Tag Archives: Kerrie-Kilpatrick Weinberg

New Website Focuses on Local Artists

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Santa Barbara Artist Directory, courtesy photo

Santa Barbara Artist Directory, courtesy photo

“People need to know where to buy and find local art,” says Peter Otte, a Santa Barbara-based web developer who recently launched a new online directory to do just that.

The SB Artist Directory  was specifically designed to help artists based in Santa Barbara County reach a wider audience by creating a simple profile and create artist portfolios, Otte explains.

“Santa Barbara has a lot of really talented artists working in the shadows. Our goal is to help artists build a better online presence,” he says.

Web Developer Peter Otte, courtesy photo

Web Developer Peter Otte, courtesy photo

For a mere $26 annual membership fee, artists may include a short profile, links to their social media pages and may upload as many images as they wish. The site is not juried. The only requirement is that the artist resides within Santa Barbara County lines.

Paintings, drawings, photography, and sculpture are all acceptable art forms. Otte says his intent is not to evaluate the work but simply to put it out there to provide greater exposure for the artists. Among the first group of artists to sign on for the site are several well known creatives, including Nancy Gifford, David J. Diamant and Kerrie Kilpatrick Weinberg.

“Having many artists friends in the community, we became aware of the need to help artists promote themselves on the web. Artists’ minds are made for creating, not so much for promoting themselves, especially online. We decided to create an online directory where any artist from Santa Barbara County can be featured at a very low cost,” Otte says.

In addition, the site also posts local art-related news and events free of charge. For more information visit http://www.sbartistdirectory.com/.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on September 17, 2014.

A walk with Art Walk’s Founder Kerrie-Kilpatrick Weinberg

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Kerrie Kilpatrick-Weinberg, founder of Artwalk for Kids/Adults (courtesy photo)

Kerrie Kilpatrick-Weinberg, found of Artwalk for Kids/Adults (courtesy photo)

“Through positive self-expression the doors of opportunity will open,” is the mission statement for the nonprofit Art Walk for Kids/Adults. It could also be the motto for the life of Art Walk’s founder, Kerrie Kilpatrick-Weinberg.

“Art Walk has opened so many doors for me in Santa Barbara, friendships, the areas I work. It’s amazing how things flow into one another when you’re on that right path,” says Kilpatrick-Weinberg, who trained as a set designer in England before developing Art Walk in Santa Barbara in 2000. The program–which is suitable for all but designed for at risk and special needs students–uses the creation of art projects to teach students other academic skills like math, problem solving, reading and understanding directions.

Working around the schedules of her two sons, Ben (now 15) and Sam (now 10), Kilpatrick-Weinberg–who was then a single mother and met her husband Henry Weinberg through Art Walk–began the program as an informal art camp in her backyard. From there she segued into working with the home schooling community, then Devereux’s developmentally disabled students.

She credits her brother Nigel, who was autistic, for inspiring her work. “The hyperactive, the kids with ADHD, the kids who some people call special needs, I just call creative,” she says. “I’ve always done art with any kid that has a learning difference. That seems to be my area, my gift. I don’t find it challenging, I find it really my normal comfort zone because of Nigel.”

With a full art program soon in place at Devereux, Kilpatrick-Weinberg set her sights on expanding to the Los Prietos Boys Camp, a residential correctional/treatment facility for teens.

With the support of the County Arts Commission and the County Education Office, and some funding from the Fund for Santa Barbara, Kilpatrick-Weinberg began her journey into what she calls “the golden triangle,” of Los Prietos Boys Camp, Juvenile Hall and El Puente School, which serves students who have been expelled or imprisoned and are transitioning back to school.

“I would develop this relationship with a kid in Juvenile Hall, then I would see them at Los Prietos for six months, then if things went well they went back to school and they went back to El Puente, so I would have another relationship with them,” says Kilpatrick-Weinberg.

“Some of those kids I knew two years, from beginning to end. It was great to see how well they were doing because a lot of them had given up on themselves, and I’m not saying it was just Art Walk, but the whole process … was immensely life changing for them.”

