VOICE Magazine: March 31, 2023

Photo by Zach Mendez

Alzheimer’s Women’s Initiative: Continuing the Fight Against Dementia

By Janelle Boesch Communications Manager, Alzheimer’s Association California Central Coast Chapter

AT THE FIRST ALZHEIMER’S WOMEN’S INITIATIVE LUNCHEON in Santa Barbara nearly ten years ago, emcee Gerd Jordano asked the audience of nearly 500 people how many of them have had family members or loved ones diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Almost every hand in the room went up.

“I was surprised to see so many people affected by this tragic disease right here in our community,” Jordano said.

Since then, the Alzheimer’s Women’s Initiative (AWI) committee has continued its mission to help educate the community about the disease and find ways to help raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association California Central Coast Chapter.

The committee was first founded back in 2012 by Gerd Jordano and Anne Towbes, after being invited by the former executive director of the Central Coast Chapter.

and why it affected more women than men.”

Together, Jordano and Towbes began asking local women to join, some who had health care experience and others who had a connection to the disease or who were active in the community philanthropically.

After about a year of forming the committee, the AWI members came to a decision to host a luncheon as a way to fulfill their mission.

The first luncheon was held in 2014, featuring a scientific presentation about the latest in Alzheimer’s research and a celebrity keynote speaker.

The annual luncheon took a halt after its fifth event in 2018 and is returning for the first time in four years, with Jordano and Towbes as honorary co-chairs. The Inspire Luncheon will take place at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort on April 26, 2023.

said. “The Alzheimer’s Association can help patients, caregivers and family members with information and encouragement on how to continue to live a positive and purpose-filled life for as long as possible.”

The Luncheon is coordinated by Katina Zaninovich, Board Chair and AWI Committee Chair, and her hardworking committee: Sue Adams, Linda Alderman, Leigh Cashman, Carole East, Carol Fell, Gabriella Garcia, Rhonda Henderson, Penny Jenkins, Lauren Katz, Roseanne Masi Marquis, Robin Sonner, Betsy Turner and Mary Werft.

To purchase tickets or join as a sponsor visit inspire2023.givesmart.com, or contact Lindsey Leonard, Executive Director, at lmleonard@alz.org or 805.617.0226.

Thanks to our Sponsors: Caring Sponsors: Linda Alderman, COX, Gerd & Peter Jordano, Union Bank, Village Properties, VNA Health and Katina Zaninovich.

To purchase tickets or join as a sponsor visit inspire2023.givesmart.com, or contact Lindsey Leonard, Executive Director, at lmleonard@alz.org or 805.617.0226.

“The timing was miraculously good for me since a dear friend from school days had just been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s,” Jordano said. “I was so sad to get this news and wanted to find out more about this disease; I had little background on what it was

This exciting and educational event will feature Jane Seymour as keynote speaker, Andrew Firestone as master of ceremonies, and Alzheimer’s Association Senior Director of Scientific Programs and Outreach Claire Sexton, who will present on lifestyle changes to reduce risk of dementia, as well as research and new treatments.

Funds raised by Inspire Luncheon will further the Alzheimer’s Association’s mission of ending Alzheimer’s and all other dementia by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support.

“The one thing none of us wants to lose is our independence, and Alzheimer’s can happen to any of us at any time,” Towbes

Caregiver Table Sponsors: Montecito Bank & Trust, Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara Memory Care and Peter Martin Storybooks.

Supporting Sponsors: Casa Dorinda, Paul Cashman - State Farm Insurance, Home Choices for Mom and Dad, Quinn Fiduciary Services, Radius Group - The Golis Team, Santa Barbara Estate Planning & Elder Law, Anne Towbes, Tri-County Produce, Betsy Turner/Straus Family Foundation, and UCLA Health.

Giving Sponsors: Caring Together Santa Barbara County, Cottage Health, Covenant Living at the Samarkand, Dr. Gabriella Garcia & Fernando Garcia, First American Title Company, Hennessey Inc., Hospice of Santa Barbara, Lauren Katz, Lompoc Valley Medical Center, and San Luis WealthBrad Goodwin & Luke Kittinger.

Keynote Speaker Jane Seymour

Senior Director of Scientific Programs and Outreach Claire Sexton

is L and views from near Ly every room , and impressive contemporary architecture with seam L ess indoor / outdoor f Low s ituated on 1.38 acres , this spectacu L ar home enjoys an entry L eve L primary suite , four guest bedrooms ( each ensuite ) with patio and garden access , poo L & spa , poo L cabana and remarkab L e gardens . t he kitchen features qua L ity stain L ess stee L app L iances , a L arge chef ’ s is L and with a bui Lt - in sink , and bar seating . t he

3620

ETC to Present: The Children

By Daisy Scott / VOICE

AS EARTH DAY’S BIRTHPLACE, there is perhaps no better location for a performance of The Children than Santa Barbara. Part eco-thriller drama, part love story, with unexpected humor woven throughout, The Children boldly confronts climate change, questioning the complicated relationship between the older generation and the young people who will inherit the planet.

This spring, locals will witness this dynamic work unfold with a cast of New Vic Theater regulars when the Ensemble Theatre Company and Director Jenny Sullivan present The Children from April 6th through the 23rd.

“I think I’m not giving anything away by saying that one of my actresses said, ‘I love the idea of working on a play that asks the question, what are you willing to die for?” shared Director Jenny Sullivan.

Inspired by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, The Children follows married and retired nuclear physicists, Hazel (Nancy Travis) and Robin (Michael Butler), who live in a coastal British cottage after a tsunami hit a nuclear reactor. When the couple’s former colleague, Rose (Linda Purl), unexpectedly arrives, the trio is forced to examine their shared past and the catastrophe before them. Over the course of 100 compelling minutes, morals are raised and questioned as they discuss what they, as older individuals, may owe to the younger generation.

Sullivan, who directed ETC’s 20212022 season productions of Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical and Sleuth, voiced that she appreciates The Children’s sense of purpose.

“This will definitely go down in the books as one [play] that I will treasure having had the opportunity for because it’s a play that really gets an audience — and it’s certainly gotten all of us — to examine how we live,” said Sullivan.

