time to talk about it.” – Brian Hardgroove Record producer, bassist, and former bandleader of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Public Enemy, Brian Hardgroove has been there, done that, and continues to […]
Artist Keith St. John is the true representation of the American dream: love it, work at it, keep it fresh, and it’s yours. And true to his nature, he has remained prolific in creating music throughout the lockdown, with virtual concerts, recording, composing, and some outdoor live shows with COVID-19 guidelines. Here with sage advice […]
Musicians are here to provide wisdom and comfort for a traumatized world, and to uplift the voices of the downtrodden,” says Elle Archer, a Portland-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Managed by Seth Loeser at Silver Morning Management, and recently signed with Kill Rock Stars, Elle’s band Shaylee is a project aimed at conveying youthful queer exuberance […]
Artist and university teacher Paulo P. Lima has an overtime schedule creating art and teaching online during COVID-19. He has a studio at Fairview Gardens in Goleta where he creates art and pays homage to his ancestors. Works from the series were selected by Sullivan Goss Gallery for their “Summer Salon” group show in August, […]
“Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak,” the fashion designer Rachel Zoe once said. Yes, indeed, fashion is walking art, and at times, a political statement. From 1940 through 1970, women’s hemlines were an economic indicator. In Los Angeles, the Fashion Mart for Spring/Summer 2021 is on now both […]
Singer, composer, and recording artist Heidi Jacobs is a most talented and respected creative in her field. Her songs “Small Love,” “You Are Light,” and “Up” (written for the Los Olivos Dance Gallery Centre Stage Performance) show the breadth and depth of her vocal range, and her always perfect pitch. The messages in her compelling […]
Montecito Deli celebrated 19 years on Friday, September 11, on Coast Village Road. The deli has stayed open throughout the lockdown to keep its regulars and new customers going, with takeout or outdoor patio dining. “Our menu is the same as it’s always been – create it and we will make it,” said owner Jeff […]
I met Al Bello, sports special correspondent photographer for Getty Images, in 2005 when he called me to photo assist his Getty Images Discovery Channel assignment. We were photographing Lance Armstrong and his cycling team practicing for the Tour de France in Santa Ynez Valley. A consummate and respected professional sports photographer, he started at […]
Multi-talented millennial J.J. Kandel was born in Long Island, New York, and grew up on East Valley Road in Montecito, attended Montecito Union, and decided on acting, film, TV, and theatre for his life’s work. He attended a summer drama program at Yale University prior to his senior year at Santa Barbara High School, briefly […]
Currently doing indie work with her band in Los Angeles and creating new health recipes with her organic chocolate line, Lover Organic Chocolate, superstar Rochelle Vincente Von K is a source of inspiration for us in the lockdown. Her natural creative drive moved her through multiple careers that most would be happy to have one […]
Gracing our town with five-part harmonies from heaven, four-time Grammy winner Lyle Lovett made a serious stop here with his all-strings acoustic band called Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group, presented by Arts & Lectures UCSB at Campbell Hall. One of 46 tour dates in a five-month spread across the country, he uses buses and […]
Michael DeVorzon grew up in Montecito, with a great family lineage in music, and carved his own way in film and TV. Still working actively during the lockdown, he is polished in defining the narrative of the hard work it takes to stay in the game, do it like a pro, and always with kindness. […]
Ziyad Marcus is a world music musician with a diverse background and education. Recently appointed as a music educator for the Santa Barbara Charter School, he draws upon Sri Lankan and Jewish cultural roots in order to share an unfiltered view of the world with youth, something he cherishes and takes seriously. At 27, his […]
Transporting us from science to sci-fi films is astrophysicist Andy Howell, PhD. He is a staff scientist at Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), where a global network of 23 telescopes operate 24/7. His team co-discovered the first “kiloanova” in 2017, two neutron stars that rotate around each other and release gravitational waves, merging to create a […]