Mentors and Makers: The Artists of Westmont College

MENTORS AND MAKERS: The Artists of Westmont College, at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

MENTORS AND MAKERS: The Artists of Westmont College, at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

As part of its continuing commitment to exhibit the work of talented emerging artists alongside important established and historically significant artists, Sullivan Goss Gallery hosts an exhibition of works by the art department faculty of Westmont College. Mentors and Makers: The Artists of Westmont College opens on Dec. 6 with a 1st Thursday Reception from 5-8 p.m. The exhibition remains on view through Jan. 20.

The art department at Westmont College has always had an outsized influence on the art scene of the region. But tucked away in its bucolic Montecito campus, it can be easy to overlook how much concentrated talent is found there. “Currently, Westmont’s arts faculty consists of some of the most intriguing, adventurous, and distinct artists working in and around Santa Barbara, though their work is making waves over a much larger area,” says Curator Nathan Vonk.

Featured artists include:

Scott Anderson received his M.F.A. in illustration from The University of Hartford, and an M.A. in illustration from Syracuse University. His illustration work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, LA Weekly, The Village Voice, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and many others. He has also created numerous book covers for the popular “Who Is” series from the Grosset & Dunlap division of Penguin Books. His work has been awarded and recognized by Communication Arts, American Illustration, the Society of Illustrators New York, the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, and in multiple volumes of Spectrum. A gallery painter as well, Anderson exhibits his figurative work annually with Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Scott Anderson, Wave 2, 2017, 7 x 11," oil on canvas, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Scott Anderson, Wave 2, 2017, 7 x 11,” oil on canvas, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

James Daly focuses on figurative work and classical methods in various genres. Most recently his art has been an exploration of movement, visual memory, and experience in the outdoors. Daly is a graduate of Westmont and UCSB with degrees in Studio art and a Masters in Education. For the last eleven years he has developed a classically based curriculum that follows atelier-style art education for Providence Upperschool and more recently joined Westmont as an adjunct instructor.

James Daly, Haskell's Sunset, 2018, 6 x 8 inches, oil on board, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

James Daly, Haskell’s Sunset, 2018, 6 x 8 inches, oil on board, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Nathan Huff earned his M.F.A. in Drawing and Painting, from California State University Long Beach, and also studied at Watts Atelier School of Art. Huff creates drawing and painting installations that function as freewheeling narratives: personal stories that explore the gaps between visual perception and modes of representation. Huff’s solo museum and gallery exhibitions have been featured at UCR Culver and Sweeney Galleries (Riverside), Los Angeles at D.E.N. Contemporary (West Hollywood), New Media Gallery (Ventura) Minthorne Gallery, (Oregon), and Gallerie View (Salambo, Tunisia.)

Nathan Huff, Skies and Schisms 5, 2018, 22 x 30 inches, gouache on paper, on board, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Nathan Huff, Skies and Schisms 5, 2018, 22 x 30 inches, gouache on paper, on board, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Sommer Roman was born and raised in California. She received her BA from UC Santa Cruz in 2004, and her MFA from UC Santa Barbara in 2014. She maintains a multi-disciplinary practice spanning sculpture, painting, and drawing and teaches part-time at California Polytechnic University (Cal Poly) & Westmont College in Santa Barbara. Some of her recent projects & exhibits include: Left Coast; Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Art, a group exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Out of the Great Wide Open, a group exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara; Artist Residency & culminating solo exhibition, Passage at UC Santa Barbara; Artist Residency at The Squire Foundation, and most recently, In the Woods, Perpetual Youth, a solo exhibit at Ventura College.

Sommer Roman, Sighting no. 542, 2018, 55 x 20 x 26 inches, reclaimed fabric, clothing, pillows, feathers, paint, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Sommer Roman, Sighting no. 542, 2018, 55 x 20 x 26 inches, reclaimed fabric, clothing, pillows, feathers, paint, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Chris Rupp received his BA from Westmont College and an MFA from Azusa Pacific University. While trained primarily as a sculptor, Rupp does not limit his art making to traditional sculptural mediums or even three-dimensional forms. From graphite drawings, to molded plastic, or the use of unconventional store bought materials. His work has been exhibited at the Inland Empire Museum of Art, Biola University, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, The Channing Peake Gallery, and the Santa Barbara Arts Fund.

Chris Rupp, Dreamers Welcome, 2018, 18 x 30 inches, acrylic enamel paint on coir door mat, on board, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Chris Rupp, Dreamers Welcome, 2018, 18 x 30 inches, acrylic enamel paint on coir door mat, on board, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Meagan Sterling has an M.A. and an M.F.A. in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her work has been displayed in many juried and group exhibitions, from Denver and Peoria to Seattle and Spokane. She says, “The paradox of daily life as safe and comfortable, juxtaposed with its polar opposite—defense against life’s uncertainties—appears to bully the American Dream itself. My art explores images of post World War II Americana where energy and resources were often used to advance comfort and promise safety and well being.”

Meagan Stirling, Everlasting Arms 5, 2018, 16 x 16 inches, Drypoint and Monoprint, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Meagan Stirling, Everlasting Arms 5, 2018, 16 x 16 inches, Drypoint and Monoprint, on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery, is located at 11 E. Anapamu St. in downtown Santa Barbara.

Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on December 2, 2018.