In tackling such a dialogue-forward production, Sullivan knew that she would

need to find three talented actors who possessed great chemistry. Immediately, she thought of three performers with strong ties to ETC’s 2021-2022 season. Local audiences may recognize Michael Butler as the director of The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, Nancy Travis as the star of Lillian, and Linda Purl as Rosemary Clooney in Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical

Despite never having met in person prior to rehearsals, the trio immediately connected. This successful theater matchmaking will enhance playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s multifaceted script, drawing out personal elements as well as a surprising amount of humor.

“It is serious because it’s a serious subject,” said Sullivan. “But it is about relationships; it’s a sexy play — I’ll say it is that — and it’s a play that is told within the framework of this long-term friendship of these people.”

Linda Purl, who is a longtime on and off-Broadway star, also voiced her joy over the production’s cast.

“We have the dream cast!” said Purl. “I’ve long been a fan of Nancy and so I’m really happy now to be sharing boards with her, and Michael Butler’s absolutely delicious. We clicked on the first day together.”

In preparing for her role as Rose, Purl has come to appreciate the character’s persona as a woman reassessing her life and priorities.

“She’s whip-smart and at a moment I think a lot of us come to in our lives... where you realize that everything you do matters, you’re at the legacy stage of your life,” said Purl. “So time being what it is, less of a luxury, everything you do has to count, everything needs, whether you like it or not, in some way to align with your core values.”

Both Purl and Sullivan voiced that they hope The Children will spark vital conversations among audience members, and inform their views on how we treat the planet and each other.

For tickets ($40-84) visit www.etcsb.org

Photo by Zach Mendez

Michael Butler Linda Purl and Nancy Travis in The Children

TRES SOULS TRES SOULS

Co-presented by The Marjorie Luke Theatre, the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center and UCSB Arts and Lectures, in partnership with the Isla Vista School After School Grant.

Thinking of selling? These, and other clients, are ready to buy. Please call us for a confidential conversation.

 8 CEDAR LANE, EUCALYPTUS HILL

• Charming, updated vintage cottage

• 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths + 2 outbuildings

• Margie Grace-designed gardens

• www.8CedarLane.com

• $2,600,000

 900 TORO CANYON ROAD, MONTECITO

• Private, ocean view compound

• 2 BR/1.5 BA Craftsman-influenced Main House

• Contemporary Farmhouse-style Guest House

• 4.84 acres with mature oaks; solar electric

• 3 Car Garage + Carport

• www.MontecitoGetaway.com

• $5,995,000

Buyer 1: Single level; 4/4; acreage; pool; to $12M

Buyer 2: Montecito; south-facing; 4/4 with pool; to $10M

Buyer 3: Montecito; ocean view; any style; to $10M

Buyer 4: Ennisbrook Casita

Buyer 5: Santa Barbara with a view; to $2.8M

Buyer 6: In-town Santa Barbara; to $2.5M

Buyer 7: San Roque charmer with nice garden; to $2.4M

Buyer 8: House or condo; dog friendly; SB-Goleta; to $1M

Buyer 9: Santa Barbara condo to $800k

ASHLEY ANDERSON & PAUL HURST

805.618.8747 | 805.680.8216

Both@AndersonHurst.com | www.AndersonHurst.com

DRE#s 01903215 & 00826530

50+ years of combined Real Estate & Marketing expertise Top 1% of Berkshire Hathaway Agents Nationwide & Abroad

by

01317331, 01903215 & 00826530.

©2023 Anderson-Hurst-Associates AND Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties. (BHHSCP) is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC. BHH Affiliates LLC and BHHSCP do not guarantee accuracy of all data including measurements, conditions, and features of property. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified

broker or MLS. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information. DRE#s

Santa Barbara Foundation Announces 80th Persons of the Year Honorees

TWO DEDICATED SANTA BARBARA VOLUNTEERS, Elisabeth

Fowler and Joe Howell, will be honored as the Santa Barbara Foundation’s 80th Persons of the Year this spring. Nominated by community members impacted by their tireless efforts, Fowler and Howell will be celebrated at the Foundation’s awards luncheon on Wednesday, April 19th, at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort Rotunda.

“We are fortunate to be able to celebrate two truly inspirational role models in our community at Person of the Year,” said Jackie Carrera, Santa Barbara Foundation President and CEO. “Elisabeth and Joe exemplify what we aim to highlight with this event: those among us who are effecting positive change with their time and talents.”

First presented to Harold and Pearl Chase in 1942 and 1956, respectively, the Persons of the Year awards recognize individuals who hold a history of outstanding service that has meaningfully impacted the community, addressed a local need, or enhanced the region’s quality of life. Individuals are nominated by community members. Former award recipients later review and ultimately select awardees from the nominations, with input from nonprofit leaders.

Ginger Salazar and Katina Zaninovich were the 2022 awardees. Past recipients include Tom Parker, Catherine Remak, Michael & Marni Cooney, David Boyd, Jelinda DeVorzon, Ernesto Paredes, Joni Meisel, and Janet Garufis.

A Santa Barbara resident for 18 years, Elisabeth Fowler won the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Santa Barbara County Philanthropist of the Year award in 2021. Her local support has centered on nonprofits uplifting health care, conservation, and education. She joined the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Board of Trustees in 2008, acting as chair from 2014 to 2016.

“Elisabeth’s interest in education and her love for the natural world made her a perfect match with the Museum’s mission,” said nominator Luke Swetland, President and CEO of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

“The greatest gift Elisabeth has given the Museum year after year is the gift of her keen

Santa Barbara Wine + Food Festival to Return on June 24th

OVER 75 RESTAURANTS, WINERIES, AND DISTILLERIES will bring their delicious wares to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History when the Santa Barbara Wine + Food Festival returns from 2-5pm on Saturday, June 24th. Held on the Museum’s gorgeous 17-acre campus, guests will be able to sip and savor treats while enjoying the shade of trees along Mission Creek and regional flora. The event is one of the Museum’s largest fundraisers, with all net proceeds supporting the Museum’s nature and science education programs. For tickets ($120-170) visit www.sbnature.org/winefestival

Featured vendors include: Au Bon Climat, Barden Wines, Beacon Coffee, Beckmen Vineyards, Bedford Winery and Vineyard, Brander Vineyard, Brewer-Clifton, Brick Barn Wine Estate, Caella Wines, Carr Winery, Casita de Bravo Wines, Convivo Restaurant, Cottonwood Canyon Winery, Cutler’s Artisan Spirits, Cuyama Buckhorn, Dusty Nabor Wines, Epiphany Cellars, Esfuerzo Winery, Events by Rincon, Fess Parker Winery & Vineyard, Fiddlehead Cellars, Final Girl Wines, Finch & Fork Restaurant, Flying Goat Cellars, Folded Hills Winery, Ranch, Farmstead, Foxen Vineyard & Winery, Gifted Now, Grimm’s Bluff Wines, Helena Avenue Bakery, and

intellect and unflagging passion for our mission. To have Elisabeth on your Board is to have a civic leader who never mails it in... she is always prepared and thoughtfully engages in every discussion.”

