Tag archives: arts
Veteran Santa Barbara painter Patricia Chidlaw’s upcoming exhibition at Sullivan Goss isn’t her first solo show at the gallery during the pandemic. Elsewhere, Paradise was on display at the downtown space in mid-summer 2020, most of the pieces containing her usually sparsely populated scenes that favor urban and suburban landscapes, architectural spaces with a history […]
On Memorial Day weekend, the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival will finally return to Old Mission Santa Barbara after three years. Admission is free and open to all, and the event will take place from Saturday, May 28, to Monday, May 30, from 10 am to 6 pm each day. Along with the art […]
The abundance of accomplished artists from the Tri-County area is on full display at the annual juried exhibition in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Westmont alumnus and hyperrealist painter Robin Eley ‘01 juried the show, Uncanny, which is available May 19 to June 18. A free, public opening reception for the exhibition is Thursday, […]
The Santa Barbara Club and Art Foundation of Santa Barbara puts on a fun evening once a year. The walls of the Club are transformed with paintings of their members’ own art collections or personal work. In the program is a ballot for voting for Best Composition, Most Original, Most Creative, Best Use of Color, […]
I was invited to attend the May 6th opening of the Helena Mason Art Gallery. The address – 48 Helena Avenue – brought me back to a 2005 world where, in that exact location, magic happened by underground artists and scientists, who spun their current creations late on Wednesday nights. If you know… you know. […]
Carpinteria is like the Little Engine that Could. They wanted an arts center, so they worked, and worked, and now there is a thriving one at 865 Linden Avenue. The annual fundraiser was just held that allows the group to present programs for all kinds of artistic ventures for all ages. Two hundred folks attended […]
Ensemble Theatre Company has a new head honcho. Following a national search, the New Vic-based organization has appointed Scott DeVine, who brings 20 years of theater management experience to the role, as its managing director. “Scott has skillfully managed complex artistic organizations and been responsible for ensuring theaters he has served have maintained a sound […]
The pandemic pushed Westmont’s Fringe Festival into the virtual world in 2021 after forcing the festival to furlough completely the year before. So the 2022 version of the entirely student-created fest, which takes place all over the Christian college’s Montecito campus this weekend, April 21-24, is a brand new experience for all except seniors. Maybe […]
Paradise Revisited is what artist Sandy Ostrau feels for Santa Barbara. There is a show of her works at the Thomas Reynolds Gallery from now until the end of May. The gallery is celebrating its one-year anniversary and is located a few doors away from the Arlington Theatre ticket booth, in the artsy part of […]
The 61st annual Westmont’s Spring Sing, a student-performed variety show and competition between residence halls, was back and in person at the Santa Barbara Bowl April 1. It is the longest running tradition on campus and involves more students than any other college event. For the first time, the Global Leadership Center (GLC) won top […]
In his upcoming exhibit, Far and Near, at the Santa Barbara Fine Art Gallery, Michael Drury explores the illustrious landscapes of California, Nevada, and Ireland, immersing the viewer in these locations with his distinctive style of plein air painting. While this exhibit captures vistas far and near, Drury got his start in painting more near […]
Public trust in government is at a 50-year low. According to an ambitious Harvard Business School study, the problem in our contentious duopoly is the lack of competition and resulting lack of accountability. Santa Barbara is the poster child for what this study raged against — a system that no longer focuses on the public […]
In the heart of Santa Barbara’s ARTS District there’s a new contemporary art gallery – Maune Contemporary – at 1309 State Street, next door to the Arlington Theatre. This is the second location for founders Ramsey and Heidi Maune. Their first being in the Miami Circle Design District in Atlanta, Georgia in 2019. Heidi said, […]
Casa del Herrero – Montecito’s National Historic Landmark – announced last week that an art exhibition at the property, Channing Peake – To Mexico and Beyond, has been extended to Saturday, April 30, 2022. This vibrant exhibition, in collaboration with the Channing Peake Estate, is comprised of several working drawings made by Peake during his […]
Recently, I had some L.A. friends move to town (don’t be alarmed, they really are “nice”). Mistakenly, they thought that I knew a bit about our County and asked: “So where does ‘our’ money go?” Mind you, these are philanthropic folks who care about culture so I had to be honest: “I can tell you […]
Chase your dreams. It all too often is considered just the ideals of naive dreamers, but for Larry Vigon it has led to a lifelong career designing album covers, posters, and other artworks, including Carl Jung’s The Red Book. His commercial design has had a significant cultural impact but his personal artwork – drifting somewhere […]
Santa Barbara Museum of Art has joined the big leagues with the West Coast debut of Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources, featuring an astonishing 20 original works by the Dutch genius. The extraordinary show also features 55 works by artists he admired, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, and […]
Maune Contemporary, a new art gallery, has opened on State Street next to the Arlington Theatre. It is the second location for owners Ramsey and Heidi Maune, who opened their first gallery in Atlanta, Georgia, four years ago. “It has been a longtime dream of ours to open a gallery here,” Heidi told me at […]
It’s been a very long time, or perhaps ever, since Santa Barbara has eagerly anticipated an exhibition as exciting as “Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources,” a landmark show that launches February 27 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The exhibition boasts 20 works of art by the Dutch master from his […]
Randall VanderMey, Westmont professor of English, says that after four decades of resisting photography, he now uses this art form to write and share poetry with a completely new audience. He describes his approach at a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Photography and Poetry: Against My Will,” on Thursday, February 17, at 5:30 pm at the Community […]
