At the Santa Barbara Beautiful awards on Sunday they honored Phyllis Di Piccioto for a lifetime contribution to the community. Founder of the Santa Barbara Film Festival and involved in so many other ways, I appreciated how simple she said it was - "I showed up." While not everyone shows up like Phyllis, it struck me that this is a really important lesson. As Sister Corita wrote, "The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It's the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things." Show up, work, try, fail, try again. Keep at it and eventually you'll catch on.
Santa Barbara is such a truly beautiful place, with so many people who contribute to make it a place with a soul. While it's easy to see that at an event at the Music Academy honoring the best of "Santa Barbara Beautiful," I try to remember that it's beautiful because they showed up, worked, failed, tried again and, in the end, made a lasting contribution.
(You can find a copy of Sister Corita's Rules for Artists here.)
Categories:
Tags: Sister Corita Kent, Santa Barbara Beautiful, Work, art, sblifestyle
One of the better developments in the Santa Barbara arts scene was not too long ago when Laura Inks was named Director of Education at The Granada. Working on creating programs for teens, she quickly realized that as good or interesting as your program is, it's really difficult to get kids to come.
So, Laura did something really smart - she asked the kids how they would like to participate. Engaging them in the creation of the program means they are already invested before it begins, teaches valuable skills and ensures that you really are serving your audience.
As you may guess they came up with an idea for a social network (ala Facebook) that is for Santa Barbara students who love the arts. http://sbyoutharts.ning.com/ With the help of a summer intern from Cal Arts and a local web-designer the students came up with this new website. Somewhere they could go to find and share resources, connect with other kids in the arts, post videos and publicize their events and activities in the arts, and find out about classes, jobs and auditions.
As with most social networks, the more people who participate, the deeper and richer the connects and content. Sign up and contribute!
So one of the really great things about working at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art is that when a new show opens the staff has a walkthrough with the curator. Today's walkthrough was with curator Julie Joyce for the Stranger Than Fiction and Chasing Moby Dick exhibitions.
I happen to love works on paper. I like to see the marks made by the artist, the process, the starts and stops. A friend of mine once said that it was because I like to read, and works on paper are often like books. That seems very appropriate with the new SBMA exhibition as the works in the show deal with ideas of storytelling and narrative.
Two of the artworks in the show are drawings by Santa Barbara's Eric Beltz. Eric came to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB and has continued on, teaching classes and working on these incredible drawings. The detail is incredible and takes a long time to discover all of the layers, meaning and connections. I have the good fortune to be one of Eric's Facebook friends and get to watch the progress of his work as he posts pictures of his daily work. Objects come and go, lines are erased and redrawn, text is added and deleted. The final drawing done entirely in graphite is elegant and profane.
I wanted to be sure and highlight the work "Drunk Jesus Calendar" which was just added to the permanent collection of the museum. It is to the curators' credit that there are many local artists represented in the museum's collections and that they are often shown in context with their peers from all over the world. "Drunk Jesus Calendar" inspired by the local wine country and culture is a great addition.
Below is Eric's description of the work. If you want to see more his site is http://www.ericbeltz.com/ and if you're in NYC he shows at Morgan Lehman Gallery. Eric will give a talk at SBMA on Sunday, November 7 at 2:30pm. (and it's free!) The rest of the show is great too, check it out before January.
Drunk Jesus Calendar
Jesus in a deep alcoholic, meditative bliss. Drunk on wine. A visionarycalendar emerges showing the various events throughout the year on the vineyard and in the winery: the wine-maker¹s calendar. The phases of the
moon surround the calendar, from new moon to the full moon behind his head.The moons are also grayscale ³eyes² of concentric rings that have the same four-step grayscale as the rainbows that emerge from the black sun in the center of the calendar and diamond pattern border. This, to me, is an attempt to show the power of the grayscale, my devotion to it as an artist, and that it is an important part to understanding my work.
The crosses
throughout the image are raptor perches used by growers to attract predatory birds who kill the small creatures like gophers and other rodents that threaten the growing vines and ripening fruit the bird on the upper left
cross is a kestrel. The starling on the post with the barbed-wire is a sign that the fruit is ripe because they show up when the fruit is sweet. The text emanating from his heart gives a name to those stages of grape-growing and wine-making. They are listed in sequential, cyclical order as they occur around the year. "Rest" is pointing up at his head because he is resting.The text behind Jesus is from Meister Eckhart (13th century German mystic) but is here meant to refer to wine as the holy "spirit".