Fowler’s additional community service includes volunteering with CALM, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, White Buffalo Land Trust, Direct Relief, Freedom for Youth, and a Honduras-based HIV/AIDS health care program. She has also supported Laguna Blanca School, the alma mater of her four children, and given to The Partnership for Resilient Communities to support installation of creek-fortifying steel nets in Montecito.

The second Person of the Year, Jo Howell, is a co-founder of Howell Moore & Gough, LLP: HMG Law. Through this, he has helped establish and develop innumerable local companies, in addition to being an active volunteer and supporter of Santa Barbara-area business, education, and athletic communities for 50 years.

Howell has served almost 25 years as an elected member of the County Board of Education, and served for over 20 years on the board of Partners in Education/Computers for Families. He also cochaired the endowment campaign for Computers for Families, which has provided computer hardware and connectivity for low-income children since the 1990s.

“What stands out most about Joe is how he goes about his service. His process of helping is just as impactful as the goals he helps people and nonprofits reach,” said Partners in Education Executive Director Chelsea Duffy, who nominated Howell. “He takes each step with integrity. He builds real relationships. He chooses his words carefully. He asks about staff members’ families and remembers people’s names.”

Howell has also supported area athletes by acting as a member of the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table and Santa Barbara Athletic Association for 20 years. For tickets ($80) to the 80th Persons of the Year luncheon, visit www.SBFoundation.org/PYAwards

The 80th Person of the Year celebration is supported by Legacy Sponsors Montecito Bank & Trust and the Santa Barbara Foundation (also the Organizing Sponsor), Premier Media Sponsor Noozhawk, Gold Sponsor Cox Communications, Silver Sponsors Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf and Steve and Cindy Lyons, and Bronze Sponsors U.S. Bank and Katina Zaninovich.

NatureTrack’s Freedom Trax Gives Vietnam Veterans Access to The Wall That Heals

IN SUPPORT OF VETERANS WHO USE WHEELCHAIRS, NatureTrack utilized its Freedom Trax program in mid-March to bring Vietnam War veterans to the replica of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Madonna Inn Meadows in San Luis Obispo. The heavy rainstorms had made the memorial’s fields extremely muddy, and while a boardwalk had been erected, wheelchair users needed more assistance to cross. NatureTrack’s Freedom Trax program, which specializes in making the outdoors more accessible to wheelchair users, immediately stepped up to help veterans.

Positive Ride founder Travis Jecker, NatureTrack founder Sue Eisaguirre, and volunteers joined forces to make the memorial accessible from March 16th through the 19th.

“We’re all about supporting our veterans and giving them access to nature for all the good it delivers to the mind, body, and spirit, we can’t get elsewhere,” said Eisaguirre.

The Wall That Heals presented a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in Washington, D.C., as well as a mobile education center to San Luis Obispo County. It was hosted by the County of San Luis Obispo Veteran Services Office and the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum, in partnership with the Madonna Inn and Legacy Village. www.naturetrack.org

Elisabeth Fowler

Joe Howell

many more!

A Spring In Our Step

Dear Friends,

The annual daylight savings time change and the start of spring add both an additional hour of light and, for many of us, a profound feeling of hope, happiness, and renewal with the new season. Spring brings forth new growth, warmer temperatures, blooming trees and flowers, nesting birds and animals, and more sunlight (and hopefully a bit less rain!) With these changes, we often experience a sense of rejuvenation and positivity! I know that I do. So, in this spirit of looking forward to the season and the rest of the year with optimism, I wanted to share some exciting HSB news and activities.

First and foremost, we are delighted to be able to have many of our client counseling sessions back in person. As much as Zoom serves a very necessary means of continuing our work, there is nothing like the power of meeting someone face-to-face, particularly those who are experiencing deep pain and loss.

We are also very much involved in our current campaign to get as many folks as possible in our community to complete their Advance Care Planning (ACP) documentation. This document becomes part of our official record at Cottage Hospital and provides the medical staff with what they need to know about our wishes for our personal end-of-life care in the event we become incapacitated. It’s so important to do this for ourselves so we don’t put this extremely difficult burden on our families. We have already started spring workshops and we hope any of you who have yet to fill out your ACP documents will join us in this community effort. For more information visit getitdonesb.org and miregalo.org in Spanish.

Another exciting spring announcement is that we have gone back to celebrating our annual Compassionate

Care of Carpinteria “Light Shines Ahead” luncheon in May. We hope any of you that are interested will save the date for May 31, 2023, at the Rincon Beach Club of Santa Claus Lane. The outdoor event will be full of special guests and heartfelt stories, and we look forward to seeing you there.

We are also looking forward to our spring reception for our HSB Shining Light Society members, Sip, Savor, and Art, scheduled for the evening of May 11th at the Helena Mason Art Gallery.

In conclusion, I leave you with this short ode to spring: The days grow longer, the nights grow warm, as the earth shakes off its wintery form. The world is reborn, fresh and new as spring oh spring comes into view. ~ Anonymous”

Be well,

David Selberg

CEO and Hospice of Santa Barbara

Wednesday, May 31, 2023 | 11:30 am - 1:30 pm

Rincon Beach Club (outdoors) - 3805 Santa Claus Ln, Carpinteria, CA 93013

Steering Committee Chair: Marybeth Carty

Special Guest Speakers: Beth Cox and Virginia Benson Wigle

For more information, please call (805) 679-6090. Hablamos español. Para más informacion, o hacer una cita, llame al (805) 324-4696. Or visit: Hospiceofsantabarbara.org

David Selberg, CEO Hospice of Santa Barbara Courtesy photos

15th Annual Women of Achievement Luncheon Returns to Cabrillo Pavilion

TWO CLIMATE CHAMPIONS WILL TAKE THE SPOTLIGHT when the Association for Women in Communications Santa Barbara chapter (AWCSB) hosts its 2023 Women of Achievement Awards at 11:30am on Thursday, April 27th, at the Cabrillo Pavilion. Themed “Climate Champions: Bold Communication for a Sustainable Future,” this year’s honorees are Heal the Ocean cofounder Hillary Hauser and UC Santa Barbara associate professor Leah Stokes.

