Category Archives: Arts & Culture

Local Lowdown: Culture Club–The Mission Poetry Series

Posted on by
Poet Gina Ferrera is one of three authors featured in the September Mission Poetry Series. Courtesy photo.

Poet Gina Ferrera is one of three authors featured in the September Mission Poetry Series. Courtesy photo.

Poetry is always in season around here, and one of the best places to get your fix is the Mission Poetry Series. Now wrapping up its sixth season, the series recently partnered with Antioch University as a new host venue to serve the literary and poetry communities with free readings from an eclectic assortment of poets each fall and spring. Poet Emma Trelles now programs and hosts the series, along with curator Melinda Palacio, as it evolves and continues to be one of the premiere readings on the Central Coast.

The fall reading (at 1 p.m. on Sept. 26 at Antioch University, 602 Anacapa St.) features poets David Campos, Gina Ferrara and Christine Penko.

Since its inception, the Mission Poetry Series has featured more than 30 poets, offering them paid readings and an opportunity to reach a wide and diverse audience. Each poet reads for 20–30 minutes, and original poetry one-sheet prints, with a poem by each of the featured poets, are distributed free at every reading.

For more information, visit facebook.com/missionpoetryseries.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

Editor’s Pick: Santa Barbara Studio Artists Tour

Posted on by
Painting by Francis Scorzelli, courtesy photo

Painting by Francis Scorzelli, courtesy photo

Santa Barbara Studio Artists Tour takes place on Labor Day weekend this year (Sept. 5–6). It’s always a treat to peek inside the diverse array of local artists’ homes. With 40 artists participating this year, collectors are sure to find something to suit their style.

Originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Editor’s Pick: Dane Goodman and Keith Puccinelli

Posted on by
Artwork by Dane Goodman and Keith Puccinelli, on view at Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.

Artwork by Dane Goodman and Keith Puccinelli, on view at Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.

Collaborations between artists Dane Goodman and Keith Puccinelli are always a treat, full of clever, thought-provoking humor and surprises. Expect nothing less from their latest teaming, “Tug,” part of the ArtWatch 2015 series at Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art (Sept. 2–Oct. 17).

Opening Reception: September 2 | 4:30-7 p.m. | Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, 955 La Paz Rd. 805/565-6162, westmontmuseum.org.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

The Art of Food at SB Public Market

Posted on by

Art-of-Food_Social-Media_Final-Rvsd

Santa Barbara Public Market hosts “The Art of Food” this week: a photography exhibit featuring market merchants, painting class, food + photo tours, a food photography class and more!

As part of this special week of events, Public Market debuts a commissioned photography exhibit by renowned local photographer, Kim Reierson, featuring the stars of the Public Market… the merchants.

Additional scheduled events include:

Sip & Paint with The Painted Cabernet! – Thursday, August 13, 5:30 p.m. – $45

Calling art + wine lovers! Guests are invited to join The Painted Cabernet  for a painting class in The Kitchen at the Public Market! The Painted Cabernet’s instructional artist will walk guests step by step through the painting experience giving one-on-one instruction while giving you the time to sip a little wine, visit with your neighbor, listen to some great music and paint your very own masterpiece to take home at the end of the night! Tickets  include a glass of wine. Additional wine or beer and bites from The Culture Counter will be available for purchase. Call 805/963-9979 for details and to reserve.

Kid’s Corner with Knit Fit – Saturday August 15, 10 a.m.-noon – FREE

Knit Fit will host interactive arts & crafts for kids in The Kitchen, where children can learn how to make creative flower origami and can receive $5 glitter tattoos! Call 805/770-7702 for details! 

Food Photography Lunch & Learn with Chuck Place – Sunday August 16, noon – $45

Join professional photographer Chuck Place (a Seasons‘ contributor) for a “Lunch & Learn” at the Public Market! This hands on food photography class kicks off with a presentation on light manipulation and how to get the perfect plated shot. Guests will then put their new knowledge to use and turn their cameras to beautifully plated salads provided by Flagstone Pantry! The class wraps up with a Q&A discussion with Chuck, accompanied by a light lunch of fresh salads and complimentary champagne split. Participants are required to bring their own cameras, lenses and 24-inch reflector if they have one. Tripods and cable releases are also recommended but not necessary. Class includes lunch and a split of champagne. Advance reservations are required. Call 805/770-7702 for details and to reserve.