That continuity of relationships is important. “A lot of the people we work with don’t like too much change,” she says. When Devereux announced closure of its residential program, Kilpatrick-Weinberg began Chagall House so that her autistic adult students could continue to create art. They meet every Wednesday night, have showings of their work around town, and get together for dinner regularly at the Weinberg house, where they catch up socially and discuss and critique their art. Henry, Ben and Sam all take part.

“These are my friends, they’re not just people I create with. They’ve become part of our family,” says Kilpatrick-Weinberg.

Another important part of the Art Walk family is Brandon Sonntag, an artist and teacher who has been collaborating with Kilpatrick-Weinberg since 2001. “It’s just the two of us. There’s something very nice about having two people who get along, who know how to bring out the best in our clients,” she says.

In addition groups already mentioned Art Walk collaborates with a host of other organizations, including local elementary schools, Hillside House, Patricia Henley Foundation, United Nations, Summit for Danny, United Way, Red Cross, Cancer Hope Foundation, Camp Reach for the Stars, Sarah House, Santa Barbara Symphony, Lobero Theatre, and I Madonnari, among others.

One would think her volunteer plate was overflowing from Art Walk, but Kilpatrick-Weinberg still finds time to help at her sons’ schools, and serve on the board of Sarah House, where she and Henry have hosted an annual Oscar Party benefit for the past three years. For the second year, she is also chairing Sarah House’s annual holiday fundraiser–“Light Up the Night: The Artizan’s Ball”–on December 8 at the Santa Barbara Women’s Club.

But Art Walk has opened the door to so many other things for Kilpatrick-Weinberg–including Sarah House, where she first became involved by creating an Art Walk art tree that was auctioned for “Light Up the Night”– that it’s Art Walk that’s closest to her heart.

“Art Walk is a healing program in many ways, it isn’t just about at risk or special needs; it’s about anybody who wants to create. It’s art walk for kids and adults. What it probably should be is art walk for everyone because that’s what it is,” she says.

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For more information about Art Walk for Kids/Adults visit http://www.artwalkforkids.org.

Originally published in Coastal Woman, 2007

With Open Arms: Sarah House

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Sarah House (courtesy photo)

Sarah House (courtesy photo)

While the image of a residential care facility for people who are sick and dying doesn’t exactly conjure uplifting images, a visit to Sarah House is more inspiring than depressing.

“Sarah House is a place where you live your life until the last breath. It’s a celebration of your life,” says Kerrie Kilpatrick-Weinberg, board member of the nonprofit, which opened in 1994 as a home for people with AIDS, and has expanded its mission in recent years to focus on end-of-life care. “You have your family and the things that mean so much to you around. This is important and sometimes gets overlooked when you’re in a larger setting such as a hospital.”

According to executive director Randy Sunday, throughout the past year, 85 percent of Sarah House’s occupancy was for hospice care and only 15 percent for people with AIDS. While anyone designated as “low income” (making less than $27,000 per year) is eligible for care, about 40 percent of the people who live there were previously living on the streets, with no income at all. “These numbers have picked up because awareness has increased in the community,” he says. People often ask if there are conflicts with having formerly homeless people living alongside low-income people, but Sunday says “when you’re sitting in the living room in pajamas, it doesn’t arise; there’s a great quality about that.” He describes the atmosphere at Sarah House as, “not a luxury bed and breakfast, but there are always muffins or fresh granola. For the homeless, it might be the home that they never had. For everyone else, it’s just inspiring. The element of hospitality is something we always want to keep. The unit of care isn’t just the residents, it’s their families and friends as well.”

Working closely with the other end-of-life care agencies in town–such as Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care of Santa Barbara, Doctors Without Walls, Hospice of Santa Barbara, and Cottage Hospital’s Palliative Care Unit–who provide referrals, medical services and counseling, Sarah House offers a warm home for people to live out their days in a caring, extended family atmosphere. Named for the late Sarah Shoresman–her daughter, Linda Lorenzen-Hughes, remains active on the board of directors–Sarah House offers the highest level of medical care in an intimate, eight-bed setting, rather than a sterile hospital environment. “There’s such a need. It’s a special place, and we’re able to offer something to a group of people that may otherwise be forgotten,” says board president Jay Albert.