Cocktail Corner: 2016 Live Downtown Art & Wine Tour

Downtown Art & Wine Tour, courtesy Downtown Santa Barbara.

Downtown Art & Wine Tour, courtesy Downtown Santa Barbara.

A spirited toast to all things alcoholic! By Leslie Dinaberg

Downtown Art and Wine Tour

Art and wine are always an excellent pair, and this year’s 2016 Downtown LIVE Art & Wine Tour is adding a fun new twist to the mix: Live Art!

Each of the participating venues north of Carrillo Street—including 10 West Gallery, Bella Rosa Galleries, Churchill Jewelers, Distinctive Art Gallery, Engel & Vӧlkers, Imagine X Functional Neurology, Indigo Interiors, The Painted Cabernet, Santa Barbara Arts, Santa Barbara Public Market and Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery—hosts a LIVE cultural event paired with a Santa Barbara restaurant and regional winery.

“Our ingenious venues are exhibiting everything from painting, spinning, live photo development—even aerialists, all performed LIVE,” says Maggie Campbell, Downtown Santa Barbara Executive Director.

Downtown Art & Wine Tour, courtesy Downtown Santa Barbara.

Downtown Art & Wine Tour, courtesy Downtown Santa Barbara.

You can sip from your choice of ten wineries and one brewery along your cultural journey. Participants include: The Brander Vineyard, Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard, Cebada Wine, Fess Parker Winery, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co, Grassini Family Vineyards, Margerum Wine Company, Presidio Vineyard & Winery, Sanford Winery & Vineyards, Standing Sun Wines, Summerland Winery, Wine + Beer and Windrun Wines.

Downtown Art & Wine Tour, courtesy Downtown Santa Barbara.

Downtown Art & Wine Tour, courtesy Downtown Santa Barbara.

Food offerings included in the ticket price are from: Blush, bouchon Santa Barbara, Brasil Arts Café, C’est Cheese, Ca’Dario, Chase Restaurant & Lounge, Enterprise Fish Co, Finch & Fork, Los Arroyos Mexican Restaurant, Nectar Eatery & Lounge, Nothing Bundt Cakes, opal restaurant and bar, Paradise Café, Pascucci, Patxi’s Pizza, Persona Wood Fired Pizzeria and Viva Santa Barbara.

Tickets, which are $65 for the tour and include the Final Party, may be purchased at www.DSBLiveArtWine.Nightout.com, or at the Downtown Santa Barbara office (27-B E. de la Guerra St., M-F, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., check or credit card only). A limited number of tickets are available, so advance purchase is a must if you don’t want to miss out on the fun.

For more information, please call 805/962-2098, ext. 804 or visit www.DowntownSB.org. The festivities take place in Downtown Santa Barbara on Thursday, May 26, from 5:30-10 p.m. Hope to see you there!

Cheers to art and wine together! Click here for more cocktail corner columns.

Leslie Dinaberg

When she’s not busy working as the editor of Santa Barbara SEASONS, Cocktail Corner author Leslie Dinaberg writes magazine articles, newspaper columns and grocery lists. When it comes to cocktails, Leslie considers herself a “goal-oriented drinker.”

 Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on May 13, 2016.

Local Poets on Ray Strong

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.

April 1st Thursday – Ode to Poetry Month

Sullivan Goss April

Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery celebrates local poet and artist Barry Spacks.

The Downtown 1st Thursday April 3 event includes more than two dozen cultural art venues, standing by with poetry, art, music and more, for National Poetry Month. Here are some of the highlights:

Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery (7 & 11 E. Anapamu St.) will celebrate the life and work of Barry Spacks, Santa Barbara’s first Poet Laureate and beloved artist. The Spacks’ estate provided 108 works of art that will be offered at $108, a number that is sacred in the artist’s Buddhist religion. Special poetry readings will take place throughout a not-to-be-missed evening.

Salt (740 State St.) has “Poetry in the Cave,” for a fun-filled evening of words and community in their.pink Himalayan salt caves. For another spoken word experience, the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (653 Paseo Nuevo Terrace) is presenting a performance by Julia Landois and Erik Sanden, Live Ballast at 7 p.m.

Award-winning plein air artist Jason Sacran is conducting a painting demonstration at Waterhouse Gallery (1114 State St., #9) and over at The Book Den (15 E. Anapamu St.),  Eric Kelley is celebrating his 35th anniversary as the proprietor of California’s oldest used bookstore (founded in 1902).

SBHM April

Henry Chapman Ford etching, Mission Santa Barbara, a gift of Leona Thomas on display at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum.

Santa Barbara Historical Museum (136 E. De la Guerra St.) opens a new exhibition, “Impressions in Ink: Etchings from the Collection,”featuring artist Henry Chapman Ford. Learn how the Santa Barbara Art Foundry makes unique bronze sculptures in a step-by- step process on Marshalls Patio (900 State St.).

Join the Lobero Theatre (33 E. Canon Perdido St.) from 7:30-9:30 p.m. for 1st Thursday: After Hours. Don’t miss une bonne soirée onstage: enjoy hors d’eouvres from Sojourner Cafe, wine from Roblar Winery and eclectic cabaret presented by Kerrilee Kaski.

For more information and a complete listing of the specific programming offered at each gallery, as well as all public performances and interactive exhibits, go to santabarbaradowntown.com/about/1st-thursday.

 

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on April 2, 2014.