Beth Farnsworth, television journalist and 2019 AWC-SB Women of Achievement award recipient, will emcee the event. Chaucer’s Books will be on site to sell books by the honorees. Designed to empower and celebrate women communicators, the Women of Achievement Luncheon offers a profound opportunity for Santa Barbara community members to express their thanks to individuals making a difference.

Hauser is a diving photojournalist who co-founded Heal the Ocean in 1998. She has since led the organization’s mission to protect the ocean by focusing on wastewater infrastructure and ocean dumping practices.

“This is an honor that takes every one of my words away!” said Hauser. “As a longtime writer/journalist, this feels like I’ve just been awarded the ‘Oscar of writing.’ I’m very humbled to be among the great women recognized by this association.”

Dr. Stokes’ work centers on energy, climate, and environmental politics. Her book Short Circuiting Policy has been recognized as the Best Energy Book of 2020 by the American Energy Society, listed as a Top 5 climate book from 2020 by The New York Times, and won three awards from the American Political Science Association. She is regularly published in top academic journals, has written for The New York Times, and hosts the climate podcast “A Matter of Degrees.”

“We are in a race to address the climate crisis and keep our planet habitable,” said Dr. Stokes. “Our greatest challenge is to transform politics and policy—effectively and equitably — so that climate solutions become our default choices. To do so, we need powerful storytelling that invites us to give up despair, find climate community, and take meaningful action. That’s why I devote much of my career to speaking, podcasting, and writing for a popular audience, and why I’m deeply honored to be recognized by AWC-SB this year.” For tickets ($85 members, $95 general) visit www.awcsb.org

Strong Performance from SB Unified at Regional Science Olympiad

TAKING HOME THE GOLD IN MULTIPLE COMPETITIONS, Santa Barbara Unified School District students and staff had a strong showing at the Regional Science Olympiad on March 11th. The Science Olympiad is a national STEM competition featuring 6,000 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 states. Santa Barbara, La Cumbre, and Goleta Valley Junior High Schools competed, with a total of 44 students earning Individual Science Olympiad medals.

“The success these students had in the Regional Science Olympiad shows their hard work and dedication to STEM,” said Dr. Hilda Maldonado, Superintendent. “As we prepare future engineers, scientist, and mathematicians, these events inspire and contribute to bringing real-life lessons that their teachers and coaches deliver daily.”

La Cumbre won third place in the Fast Facts competition, and were the only school from the county to do so. SB Junior High won silver medals in the Bridge, Flight, and Roller Coaster events. Goleta Valley’s two teams won 18 medals — receiving gold medals in the Crave the Wave, Experimental Design, Rocks and Minerals, Sounds of Music, and Storm the Castle events, silver medals in Can’t Judge a Powder, Crime Busters, Disease Detectives, Meteorology, Rocks and Minerals, and bronze in Anatomy and Physiology, Bio Process Lab, Bridge, Flight, Solar System, Code Busters, Disease Detectives, and Write It Do It. www.socalscioly.org

Construction Continues on Westside Community Paseos Project

CONSTRUCTION ON THE WESTSIDE COMMUNITY PASEOS PROJECT continues on the 600 block of W. Micheltorena Street and will last for approximately two months. Funded primarily through Active Transportation Program grant funds, the Project will provide walking and biking connections within the Westside and from it to downtown. Access will be maintained for residents and businesses, although there will be temporary disruptions and delays. Improvements include new protected bike lanes, access ramps, and a crosswalk with a mid-block refuge island and rapid flashing beacons at Dutton Avenue and Almond Avenue. The path between San Pascual Street and Micheltorena Street will also be widened to allow for pedestrian and cyclist access.

www.SantaBarbaraCA.gov/WestsideCommunityPaseos

TEXAS GOT A TASTE OF SANTA BARBARA when Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA) students and staff presented at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) EDU Conference in Austin. SXSW EDU is an annual four-day conference and festival for educators in March.

DPEA hosted an interactive booth at the EXPO trade show. Attendees engaged with student-created exhibits, explored DPEA’s elementary STEAM curriculum, and perused DPEA-integrated Career Technical Education (CTE) High School curriculum and projects. One workshop presentation introduced a variety of educational initiatives that will benefit the community in the Virgil Elings Center for Creative Learning when it opens on DPHS campus. It will feature a professional gallery showcasing interactive STEAM

exhibits designed and fabricated by students.

DPEA is a four-year CTE program based at DPHS. It applies a project-anddesign-based approach to teach students

critical analytical, design, and problemsolving skills. Students complete two CTE Pathways through the program coursework: Engineering Technology and Product Innovation & Design. DPEA Founder Amir Abo-Shaeer, a MacArthur

Fellow, DPEA Director Emily Shaeer, and a group of 18 others presented the unique and engaging model to people from around the world.

Emcee Beth Farnsworth

Hillary Hauser

Dr. Leah Stokes

Federal and State Tax Extensions for Individuals & Businesses Impacted by Storms

LOCALS AFFECTED BY THIS WINTER’S TORRENTIAL RAINS can enjoy a reprieve when it comes to filing their taxes this year. Earlier this month, the IRS announced that they would be enacting a federal tax filing extension for residents and business owners negatively impacted by the recent storms. The California state tax return deadline was also extended, bringing the new deadline for both filings to October 16th, 2023.

“In the aftermath of these recent storms, I appreciate federal and state leaders for giving Central Coast families more time to complete their taxes while they navigate the potential impacts that they’ve faced from flooding, storm surge, and incredible amounts of rain and snow,” Representative Carbajal told VOICE. “As someone who advocated to get these emergency declarations in place to unlock federal assistance, I know this extended filing deadline will be one more way to give people who were impacted by these storms some piece of mind while they work to get back to normal.”

