Tag archives: arts

Event Honors ‘Mixed Up’ Artists
By Scott Craig   |   June 6, 2023

Rae Dunn, a popular Bay Area artist and juror of this year’s annual Tri-County Juried Exhibition, handed out cash awards to local artists on May 18 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Mixed Up celebrates the multitude of talented artists in our local region.  Dunn reviewed several hundred submissions from area artists for the […]

Arts Alive: Westmont, Waterhouse, and Walking Tour
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 23, 2023

Local artists are the focus of “Mixed Up,” the new exhibit at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The annual Tri-County Juried Exhibition was curated this year by Rae Dunn, popular Bay Area-based ceramic artist, designer, author, and illustrator most recognized for her line of household wares, who will also display a small exhibition of […]

Empowering and Supporting Individuals with Mental Illness
By Ann Pieramici   |   May 23, 2023

May has long been recognized as National Mental Health Awareness Month, yet never before has the issue of mental health commanded the national conversation as urgently as it does today. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has made mental health his top priority, declaring it “the defining public health crisis of our time,” much like when Dr. […]

Shaw, Sō and Soil 
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 25, 2023

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and vocalist Caroline Shaw and the chamber music-redefining ensemble Sō Percussion weren’t planning on recording an album full of songs together back in 2019. Rather they were in the studio to lay down tracks for Shaw’s quartet “Taxidermy” and the Dawn Upshaw collaboration Narrow Sea – which later won a 2022 Grammy […]

Art Museum Offers ‘a space of her own’
By Scott Craig   |   April 18, 2023

A large crowd packed into the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art to see the stunning capstone projects of six senior art majors on April 6. A Space of Her Own – which features art projects ranging from paintings to prints, and from photography to sculptural installation – will be on display through May 6 at […]

Waterhouse Gallery Takes a New Stand in Montecito
By Amélie Dieux   |   April 4, 2023

After having contemporary, abstract, and fine art galleries color the town of Montecito, there’s another one on the horizon ready to captivate your senses. The Waterhouse Gallery, located at the Coast Village Plaza (1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 3, formerly the Scoops store), is where traditional contemporary works engage your art spirit, delight your eyes, […]

Conference Examines Liberal Arts, Climate Change
By Scott Craig   |   March 7, 2023

The 21st annual Conversation on the Liberal Arts explores how a liberal arts education can prepare us for the future, March 2-4 at the Global Leadership Center. “Educating for the Unknown: Liberal Arts in the Age of Climate Change,” sponsored by the Gaede Institute, attracts teachers, administrators, and students from around the country.  “We’ll spend […]

Talk Explores ‘Street Art Now’
By Scott Craig   |   February 28, 2023

G. James Daichendt, art critic, curator, art historian, and dean of the colleges at Point Loma University, examines how street art is changing the art world and how we engage art in a free public lecture, “Street Art Now,” on Thursday, Feb. 23, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. […]

A Seat at the Table
By Gwyn Lurie   |   February 7, 2023

Anita Hill never wanted to testify before the Senate Judiciary committee. In fact, despite a stellar academic record, you probably would not know the name Anita Hill if not for veteran NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg. The same way you wouldn’t know the Watergate Hotel, if not for Woodward and Bernstein. How it came […]

A Trio of Stellar Shows
By Richard Mineards   |   February 7, 2023

UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures series has been working overtime with three major shows in the last week, two at the Granada and a third at the more intimate Lobero. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato’s EDEN, a call to action to build a paradise for today fertilizing, nourishing, and protecting the pure bliss that is Earth, with […]

Changing How Art Matters: Exclusive Interview with SBMA’s Eik Kahng
By Joanne A Calitri   |   January 31, 2023

We are most honored to have spent time doing an in-depth interview with Eik Kahng PhD, Deputy Director, and Chief Curator of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA). Preferring to concentrate on work minus the accolades, she graciously accepted to do it between curation, establishing new high-caliber art education programming for our town at […]

CAMA
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 24, 2023

Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara, aka CAMA, is deservedly well-known and cherished for its commitment and ability to bring the finest classical musicians from around the world to Santa Barbara, a cultural coup of musical riches that would normally be beyond the means for such a small community.  It helps that it all […]

DiDonato’s ‘EDEN’ Communing with nature through music
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 24, 2023

A week after California finally emerged from a series of threatening atmospheric river rainstorms, award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is bringing her new passion project to town. EDEN is a timely theatrical experience co-commissioned by UCSB Arts & Lectures that explores our connection to nature and its impact on our world adding movement and theater to […]

Book ‘em: From the Page to the Stage
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 24, 2023

In her new book How to Stand Up to a Dictator, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa expresses the fear that the world is “in the last two minutes of democracy” and wonders if we’re at the tipping point for democracy, or fascism. Ressa discusses the story of how democracy dies by a thousand […]

Mariachi in His Veins
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 17, 2023

Born and raised in Bakersfield, Jimmy Cuéllar has never lived a day of his life in Mexico, but it’s safe to say that mariachi music is in his blood. Both of his parents migrated to the United States with their parents when they were kids, his father brought here in his pre-teens to work the […]

‘Entangled’ Exhibit Explores Environment 
By Scott Craig   |   January 17, 2023

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art features two artists whose work responds to climate change and our planet on the brink of perilous danger. The exhibition, Entangled: Responding to Environmental Crisis, runs from January 12 to March 25, 2023, and highlights the artwork of Madeleine Tonzi, a New Mexico painter, muralist and printmaker, and GATS […]

Mattei’s Exhibit
By Richard Mineards   |   December 20, 2022

It was a double header at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when the august institution hosted its annual holiday party for 275 guests, as well as opening its latest exhibition, “Clarence Mattei – A Portrait of Our Community.” Mattei, whose parents owned the eponymous Mattei’s Tavern, was sponsored to attend the prestigious Mark Hopkins Art […]

Let There Be Lathim
By Richard Mineards   |   December 6, 2022

Santa Barbara playwright, director, and producer Rod Lathim has been hitting the Big Apple with his latest art exhibition Let There Be Light at the Kate Oh Gallery, just a tiara’s toss from the Ralph Lauren flagship store at the historic Rhinelander Mansion. The three-week debut show opened last month and Rod tells me they’ve […]

Waterhouse Turns 38
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2022

Social gridlock reigned when Ralph and Diane Waterhouse celebrated the 38th anniversary of their eponymous art gallery in La Arcada. The popular establishment, just a tiara’s toss from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, was founded in 1984 by Diane. It moved to its current location in 1991 and represents some of the city’s finest […]

An Artful Evening
By Richard Mineards   |   November 1, 2022

Globetrotting accountant Frank McGinity opened the gates of his charming Riven Rock estate, just a tiara’s toss from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for An Artful Affair for 120 guests organized by the Art Foundation of Santa Barbara. Five local plein air artists – Ralph Waterhouse, Derek Harrison, Annie Hoffman, Ray Hunter, and Ann […]