Tag archives: art

A Colorful Opening
By Richard Mineards   |   October 31, 2023

To the charming Danish community of Solvang, just 45 minutes north on the 101, for Santa Barbara artist Mara Abboud’s latest exhibition at the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature. Mara, sister of menswear designer Joseph Abboud, in 2014 designed the Granada Theatre’s 90th anniversary celebration poster and in 1980 was named Artist of the […]

Tom Pazderka ‘Dust to Dusk’ Art Exhibition at Silo 118
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 24, 2023

Giving a new meaning to Friday the 13th, artist Tom Pazderka opened his show of his latest 13 art works at the Silo118 Gallery in the Funk Zone on precisely Friday, October 13. The show will be up through, you guessed it, 13’s reversed number, October 31st (yes, and Halloween). I attended the opening, having […]

New Shapes and Flowers at the Art Museum
By Richard Mineards   |   October 24, 2023

It’s two for the price of one at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art with a duo of new exhibitions. Shape, Ground, Shadow: The Photographs of Ellsworth Kelly, as well as Flowers on a River: The Art of Chinese Flower-and-Bird Painting 1368-1911, Masterworks from the Tianjin Museum and the Changzhou Museum, have just opened. Shape […]

A Mission to Paint
By Richard Mineards   |   October 17, 2023

Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when it opened its latest exhibition California Missions by English artist Edwin Deakin. From 1769 to 1833, the Franciscan Order established 21 missions in Alta California stretching from San Diego to Sonoma, with the primary purpose to convert the indigenous peoples to Roman Catholicism while at […]

Female Mystics of the Medieval
By Scott Craig   |   September 26, 2023

Rebecca McNamara, Westmont professor of English and medieval literature scholar, speaks about “Mystics, Healers, Writers and Saints: Medieval Women You Should Know” on Wednesday, September 27, at 7 pm in Adams Center, room 219. The talk is part of Linda Ekstrom’s current art exhibition at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Straddling Circumference, on display […]

Hanging On: Art Around Town
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 26, 2023

Nearly 30 artists from near and far are saddling up for the 13th annual SLOPOKE Art of the West Show on September 22-24 at Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang. Former longtime president of the California Art Club Peter Adams serves as the featured guest artist and juror for the fine art show – appropriately […]

Gerry on the Brush
By Richard Mineards   |   September 26, 2023

Fans of top American trial lawyer Gerry Spence, 94, got a rare chance to see his works of art at his 24-acre estate on Romero Canyon Road. Gerry, the author of 17 books, is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and has never lost a criminal case before a jury as a […]

Art Attacks: Sonnenberg on Site
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 19, 2023

Artist Anthony Sonnenberg’s current Santa Barbara Museum of Art exhibition WARES! Extraordinary Ceramics and the Ordinary Home explores expressions of power through decoration within various cultures. In the lecture, The Power to Be, Sonnenberg discusses how personal, social, and political power dynamics are expressed through decorative decadence and excess, including an over-embellished palace, an ornate […]

Kawaii Klaws
By Stella Haffner   |   September 12, 2023

In the Dear Montecito column, we have hosted writers, musicians, and filmmakers. This week, we are branching into a new medium with Lauryn Rousseau, a 2021 graduate of UCSB and the owner of Kawaii Klaws, a boutique nail art studio.  Q. How did you get interested in nail art? A. My cousin was really into […]

Art in the Cabana
By Richard Mineards   |   September 12, 2023

Funk Zone dynamic interior design duo Steve and Caroline Thompson held a double celebration at Cabana Home when they celebrated the opening of the new West Coast boutique of the historic wallpaper and furniture maker Thibaut and a new exhibition of art works by Chris Trueman, presented by Los Angeles dealer Edward Cella. Thibaut, which […]

White Buffalo Land Trust
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 5, 2023

An art show at a downtown Santa Barbara gallery might seem to have little to do with a nonprofit working with systems of regenerative agriculture. As it turns out, though, one of the series in Holli Harmon’s To Feast on Clouds exhibit on display at Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery through September 25 is […]

Come for the Studio, Stay for the Art
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 5, 2023

In the two decades plus since the Santa Barbara Studio Artists (SBSA) launched their annual Open Studios Tour, several others have sprung up in the area, including the Mesa, Carpinteria, and most recently upper State Street. But the SBSA Labor Day weekend is still the granddaddy of them all, the largest and most prestigious event […]

In Conversation With SBMA’s Larry J. Feinberg
By Joanne A Calitri   |   August 29, 2023

What is Art if not Pivotal? This week, I talked with the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA), Larry J. Feinberg PhD, at his office about the legacy of his brilliant leadership since being appointed in 2008. Under his progressive vision, we find his […]

Art Exhibit Straddles the Intellectual, Spiritual
By Scott Craig   |   August 22, 2023

Celebrated Santa Barbara artist Linda Ekstrom offers a wide range of poetic, imaginative, and spiritual works of transformed fabric, paper, books, and gloves in an exhibition (August 31 – November 11) at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. A free opening reception Thursday, August 31 from 4-6 pm at the museum, honors Straddling Circumference…The Art […]

Giving Art a ‘Voice’
By Richard Mineards   |   August 22, 2023

To La Cumbre Plaza to view the new 3,500-square-foot Voice Magazine and Gallery that has been opened by the dynamic duo of Mark Whitehurst and accomplished sculptress Kerry Methner with rotating shows of around 60 artworks each month. Works from Santa Barbara Visual Arts currently adorn the walls to be replaced in due course with […]

Art in the Club
By Richard Mineards   |   July 4, 2023

The Art Foundation of Santa Barbara took over the historic town club for its annual members’ art exhibition, which featured 45 works scattered throughout the venerable Chapala Street venue. The Santa Barbara Club’s featured speaker was British artist and gallery owner Ralph Waterhouse, who with his wife, Diane, recently opened a new gallery on Coast […]

Art in the Castle
By Richard Mineards   |   July 4, 2023

It was quite the celebrity turnout when the Santa Barbara Museum of Art launched its latest exhibition The Private Universe of James Castle, which runs through September 17. With more than 90 works, the show features many of the most beautiful and accomplished drawings created by the extraordinarily gifted, profoundly deaf, self-taught artist, many of […]

SEE the Sistine
By Richard Mineards   |   June 13, 2023

No need to crane your neck seeing Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Vatican’s iconic Sistine Chapel. The internationally acclaimed exhibition of the glorious artwork has just opened at the Old Mission with the reproduction in a format that allows art lovers to get face-to-face with the legendary masterpiece through 34 artfully displayed reproductions, including world renowned […]

Orianna Cacchione: New Assistant Director at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum UCSB
By Joanne A Calitri   |   May 30, 2023

The Art, Design & Architecture [AD&A] Museum at UCSB’s newest acquisition is the hire of Orianna Cacchione, PhD, as its Assistant Director. Filling a long vacant position, she brings new perspectives, background, and for certain, relief, to its Executive Director Gabe Ritter, PhD.  Our interview on Wednesday May 17, was at the museum, during the […]

Famed Ceramist Juries “Mixed Up”
By Scott Craig   |   May 23, 2023

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art highlights the exceptional talent of local artists in its annual Tri-County Juried Exhibition, “Mixed Up,” from Thursday, May 18, to June 17. The public is invited to a free, opening reception on May 18 from 4-6 pm. Award winners will be announced at 5:15 pm.  Rae Dunn, popular Bay […]