As with all of my drawings, I am interested in the origin of symbols, myths, beliefs, etc. The effects of alcohol (in this case, psychedelics in others) combined within a belief system that uses altered states of consciousness can confirm those beliefs: Drink this and you will feel the spirit possess you. This is the awakening and the beginning of the transformation of the mundane world into the sacred. A raptor perch becomes a holy cross. The sheep used to mow the grass between vines become personifications of a deity. The hope that fruit is born from labor becomes submerged in gospel.
This drawing came about through a variety of accidental encounters. The robe Jesus is wearing was a gift, a blanket that a former student's mother made and that he gave to me. The cross perches I saw at a vineyard in Ballard and who make wine called La Croce. Some of the elements in the background and the calendar vignettes are from photographs I took while traveling and visiting vineyards and wineries, others are from books on wine. The datura in the lower left corner appears in many of my drawing and is a reminder of the native psychoactive weeds and it¹s importance to me.
Categories:
Tags: Eric Beltz, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Stranger than Fiction, Julie Joyce
The first post it the easiest, right? I've been working on a little project to raise some funds for the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative's grants for artists. Fortunately I know the fabulous Nicole Strasburg (you've seen her work at Sullivan Goss) who is a member of the Santa Barbara Printmakers. We've cooked up a deal for those emerging (burgeoning?) collectors who would love to buy local art if only they knew how. For the next year you can get a print a month from some of the very best local printmakers, splurge and get the whole series or pick up a couple during the year. Instant art collection!
Here's the whole scoop:
Beginning October 1, 2010, California Arts Day
Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative and Santa Barbara Printmakers
Limited Edition
One year, one artist per month, one print in an edition of twenty-five
Participating Santa Barbara Printmakers Nicole Strasburg, October 2010 Pamela Zwehl Burke, November 2010 Marie Schoeff, December 1 2010 Carolyn Hubbs, December 15 2010 Nina de Creeft Ward, January 2011 Teresa Zepeda, February 2011 Valori Fussell, March 2011 Dug Uyesaka, April 2011 Libby Smith, May 2011 Rafael Perea de la Cabada, June 2011 Michael Jameson, July 2011 Nina Warner, August 2011 Stephanie Dotson, September 2011
Subscriptions available now! Get all 13 prints for $550, or one each month for $50 - with a bonus print on December 15. www.sbartscollaborative.org
There are a limited number of subscriptions available. Please contact Tracey Morris for more info traceyamorris[at]yahoo.com
Sale of individual prints begins in October 2010. www.sbartscollaborative.org Proceeds benefit the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative Direct-to Artist Grants.
The Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative is an inclusive group of artists and arts supporters committed to sustaining and growing all forms of the arts in Santa Barbara . SBAC welcomes all to participate in the focused support of individual artists and arts organizations that contribute to the unique cultural ecology of our community.
We are: Actors, Arts Professionals, Arts Supporters, Dancers, Directors, Designers, Musicians, Filmmakers, Poets, Visual Artists, Writers, and everyone who wishes to collaborate and sustain the arts in Santa Barbara.
The Santa Barbara Printmakers are a group of artists dedicated to promoting and producing art work that uses hand and press printing techniques for the purposes of artistic exploration and expression. Images by artists in this group have been made with printing processes that include: etching, monotype, woodblock, collagraph, linocut, clay, lithography and digital programming. Santa Barbara Printmakers provides exhibition opportunities several times a year, as well as information about printmaking activities in the Santa Barbara area via their website, blog and email list serve. Its membership encompasses both emerging and established artists.
California Arts Day was created by the California Arts Council and established by Proclamation of the Governor. It takes place the first Friday of October every year during National Arts & Humanities Month.
Arts Day began not only as a celebration of creativity; in its first year it was part of the healing process after the tragedies of September 11, 2001 and served as an opportunity for Californians to re-connect with their communities and affirm humanity's finer instincts.
The purpose of Arts Day is to demonstrate the role and value of arts and culture throughout California . The California Arts Council has encouraged the celebration of Arts Day by working to make this a commonly recognized annual celebration using two simple messages:
The arts are important - economically, socially, and educationally.
The arts are everywhere.
Arts Day has been celebrated in many ways during the last several years-from music festivals, free museum admissions and free nights at performing arts venues, to arts advocacy rallies, advertisements, contests and newspaper columns. It is an opportunity for Californians to appreciate and experience the power and influence of the arts in all aspects of our lives-building communities, bridging cultures and celebrating diversity.
Tags: Nicole Strasburg, Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative
