Santa Barbara Calendar of Events

Taste & shop, shop & taste. What could be better than giving home-made foods from Los Olivos, California for this holiday season? Come and see our vast selection of hand-painted olive boats and servers from Tunisia and Italy, fair-trade gift baskets made from women's microloan ventures in Rwanda & Ethiopia, hand-cast metal table art from U.S. artist Michael Michaud and lots of great culinary stocking stuffer ideas. Check out our 40+ item food product line, olive oil & gourmet food gift sets and our latest appetizer spreads, sauces, savory snacks & confections. Tasty samples are to be had all weekend long. Bring your friends! We ship globally! 

Mahlon E. Balderston launches the twenty-sixth annual Advent Organ Series. Mr. Balderston's musical contributions to the Santa Barbara community span more than fifty years, as a music professor, composer, and organist. His concert program features some of his most recent compositions for the season of Advent before Christmas. This is a time of meditation, anticipation, and expectation.

Syrah,deep ruby in color,full of fruit - the perfect wine for autumn. Join us and taste 5 wines from exceptional growing areas paired with a delicious culinary selection. Bistro Sommelier will pour and explain the wines. Casual, relaxed atmosphere - $25.00 6pm

Quebec-born artist Julie Lequin explores the construction of identity through role-playing and props, oftentimes with humorous results. A participant in CAF's exhibition Unusual Behavior, Lequin will present a performance piece related to her newest video work in progress Top 30

In its fifteenth year, the La Arcada Christmas Walk promotes a festive holiday spirit, encouraging families and shoppers alike to spend time in a beautiful setting surrounded by unique shops and restaurants such as Andersen’s, Café Shell, Jeannine’s, Petit Valentien, and Whale Tail. Celebrate the season with strolling carolers (SB Noel Carolers, Young Singers Club, Flying Dolphin Quartet) and jazz by the Santa Barbara City College Jazz Choir, Cut Time, and Konrad Kono. Hop on board an old fashioned sleigh for a photo with Santa, enjoy complimentary fresh popped popcorn, cookies, and sing-a-long to familiar holiday tunes. Wander down the enchanting, tree filled court as it is transformed into a winter wonderland. Retail stores and specialty shops including Blue Bee, East Beach Wine Co., Grayphics, Knit & Pearl, Lewis and Clark, Oliver & Espig, Renaissance, The Barber Shop, and Urban Optics will extend their hours for this very special evening- each merchant will offer its own form of holiday cheer. Art enthusiasts will enjoy visiting Gallery 113, Santa Barbara Arts, Waterhouse Gallery and the historically significant permanent collection of interactive sculpture throughout

New! Family 1st Thrusday Holiday Cards & Ornaments Bring the whole family to enjoy 1st Thursday together in SBMA's newly-reopened Family Resource Center located across from the Museum Cafe on the Lower Level. Museum teaching artists will be in the Center to assist families in creating special exhibition-based art projects. In December, getinto the spirit of the season and create decorative holiday cards and festive ornaments featuring works of art from the Museum's exhibitions and collections. Free Thursday, December 3, 5;30-7:30pm

UNWRAP THE MAGIC: More than 50,000 spectators will line downtown Santa Barbara on Friday, December 4, to cheer a colossal contingent of high-stepping marching bands, giant helium balloons, fabulous holiday floats, spectacular performance groups, local personalities, and of course, the most anticipated appearance of the evening the annual arrival of Santa Claus, dispensing holiday cheer from atop his festive sleigh. The Holiday Prince & Fairy officially light up the night with the lighting of the large Christmas tree at State & Victoria Streets. Parade entry applications available 9/14/09.

The Santa Maria Valley Wine Country will be celebrating the holiday season with their “Wine Christmas” Passport featuring eleven local wineries. In addition to wine tasting, each winery will feature Christmas décor, music, and the winning cookie and wine pairing recipes from each winery.

The Choral Society's annual presentation of this masterpiece is inspirational―the feel-good ticket of the season. Soloists Elissa Johnston, Cynthia Jansen, Jonathan Mack, and Dean Elzinga  join the 130-voice chorus and orchestra, under of the baton of Music Director and Conductor JoAnne Wasserman, in what will certainly be a virtuoso rendering of Handel's MESSIAH, Part 1 and Selections from Parts 2 and 3.

In conjunction with our friends at Buttonwood Farm Winery who hold their own Pomegranate Festival today also...the annual premiere of our ever-popular Pomegranate Finishing Glaze featuring our favorite appetizer recipe. Sample two new exclusive Global Gardens Pomegrante items: Pomegranate Golden Balsamic Vinegar & Pomegranate Agrodolce Olive Oil Pound Cake.  Pomegranate Olive Branch wreath design & sales by Anita & Sunita. Special recipes and sampling of our new pomegranate selection available all day!