“I want to also take the opportunity to remind Central Coast residents that if you are having trouble with the IRS, whether with a refund or other related federal tax issue, my team and I are available to help advocate on your behalf,” continued Carbajal.“Just call my office ((805) 730-1710) to get started.” For more information, visit www.irs.gov and www.taxes.ca.gov

UCSB Arts & Lectures and The Independent Host Community Poetry Contest

IN HONOR OF AN UPCOMING VISIT FROM THE 24TH U.S. POET LAUREATE, ADA LIMÓN, on April 25th, UCSB Arts & Lectures and The Santa Barbara Independent are hosting a poetry contest for K-12 students and adults ages 18 and over.

Participating poets are invited to read Limón’s poem, Instructions on Not Giving Up, and then submit an original poem centered on A&L’s 2023 Thematic Learning Initiative theme of Leadership and Vision. The poem should be “about something that inspires you to move forward with strength, determination, and hope.”

Entries will be judged by a panel of Santa Barbara poets including Robert Krut, Melinda Palacio, and Chryss Yost. One winner will be selected from each age category, and their entries will be published in The Independent. Winners will also receive a copy of Limón’s book The Hurting Kind, a $50 gift certificate to Chaucer’s Books, and a $500 A&L ticket voucher good through 2024.

Original, unpublished poems should be sent no later than 5pm on Friday, April 14th, to info@ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu with the subject line #AandLPoetry. Be sure to indicate your submission level (K-12 or Age 18+). Winners will be announced on Friday, April 21 at www.thematic-learning.org/2022-2023 and www.independent.com

Natalia Alarcon Made CommUnify Director of Family & Youth Services

NATALIA ALARCON, LMFT has been promoted to Director of Family & Youth Services with CommUnify. She first joined CommUnify in 2019 in the role of Family Self-Sufficiency program manager. She holds over ten years of experience in program development, operations, and administration, as well as direct services to children, youth, and families with such organizations as Family Service Agency and Domestic Violence Solutions. Her most recent position with CommUnify was as Assistant Director for the Community Services Department. Alarcon is currently Vice Mayor for the Carpinteria City Council. www.communifysb.org

Italian Pottery Outlet Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Open House, April 1st

ACORNERSTONE OF STATE STREET’S SHOPPING

SCENE, Italian Pottery

Outlet is celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend with a festive open house event. On April 1st, customers will enjoy a 25 percent storewide sale and a gift-with-purchase giveaway, as well as live music, antipasti, and prosecco.

“We’re really thrilled to achieve this milestone; to work together as a family, and accomplish something lasting,” Julie Spalluto, daughter, sister, and partner in the company told Downtown Santa Barbara.

Spalluto’s parents, Ben and Carol Spalluto, launched their importing business in Los Angeles before moving to Santa Barbara. Ben, originally from Castellana Grotte, Italy, started the business with Carol as a means of sharing authentic, handmade Italian ceramics with California and beyond. Julie joined the business in 1996, followed by her sister, Adele, and later, the Spalluto’s son, Joe.

Italian Pottery Outlet has been a State Street staple since 2008, relocating downtown after its original spot on Helena Avenue near Stearns Wharf.

www.italianpottery.com

MarBorg Found in Significant Noncompliance by City of SB Wastewater Pretreatment Program

Compiled by Daisy Scott / VOICE

MULTIPLE INSUFFICIENT PH MONITORING VIOLATIONS have resulted in the City of Santa Barbara citing MarBorg Industries in significant noncompliance with wastewater pretreatment standards and discharge permit requirements. The announcement was made via a legal notice published by the City of Santa Barbara in mid-March, with MarBorg continuing to be found in noncompliance as of March 17th.

“MarBorg Industries has received several notices of violation for insufficient pH monitoring as required in their permit, which resulted in their Significant Noncompliance classification, however, none have resulted in harm to the POTW (Publicly Owned Treatment works = El Estero Water Resource Center) or the environment,” explained Mary Thompson, Laboratory Analyst Coordinator with the city’s Pretreatment/Industrial Waste department, in an email to VOICE

According to the Public Notice, MarBorg was found in significant noncompliance for the first and fourth quarters of 2022, as well as ongoing noncompliance at the time of the notice’s print. Currently, MarBorg’s Liquid Waste Division has an industrial wastewater discharge permit with the City. This allows the company to discharge wastewater from its Septage Receiving Station to the sewer system, as long as they meet the permit’s conditions. The station is permitted to process septage and portable toilet wastewater.

Being in violation of this permit means the city may take enforcement actions, leading to the City’s publication of MarBorg’s noncompliance in regard to pH monitoring.

“If a User is not monitoring its pH correctly, it could potentially have impacts on El Estero Water Resources Center’s ability to properly treat wastewater received or inhibit the ability to be in compliance with El Estero Water Resource Center’s NPDES permit,” said Thompson.

This announcement emerges before the Santa Barbara City Council is due to hold a public hearing on the consideration of renewing an exclusive franchise agreement with MarBorg for solid waste collection services. However, MarBorg’s solid waste collection is not conducted at the same facility found to be in noncompliance.

The hearing is scheduled for the Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, April 11th. To learn more about the City’s Wastewater Pretreatment Program, visit www.santabarbaraca.gov/government/departments/public-works

Natalia Alarcon

Photo courtesy of Italian Pottery Outlet, via Instagram

Partnerships with the Historic Lobero Theatre & KEYT-TV Highlight the History, Community, & Inclusion that is Fiesta

ON THE STEPS OF THE LOBERO THEATRE, where in 1924 the beloved community festival known as “Fiesta” started, board members from Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara and the Lobero Theatre unveiled the official poster for the 2023 Spirit and Junior Spirit of Fiesta Auditions. This marks the third year in a row that the Lobero has generously partnered with OSD to bring the auditions to their historic stage.

On April 15th, the pageantry of Old Spanish Days Fiesta will be on full display when 22 talented young dancers compete for the title of Spirit and Junior Spirit of Fiesta. The community is invited to share in the excitement of the day and watch the talented dancers perform. Tickets are on sale at the Lobero box office, the performance will also be live streamed on the OSD website at www.sbfiesta.org.