Eat This, Shoot That Food Photography Tour of the Public Market! – Saturday August 15 & Sunday August 16 – $39

Eat This, Shoot That!, the premiere food photography tour guide in town, will be hosting several exclusive tours through the Public Market! The brainchild of Tara Jones, a college photography teacher and local foodie, Eat This, Shoot That! tours are like no other, and this will be the first of its kind at the Public Market! The 45-minute tour will lead participants through the Public Market, stopping at various merchants for photo ops along the way. Participants will learn helpful tips and tricks on how to take better photos of food, and of course sample the food they shoot along the way! Two tours a day will be offered on both Saturday, August 15 (3 p.m. & 4:30 p.m.) and Sunday, August 16 (3 p.m. & 4:30 p.m.). Tours include food samplings from several Public Market merchants. Participants will also receive wristbands that grants them Happy Hour pricing at Wine + Beer all day! Call 800/656-0713 or visit Eat This, Shoot That! at the Public Market for details and to reserve.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on August 11, 2015.

Editor’s Pick: La Fiesta Pequeña

Posted on by
Fiesta dancers, photo by Bill Zeldis

Fiesta dancers, photo by Bill Zeldis

One of Old Spanish Days’ most beautiful traditions is the official opening of Fiesta, which has taken place in front of the Santa Barbara Mission since 1927. Always free to the public, La Fiesta Pequeña (“little Fiesta”) is a colorful historical program with traditional songs and dances from the Californio, Flamenco, Spanish Classical and Mexican Folklorico traditions. Old Mission Santa Barbara, 2201 Laguna St. Aug. 5, 8 p.m. oldspanishdays-fiesta.org.

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine, Summer 2015.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Editor’s Pick: New York Philharmonic

Posted on by
Alan Gilbert, courtesy of Music Academy of the West.

Alan Gilbert, courtesy of Music Academy of the West.

Music Academy of the West’s annual summer classical music festival is always fabulous and will be even better this year with free tickets for young people ages 7 to 17 (with paid adults) and special $10 Community Access tickets for all events, including New York Philharmonic’s debut concert at Santa Barbara Bowl. The all-American program features music from Leonard Bernstein’s beloved West Side Story and Aaron Copland’s epic masterpiece Appalachian Spring. Santa Barbara Bowl, 1122 N. Milpas St. Aug. 3, 7 p.m. 805/962-7411, sbbowl.com.

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine, Summer 2015.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Editor’s Pick: The Paintings of Moholy-Nagy

Posted on by
László (or Ladislaus) Moholy-Nagy, Composition, n.d. (ca. 1922-23). Paper collage on paper. SBMA, Gift of Mrs. Charlotte Mack. Courtesy photo.

László (or Ladislaus) Moholy-Nagy, Composition, n.d. (ca. 1922-23). Paper collage on paper. SBMA, Gift of Mrs. Charlotte Mack. Courtesy photo.

The Paintings of  Moholy-Nagy: The Shape of Things to Come is an exciting mash-up of one of the most influential members of the Bauhaus: László Moholy-Nagy’s artwork, with “interventions” inspired by Moholy’s art by designer Alex Rasmussen, whose Goleta-based company Neal Feay reinterprets artistic forms in anodized aluminum. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St., July 5 through September 27. 805/963-4364, sbma.net.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine, Summer 2015

The Art of Getting People Back to Nature | Yarnbomber Stephen Duneier

Posted on by
Stephen Duneier with one of a series of yarn-covered boulders he created at Lizard's Mouth. Photo by Scott London, ScottLondon.com.

Stephen Duneier with one of a series of yarn-covered boulders he created at Lizard’s Mouth. Photo by Scott London, ScottLondon.com.

By Leslie Dinaberg

Artists often use their work to provoke discussion or emotion, but Yarnbomber Stephen Duneier’s colorful creations are site-specific installations designed to get people out to the middle of nowhere.

In this case, “the middle of nowhere” is Santa Barbara County’s plethora of hiking trails. Duneier’s seven projects to date include creating an Alien Campsite on Davy Brown Trail; a series of covered boulders at Lizard’s Mouth; a reflective starfish above the pools at Seven Falls; a spider web at Sasquatch Cave in the playgrounds of Lizard’s Mouth; an enormous boulder on Saddlerock Trail; an ongoing Guinness Book of World Records attempt to create the world’s largest crocheted granny square; and creating his first project—cloaking a 40-ft. tall eucalyptus tree on the Cold Spring Trail’s east fork with a gigantic knitted sweater—which took place in 2012, just 82 days after he picked up knitting needles for the first time ever.