Bring your family and friends to the Botanic Garden and enjoy a Docent-guided tour highlighting the beautiful Japanese Teahouse and Garden exhibit. Tours are free to members and are included in the price of Garden admission for non-members.

Visit Santa Barbara through the eyes of an early-twentieth-century tourist in this exhibit of hand colored glass lantern slides. This collection, donated to the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation by community activist Pearl Chase, provides a rare glimpse of our city as seen by visitors almost a century ago. We think you will be surprised at what has changed, and how much remains the same!

Today, too few people know of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts. Flourishing during the 1920s, the School brought together a pantheon of illustrious artists including Carl Oscar Borg, Edward Borein and Colin Campbell Cooper. Join Guest Curator Marlene Miller as she presents The Guiding Lights of this extraordinary institution.

California Calling: Works from Santa Barbara Collections, 1948 - 2008 Part I: July 18 - December 27, 2009 Part II: September 12 - December 20, 2009 Eclectic, inventive, anti-conformist… these are just a few of the widespread characterizations of artists who have lived and worked in the richest, most diverse, and most populous region in the United States since the end of World War II. California Calling is a two-part exhibition highlighting works from a selection of artists and movements in California from the past sixty years. Drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection and selected local collections, works included exemplify the distinctive vitality of art in the region and the significance of the SBMA as a venue for art on the West Coast.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art August/September 2009 Contact: Katrina Carl 805.884.6430 kcarl@sbma.net Noble Tombs at Mawangdui: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom (3rd Century BCE – 1st Century CE) September 19 - December 13, 2009 Originating from the Hunan Provincial Museum and organized by the China Institute in New York, this exhibition, traveling to the United Stated for the first time, highlights one of the most important archaeological excavations in China - the unearthing of Mawangdui, the tomb of the first lady and family of the Changsha Kingdom (died 168 BCE) in the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-8 CE). The Santa Barbara Museum of Art will be the second and only west coast venue. This exhibition will include some of the finest and among the earliest extant lacquers, silks, paintings, calligraphy, and books. Through these various art works, the exhibition will also examine and reconstruct the art and culture of the Western Han dynasty, a formative period of Chinese culture and civilization, focusing on daily cuisine and drink, cosmetics and fashion, music and entertainment, healthcare and exercise, and the fascinating beliefs of the immortal world. The accompanying exhibition catalogue will be bilingual and published by the Hunan Provincial Museum.

Our fall exhibition is an artistic exploration and celebration of the majesty and subtlety of California's Southern Sierra Nevada mountain range. Offering unique perspectives of four artists working in different media: woodcut prints by Tom Killion, line drawings by Matthew Rangel, photographs by Jeff Jones, and oil paintings by Zenaida Mott. Their work speaks to the importance of the Sierra Nevadas in the history of California and the lives of Californians, the dominant beauty of the landscape and fragility of the wildlife, and the urgent need for awareness and preservation.

After Life gathers an eclectic selection of images on death and dying. From intimate post-mortem photographs of the 19th century to Salvador Dali’s surrealist interpretations of Dante’s heaven and hell, objects range from the actual to the imagined. Cultural customs of mourning and burial are captured not only in American daguerreotypes, but also in photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson of grieving Indians at Gandhi’s funeral and an austere Egyptian mummy by Antonio Beato. HOLIDAY CLOSURE: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

Both abstract and evocative, the objects on view subtly reference familiar forms and functions. Robert Therrien’s wall-hung relief suggests an isolated keystone, suspended by its own force. Similarly Dane Goodman’s cylindrical object recalls a functional, if uncertain, implement. Matthew Mullican’s outsized canvas distills nature’s seasons into a lexicon of symbols like a lost language. Together these works hint at meaning and imply their messages. HOLIDAY CLOSURE: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

This exhibition conjures the early, heady days of travel which occurred in lockstep with photography’s development. The objects in Holiday show glimpses of a long lost world which was newly opened due to transportation advances and a growing middle class eager to explore foreign lands for personal edification, religious fervor and a desire to see the exotic. HOLIDAY CLOSURE DATES: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

Video still, courtesy of Michael Rosenthal Gallery, San Francisco Jillian Mcdonald is a multimedia artist who explores the romance and horror film genres in her multimedia work. Her performance-based video, Horror Make-Up (2006) was filmed, unbeknownst to her fellow subway riders, while on a typical commute to work. Mcdonald filmed herself applying cosmetics during the ride, transforming her features into that of a zombie HOLIDAY CLOSURE DATES: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

Savor the rich heritage of California’s wine-making industry at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort, offering a new tradition of Santa Barbara wine tasting. Join us every Friday and Saturday evening from 5:00pm to 7:00pm in Café Los Arcos, conveniently located within our beautiful main lobby. For just $12 per person, you’ll have the opportunity to sample six different Fess Parker wines, all locally produced near our quiet coastal enclave. Delight in one of the most intimate wine tastings in Santa Barbara, and indulge in the following exceptional vintages:

• 2006 Select Cuvée Chardonnay


• Fess Parker Syrah


• "Ashley's Vineyard" Chardonnay


• Fess Parker Viognier


• "Bien Nacido Vineyard" Pinot Noir


• "The Big Easy" Syrah

Diana Thater October 24, 2009 – January 31, 2010 Internationally renowned pioneer of film and video art Diana Thater creates what she describes as “sculpture with images of nature in space.” Phenomena of the natural world are recurring motifs for the artist, whose site-specific video and light installations explore the relationship between beauty and technology, and nature and the way it is mediated through human intervention. Two major works are the focus of this compelling exhibition, including Untitled Videowall (2008), which stems from the Monarch Butterfly Project, the artist’s response to a call by curators, collectors and environmentalists to draw attention to encroachments upon the species’ winter home in Michoacán, Mexico. The Museum debut of this work coincides with the arrival of the Monarchs on the central coast during their annual migration.

The Santa Barbara Art Association will sponsor a benefit exhibit open to all local artists at Gallery 113, #8 in La Arcarda Court, 1114 State Street. Open daily 11-4:00, Sun 1-5:00. Opening Reception: Thursday, Nov. 5, 5-8:00. A percentage of proceeds from the ehxibit will benefit Domestic Violence Solutions, Santa Barbara’s only shelter for victims of domestic violence. Featured artists of the exhibit are urban landscape oil painter Patricia Chidlaw, and abstract printmaker Tony Askew. Raffle tickets for a basket donated by Saks Fifth Avenue may be purchased at the gallery.

Anthony Peres makes fine art photographs of landscape and architecture using traditional film and digital technologies. He also photographs for clients in the architecture, interior design, and motion picture industries. His architectural photographs have been featured publications of the Museum of Modern Art, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and Architectural Digest. He has been a principal contributor for David G. De Long’s Auldbrass: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southern Plantation, and has co authored the monograph Robert Stacy-Judd with the late architectural historian David Gebhard.

Discover how ceramics were made, used and traded in early California with the newest exhibit at El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park, Ceramics Rediscovered: Science Reshapes Understanding of Hispanic Life in Early California. Based on a decade-long investigation of ceramic production using archaeological evidence and scientific analysis, the exhibit offers a rare glimpse into daily life during California’s Spanish and Mexican periods (1769-1848). Featuring period artifacts and reproduction pottery, this groundbreaking exhibit traces the evolution of California’s earliest potters and the material culture they helped shape.

This exhibition will feature performance-based video works that explore the notion of the absurd. Based loosely on non sequitur Dadaist techniques and surrealist-inspired writings, this exhibition explores absurdity in its many meanings. In many instances, these artists employ theatrical techniques by utilizing crudely-made props, costumes, and flimsy sets. By engaging dark and oftentimes ironic humor in absurd or impossible scenarios, these artists expose the underlying brutality, dehumanization, fears and taboos of American society.

Mitchell Wright November 14, 2009 – January 17, 2010 The Reconstruction Wright’s drawings and paintings contemplate the romantic, evoking strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience and placing emphasis on trepidation, horror, and awe. In his work, one can see inspirations from varied sources including art history (Caspar David Friedrich and Francisco Goya), literature (William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor), and music (Neil Young). Mitchell Wright’s latest paintings were inspired by William Faulkner’s short story, Barn Burning. Relating this text to his own personal history, Wright creates images to understand how one’s sense of things is guided by their past and the importance of understanding when this is happening. This subject matter of buildings subsumed by flames has a particularly haunting and poignant read in the context of recent Santa Barbara fires and the tragedies that ensued.

Transport yourself every Wednesday to the streets of Buenos Aires. Watch the street performers mesmerizing you with the amazing beauty of the exotic and elegant Argentine dance: TANGO. Cafe Buenos Aires is proud to present and support Brian Griffin and Fey Villanueva's dance crew. Two sets of wonderful coreographies. There isn't a better offer in Santa Barbara.

Step back in time to a 1910 Santa Barbara farmhouse turned art gallery and studio. “Paintings BIG and small” is a new show of landscape views featuring Larry Iwerks’ contemporary paintings of our National Parks and California’s magnificent coastline and new watercolors by Cornelia Chapman and Ruston Slager. Also available, paintings in all styles and media by regional painters Jamee Aubrey, Susan Belloni, Cornelia Chapman, Deanna Cohen, Don Iwerks, Betty Little, Filiberto Lomeli, Manny Lopez, Larry Powell, John Rowbottam, Mark Sheridan, Ruston Slager, Skip Smith, Leigh Sparks, Debbie Watts and Special Guests