“We could not be more grateful to the Lobero Theatre for their ongoing generosity,” said 2023 El Presidente David Bolton. “It will be a dream come true for many of the finalists to dance on the historic stage where Fiesta started 99 years ago this August.”

OSD also announced an expanded partnership between OSD and local television station, KEYT-TV.

In support of its growing collection of local channels, the “Spirit Auditions” will be replayed during primetime programing on Saturday April 29th and on Sunday April 30th, 7 to 9pm, on KEYT’s the Now Channel 13.

Finally, one of the most exciting announcements made today was that the partnership with KEYT-TV will include, for the first time ever, simultaneous multi-language live broadcasts of La Fiesta Pequeña (Wednesday, August 2nd) and El Desfile Histórico (Friday, August 5th). Viewers can watch these historic events in English on NewsChannel 3 and in Spanish on Telemundo Costa Central, Cox Cable Channel 15.

“Old Spanish Days Fiesta is appreciative of the more than 50-year relationship with KEYT,” added Bolton. “It is a tremendous service to our community to be able to broadcast multiple events this year live in both English and Spanish during Fiesta. We are looking forward to the start of our Fiesta broadcast season with the exciting Spirit of Fiesta Auditions in April.”

EN LOS ESCALONES DEL TEATRO LOBERO, donde en 1924 comenzó el amado festival comunitario conocido como “Fiesta”, los miembros de la Mesa Directiva de Old Spanish Days (OSD) y el Teatro Lobero dieron a conocer el cartel oficial de las audiciones Spirit y Junior Spirit de Fiesta 2023. Este es el tercer año consecutivo que el Teatro Lobero generosamente se ha asociado con OSD para que las audiciones se lleven a cabo en su histórico escenario.

El 15 de abril, el espectáculo de Old Spanish Days Fiesta estará en plena exhibición cuando 22 talentosos jóvenes bailarines compitan por el título de Spirit y Junior Spirit of Fiesta. Se invita a la comunidad a compartir ese día lleno de baile, arte y emoción y ver actuar a los talentosos bailarines. Los boletos están a la venta en la taquilla del Teatro

Lobero, la actuación también se transmitirá en vivo en el sitio web de OSD enwww.sbfiesta.org.

“No podríamos estar más agradecidos con el Teatro Lobero por su continua generosidad”, dijo El Presidente de OSD 2023, David Bolton. “Este será un sueño hecho realidad para muchos de los finalistas al bailar en el histórico escenario donde comenzó Fiesta hace 99 años este mes de agosto”.

El día de hoy, OSD también anunció una asociación extendida entre OSD y la estación de televisión local, KEYT-TV.

En apoyo a su creciente colección de canales locales, las audiciones para seleccionar al espíritu de FIESTAS y al JR. espíritu de FIESTAS, se transmitirán en horario estelar el sábado 29 de abril y el domingo 30 de abril, de 7 a 9 pm. durante la programación del Canal 13 de KEYT.

Finalmente, uno de los anuncios más emocionantes que se hizo hoy fue que la asociación con KEYTTV incluirá, por primera vez, transmisiones en vivo simultáneas con interpretación de La Fiesta Pequeña (miércoles 2 de agosto de 2023) y El Desfile Histórico (viernes, 5 de agosto de 2023). Los televidentes pueden ver estos eventos históricos en inglés en News Channel 3 y en español en Telemundo Costa Central,Canal de cable Cox 15.

“Old Spanish Days Fiesta agradece la relación de más de 50 años con KEYT”, agregó 2023 El Presidente David Bolton. “Es un tremendo servicio para nuestra comunidad poder transmitir múltiples eventos este año en vivo tanto en inglés como en español durante la Fiesta. Esperamos con ansias el comienzo de nuestra temporada de transmisión de Fiesta con las emocionantes audiciones de espíritu de Fiesta en abril.”

Las alianzas con el Histórico Teatro Lobero y con KEYT-TV resalta el profundo espíritu de historia, comunidad e inclusión que significa OSD FIESTA

Bookworm Corner: Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Series

By Daisy Scott / VOICE

GLEEFULLY CHAOTIC AND SURPRISINGLY INSIGHTFUL, Ramona Quimby persists as one of the most well known characters in children’s literature. The star of eight books penned by National Medal of Arts-winning author Beverly Cleary, Ramona’s adventures capture the very real triumphs, silliness, and confusion children experience on a daily basis. The result is a series that, despite being written between 1955 to 1999, remains a timeless, relatable read for all students.

Ramona’s story begins with Beezus and Ramona, which is written from the perspective of her older sister, “Beezus” (short for Beatrice). When readers first encounter Ramona, she is a whirlwind of pre-kindergarten energy, which annoys Beezus to no end. With great emotion, Cleary fleshes out the sisters’ relationship in this and later books without ever veering into unrealistic sentimentality — Ramona continues to bother Beezus, and Beezus is regularly frustrated with her younger sister. However, in facing school and family drama, the sisters realize just how much they care for and depend on each other.

The remaining books are told from Ramona’s perspective, with Cleary striking a tone that simultaneously explains

Ramona’s rationale for her various misadventures without legitimizing her more harmful mischief. This especially plays out in Ramona the Pest, Ramona the Brave, and Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Ramona’s unbridled confidence is at once inspiring and anxiety-causing, as she tries to prove herself in and outside of the classroom.

Other books examine Ramona’s relationship with her parents, beginning with Ramona and Her Father, where Ramona attempts to comfort and help her father after he loses his job. This is followed by Ramona and Her Mother, which examines Ramona’s status as the younger sister who can’t quite yet engage with her mother on the same level her older sister can. Together, these books explore the complicated relationship between parents and their children, especially when external financial or social pressures are introduced.

Cleary’s experiences as a children’s librarian shine through each of her novels, as she mixes trivial classroom concerns, such as a girl copying Ramona’s artwork in class, with more serious issues such as the Quimbys welcoming a new baby. This makes each Ramona book feel like real chapters of life, allowing young

readers to vicariously process a diverse range of topics that they might be facing themselves. Their engaging style also makes the series a fun experience for even the most reluctant of readers.

Ramona books’ greatest quality, however, is that they all end happily, if not in the way readers initially expect. Through this, readers grow to understand that while life, parents, and children are not perfect, what truly matters is that all family members love and respect each other.