All of Duneier’s projects are done in a way that doesn’t permanently disturb nature, with permission from the U.S. Forest Service. “The forest service has actually been really supportive, now that I have a track record with them, and they know that I’m not just some guy who wants to use the land for my own purposes,” he says.

The other consistent element in a Yarnbomber project is that the installations stay up for just nine days. “The first weekend is all about people just stumbling onto it, then there are five days during the week, when nobody goes hiking very much. The second weekend is all about word–of–mouth. It sort of builds…but I don’t really want crowds; I just want it to be on people’s radar. And having it for nine days, you can’t procrastinate. You’re either going to go see it and make the effort today or you’re just not going to see it,” says Duneier.

The projects, many of which are done in collaboration with artists from around the world, have opened up a world of new experiences for Duneier, whose day job is writing about and managing investments, as well as teaching Decision Analysis at UCSB’s College of Engineering.

“I’ve always been speaking on macroeconomics; talking at big conferences…but now I’ve started talking about making dreams come true; this has been a little offshoot of the yarn bombs,” he says. The audiences vary, but the idea is “how do you have these grand visions and actually make them happen?”

His next “grand vision,” launching sometime this summer, incorporates metalwork and gemstones. As to where and when it pops up, the website yarnbomber.com is the best place to stay tuned.

Says Duneier, “I’m kind of a yes guy…I really don’t know where it all will lead.”

Originally published in the Summer 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

Bach, Broadway & Beyond Features Wicked’s Tiffany Haas

Posted on by

Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 12.06.22 PM

The Music and Arts Conservatory of Santa Barbara presents Bach, Broadway & Beyond, featuring soprano Tiffany Haas, star of Broadway’s Wicked, and MAC’s Virtuoso Strings conducted by Ernest Richardson, on Sunday, June 14 at 7 p.m. at Marjorie Luke Theatre, 721 E. Cota St.

“When Tiffany sang for us I just put a star by her name, put down my pen and listened,” Richardson recalls about his first encounter with Haas’ incredible voice. “From that point on, she has been such an important artist in my life. I write music for Tiffany and her ability to bring life to the notes I write is incredible. She is classically trained and can go from Bach to Broadway effortlessly which she will demonstrate beautifully while she literally enchants Santa Barbara.”

Haas’ program will include Bach’s Cantata No. 51 Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen; L’Amero saro costante from Mozart’s Il Re Pastore; Glitter and Be Gay from Bernstein’s Candide; and Jeanine Tesori’s The Girl in 14G. Also on the program, which may be subject to change, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins in B minor and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com or www.sbmac.org.

In addition,  Haas will offer a musical theater master class and concert preview on Saturday, June 13 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the UCSB Music Department‘s Geiringer Hall. Tickets are $15, $5 for students, at the door. For more information, visit www.sbmac.org.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on June 9, 2015.

Local Poets on Ray Strong

Posted on by
Ray Stanford Strong, Lower East Side, New York City, Rainy Day Under the El, 1926-27. Oil on canvas mounted on board. SBMA, Museum purchase with funds provided by Robert and Marlene Veloz.

Ray Stanford Strong, Lower East Side, New York City, Rainy Day Under the El, 1926-27. Oil on canvas mounted on board. SBMA, Museum purchase with funds provided by Robert and Marlene Veloz.

There’s a great, free poetry event coming up on Thursday, June 11, from 5:30 – 7 p.m. at Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Local poets will follow Ray Strong‘s example in SBMA’s exhibition and write about the world “Beyond Santa Barbara,” while remaining true to their homegrown cultivated poetic visions. The event takes place on the front steps of Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St.   

The museum also has a related exhibition, Ray Strong: Beyond Santa Barbara, running through June 21. Here’s the scoop:

“This intimate presentation of paintings and drawings by esteemed artist Ray Strong (1905–2006) highlights distinct moments within the artist’s practice over the course of 45 years. Featuring landscapes and cityscapes produced outside of the Santa Barbara area, the selected works from the Museum’s holdings offer a view of Strong’s travels and his lifelong interest in depicting the environment around him.”

Ray Strong: Beyond Santa Barbara is organized in conjunction with The Ray Strong Project, an initiative of Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery. This effort includes a series of events and exhibitions coalescing in June of 2015 at museums and galleries in the Santa Barbara area. This initiative will also produce the first monograph on Ray Strong and an online catalogue raisonné.”

For additional information, visit www.theraystrongproject.com.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on June 5, 2015.