“We are committed to teaching people to see this as a natural journey, and this is a place to take that journey along with your friends and loved ones,” says board member Nancy Lynn. Part of that community education involves participating in special course on caring for those approaching death. “A lot of people come to the class, it’s not just caregivers but folks who think they might become caregivers at some point and people who have lost someone and want to understand more,” says Sunday.

Sarah House, which doesn’t receive funding from Medicare or Medi-Cal, raises about half a million dollars each year from private sources, individuals, foundations, and special events in order to provide all of its services at low or no cost to residents. The annual events–which include Light Up the Night, an annual holiday party where gorgeous holiday trees designed by local artists and celebrities are auctioned off; an Oscar Party, which celebrates the Academy Awards; and Second Seating Dinner Parties, where members of the community are invited to Sarah House to sit among the residents and learn about the program, among others–are designed not only to raise money but also to help educate people about the organization. “You have to have fun,” says Kilpatrick-Weinberg. “And it’s not making light of the situation. Sarah House is not about dying, it’s about celebrating and living your life right to the very end.”

For Sarah House’s annual holiday fundraiser–“Light Up The Night: The Artizan’s Ball”–on December 8 at the Santa Barbara Women’s Club, dress as your favorite artist or work of art and enjoying live music and special cocktails such as Cosmo Van Gogh. The Oak Group artists will be creating paintings on the spot, to be auctioned off, and many other unique works of art will be available for purchase, along with the traditional holiday trees, designed by local artists and celebrities. Tickets: $100 suggested donation. For more information, call 882-1192 or visit sarahhousesb.org.

Originally published in Santa Barbara Magazine on December 1, 2007.

Sarah House Lights Up The Night with “The Artizans’Ball”

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Sarah House Artizans Ball 2010

Sarah House Artizans Ball 2010

Noted artists Hank Pitcher, Rick Schloss, Matti Berglund, Jane Sun, Brad Nack, Michael Drury, Tom Henderson, Kathleen Elsey, Anthony Ocone, Larry Iwerks and Barnaby Conrad are but a few of the more than 100 artists who have donated their work to assist Sarah House and AIDS Housing Santa Barbara at their annual holiday Light Up The Night benefit at the Santa Barbara Woman’s Club on Saturday, December 8, from 6 to 10 p.m.

Sarah House is the only “social model” home in the nation offering hospice care for low-income or homeless individuals who are in need of a place to die with appropriate care and dignity. Named for the late Sarah Shoresman, whose daughter, Linda Lorenzen-Hughes, remains active on the board of directors, Sarah House does not receive government funding, but relies instead on donations to keep the facility open for those in need.

This year’s fundraiser theme is “The Artizans’ Ball,” which centers on the silent auction of works of art and tabletop holiday trees and wreaths, as well as spectacular vacations in Tuscany, Hawaii, and Careyes, Mexico. This is a different twist for the 16th annual Light up the Night, which has traditionally auctioned off holiday trees designed by local artists and supporters.

“We feel like it’s always good to reinvent yourself,” says chair Kerrie Kilpatrick-Weinberg, who is herself an artist and the founder of Artwalk for Kids. “We’ve done Light up the Night for several years and there’s other people doing trees now, so what this will be is a ball, music, lovely food and drinks, but more importantly art everywhere…It’s very much an auction centered around art energy in Santa Barbara, with the artistic community donating to Sarah House.

The only thing that will be silent will be the auction. The evening includes entertainment by Cats’ N’ Dogs with Lois Mahalia, Tom & Gabe Lackner; the national award-winning San Marcos Madrigals choir; the Living Muses, Buddy Winston, and a surprise or two. Food will be from New West caterers, with local wines from Buttonwood Farm Winery and Alma Rosa Winery and a special bar featuring original concoctions by the Wildcat Lounge, such as a Cosmo Van Gogh and Warhol-on-the-Rocks.

Costumes are optional but everyone is encouraged to come dressed as their favorite artist or in something inspired by a work of art. Tickets are $100 suggested donation. To purchase tickets call 882.1192 or visit www.Sarahhousesb.org

Originally published in Noozhawk