Bookworm Corner is a weekly column dedicated to highlighting children’s and young adult books that carry positive messages. It is penned by Daisy Scott, a lifelong reader and lover of children’s literature who holds her degree in literature and writing from UC San Diego.

Patrick McGinnis Photography

”

LINDA PURL NANCY TRAVIS MICHAEL BUTLER

Water Conservation Save water and money in the long term with a waterwise garden.

THE DEREK DOUGET BAND

Accomplished saxophonist Derek Douget finely mixes his Louisiana upbringing with his strong individualism and idiosyncratic voice.

The artist, who has performed with many notable musicians on the New Orleans scene, will be joined on stage by Ashlin Parker (trumpet), Victor Atkins, (piano), Jason Stewart (bass), and Adonis Rose (drums).

The Light In The Piazza

...Golden Tones Arise in Florence

FEATURING THE CHRISMAN STUDIO SINGING-ACTING ARTISTS,

the glow of the Thursday, March 23rd performance of The Light in the Piazza by Opera Santa Barbara was a surprising added pleasure to the current season and a delightful note in the extensive repertoire hatched by the Company's artistic staff. Held within the limited, black-box confines of Center Stage Theatre, the audience appreciated the performances by the cast and the straight-ahead staging by director Layna Chianakas, who directed Tosca for the company earlier in this season.

Piazza was developed as a Broadway musical in 2005, and won multiple Tony Awards. The composer Adam Guettel was a protégé of the legendary Richard Rodgers. Guettel actually reached out to the stage and musical directors, Ms. Chianakas and Tim Accurso, to offer any assistance when he found out OSB was producing the work within the opera company’s season. The book is by the prolific playwright Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss), and is based on a 1962 film of the same name starring Olivia de Havilland, Yvette Mimieux, and Rossano Brazzi.

The story is essentially about the duality of language and identity as characters struggle to understand the bonds of love with a strong measure of doubt, fear, and misunderstanding. Sung in both Italian and English, the core themes that emerge by the concluding bars include direct self-awareness and acceptance of those who are different, worthy considerations of the times we now live in. These themes echo the exploration of the humanistic ideas discovered in Tennessee William’s classic play, The Glass Menagerie as well as those found in a movie also set in Florence, Italy, A Room with a View. The characters' tribulations along the rocky road to love makes The Light in the Piazza an elevated, intriguing musical.

The opening performance on Thursday featured the first of two rotating casts, and included grounding performances by Christina Pezzarosi as the over-wrought mother, Brooklyn Snow as the naïve Clara, and Matt Greenblatt as the charming father of the young Italian boy Clara fell in love with. Each of these performers found a subtle positioning between acting demands and the varying musical rhythms. Strong support was offered by artists Matthew Peterson, Adrian Roberts, Omar Rodriguez, Georgia Jacobsen, and Elijah Cineas as Italian family, citizens, or clueless Americans. The cast sung and approached their roles with energy, a credit to the perceptive work from the director, Layna Chianakas.

Tim Accurso was the Music Director, and led the small orchestra at the back of the wings with assured perfection. The lighting and backdrop director Helena Kukka put together an effectively minimalist setting that did not over-define the Florence, Italy settings. The costumer Stacie Logue made inspired choices of colors and fashion styles, and her understated approach was perfectly tuned to the atmosphere of Italy in the early 1960s. Entertaining audiences for over four performances, Piazza was a successful and appealing Chrisman Studio Artists production.

www.granadasb.org

Robert F. Adams, Film Correspondent for VOICE, is a Santa Barbara landscape architect and a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theatre and Film, as well as Cal Poly. He has served on the film selection committees for the Aspen Film Fest and the SB International Film Festival. Email him at robert@earthknower.com

Photos courtesy of Opera Santa Barbara

Review by Robert F. Adams, Special to VOICE

Brooklyn Snow as Clara

Christina Pezzarosi as Margaret Johnson

Opera Santa Barbara

Photo by David Bazemore

Santa Barbara’s Cultural Night Downtown

April 6th

5 to 8pm

1ST THURSDAY is an evening of art and culture in downtown Santa Barbara that takes place on the first Thursday of each month. Participating art venues offer free access to art in a fun and social environment from 5-8pm. 1st Thursday venues also provide additional attractions, such as live music, artist receptions, lectures, wine tastings, and hands-on activities. State Street also comes alive on 1st Thursday with performances and interactive activities.

Galleries, Museums, & Art Venues

1. VOICE GALLERY/VOICE MAGAZINE • 121

S. Hope Ave, H124 • Earth Dance highlights our connection to the Earth and celebrates the planet. Earth Dance includes work by local artists in a range of styles and mediums. Stop in for the art - stay for music with Harold Kono and birthday cake for VOICE Magazine’s 30th birthday.

2. SBIFF’s SB FILMMAKER SERIES • SBIFF Education Center, 1330 State St • This month we are featuring Josh Greene’s Waves Apart. A Jewish surfer confronts the dark, anti-semitic history of the sport in which he once found solace. Showtimes every 45 minutes 5:30pm through 7pm. Runtime: 24 mins

3. ENGEL & VÖLKERS • 1323 State St, 805342-0227 • Engel & Volkers Luxury Real Estate invites you to our Santa Barbara office. Enjoy artwork by world renowned impressionist painter, James Paul Brown, wine and tasty hors d’oeuvres. See you there!

4. SANTA BARBARA FINE ART • 1321 State St, 805-845-4270 • Big night! Featured artist Rodolfo Rivademar painting live! Richard Schloss’s 70th Birthday! Celebrate with a complimentary cake! Santa Barbara’s Premier landscape artists, special guest artists, and

marine mammal sculptures by James “Bud” Bottoms. Wine and champagne served.

5. MAUNE CONTEMPORARY • 1309 State St, (805) 8692524 • Please join us at Maune Contemporary for a group show of artists including Tom Wesselmann, Ross Bleckner, and Donald Baechler, among others.

6. ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY • 33 West Victoria St, (805) 965-5400 • Ensemble Theatre Company invites you to 1st Thursday at The Children. Set at a remote cottage on the coast of Britain after a tsunami wreaks havoc on a nuclear reactor, a married couple’s lives are further disrupted by the mysterious appearance of a long-lost colleague, who confronts them with a stunning moral dilemma: what does the older generation owe to those who are young? In honor of our 44th season we are offering free tickets to our April 6th 7:30pm performance to the first 44 1st Thursday participants to stop by our ticket office.

7. MOSAIC ARCHITECTS & INTERIORS • 1 W Victoria St

• Enter into our design process and meet our compelling Artists. See Will Day’s super-sized colorful creations, Joey Vaiasuso’s passionate steel sculptures, Danielle Hatherley’s ethereal landscapes, Michael O’Guinn’s musical abstractions, Emma Gardner’s vibrant rugs, and Isaure de la Presle’s spiritual paintings.

8. LEGACY ART SANTA BARBARA • 1230 State Street

Come experience the magic and revel in the art of Susanne and Carroll Barrymore, as we bring back the Art of storytelling through music and song. Enjoy our Listening Room series.

9. DOMECIL • 1221 State St, Suite 7, (805) 324-4971

• domecíl presents the work of Santa Barbara-based macrame artist Hitomi Herbert. Through her beautiful wall hangings and table top pieces she weaves stories using cotton rope and locally gathered driftwood.

15. Members of the SB Art Association exhibit their original art at Gallery 113

10. Laurie MacMillan’s Superbloom, acrylic on canvas. is part of Awaken: A Spring Collection at 10 West Gallery.

21. City Hall Gallery will host the opening reception for Elevate | Barbara Parmet, a solo exhibition of photographic works.

10. 10 WEST GALLERY • 10 West Anapamu St, 805-770-7711 • AWAKEN, a Spring exhibition of new work by 11 contemporary artists from the Santa Barbara area. Abstract sculpture and vessels in porcelain. Colorful expressions of the new season as well as thoughts on inner awakenings and possibilities.

11. COLETTE COSENTINO ATELIER + GALLERY • 11 West Anapamu St, 805-730-1460 • Colette Cosentino Atelier + Gallery presents Primavera an homage to Spring! All new oil paintings inspired by Spring in Santa Barbara.

12. SULLIVAN GOSS - AN AMERICAN GALLERY • 11 E Anapamu St, 805-730-1460 • Sullivan Goss celebrates Women’s Month with an exhibition of Surrealist Women. Works from 1934 - the present will be on display examining the history of women’s contribution to Surrealist painting. Also on view, Lynda Weinman & J. Bradley Greer, and The Winter Salon as well as Betty Lane and Chistopher Noxon.

13. SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART • 1130 State St, 805-9634364 • Join SBMA for Family 1st Thursday in the Family Resource Center for a Teaching Artist-led activity from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Create cityscape prints in white ink on black paper, inspired by the woodcuts in the current exhibition Lyonel Feininger/Andreas Feininger. Afterward, enjoy the galleries until 8pm. All free!

14. CRUSH BAR AND TAP • 1129 State St, Suite A, 805-770-8077 • At Crush Bar we strive to provide a safe, inclusive, loving, and respectful space for all to gather and enjoy. Come try our locally sourced bites, participate in the rainbow social, sing rainbow social, sing karaoke, and enjoy our all-day happy hour. We hope you will come by, relax, have a drink, and be a part of the fun!

15. GALLERY 113 • 1114 State St, La Arcada Court #8, 805-965-6611 • Members of the Santa Barbara Art Association exhibit their original art in various media here. The Artist of the Month is Manny Lopez celebrating the many facets of beautiful Santa Barbara. Featured artists include Isaure de la Presle, Karen Glancy, Mike Demavivas, Kellie Stoelting, and Cathering Jenks. There will also be tasty treats and drinks for purchase.

16. WATERHOUSE GALLERY • 1114 State St, La Arcada Court #9, 805-962-8885 • The Gallery features figurative works, interiors, and cityscapes by some of today’s finest nationally known local and Oak Group artists. Enjoy works by Ray Hunter, Derek Harrison, Wyllis Heaton, Camille Dellar, Ann Sanders, Thomas Van Stein, Nancy Davidson, Rick Garcia, Ellie Freudenstein, and Ralph Waterhouse.

17. THE YES STORE • 1100 State St, 805-966-6777 • April 1st Thursday: “Join us as we celebrate the work of our featured blown glass artist Elaine Hyde. Enjoy snacks and beverages while listening to live music. We are now a year-round local arts gallery presenting hand-made custom fine jewelry, fused & blown glass, graphics, ceramics & woodworking, leather, and more.”

18. TAMSEN GALLERY • 911.5 State St, 805-705-2208 • Please join us at Tamsen Gallery to celebrate the vibrant work of artist Robert W. Firestone. From vivid abstracts printed on glossy acrylic to geometric cityscapes laser cut from metal to dynamic portraits printed on canvas, Tamsen Gallery offers a rich visual experience in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara.

19. THE BLUE OWL • 5 West Canon Perdido St • The Blue Owl will present a jam on the first Thursday of each month. Hosted by guitarist Tony Ybarra, this Jam session will feature local jazz instrumentalists and vocalists. Backed by Santino Tafarella and Matt Perko, it will be a fantastic night of Jazz!

20. GRASSINI FAMILY WINERY • 24 El Paseo, 805-897-3366 • Join us at Grassini Family Vineyards to enjoy the work of a variety of local artists! Come hungry—we’re featuring @RonniesSandwiches to pair with wine, live music, and artisan shopping!

21. CITY HALL • 735 Anacapa Street, 805-963-0611 • Please join us at City Hall Gallery for the opening of Elevate | Barbara Parmet. This solo exhibition of photographic works includes selections from the County of Santa Barbara art collection in partnership with the City of Santa Barbara. On display are youth portraits, figures in landscape, and nature and bodily images.

22. SANTA BARBARA

HISTORICAL MUSEUM

• 136 E De la Guerra St, 805-966-1601 •

Visit the Museum to view our permanent exhibitions along with Clarence Mattei: Portrait of the Community and “Mountain Drive: Our Bohemian Community. Enjoy wine with music by young local musicians Maddox and Sienna.

23. LA PALOMA CAFE • 702 Anacapa St, (805) 966-7029 • Robert spent most of his adult life in Santa Barbara. As a Navy Veteran he spent a great deal of time in the Santa Barbara Harbor with his sons, Jeremy and Cameron. His sea form style art is inspired by the ocean and the creatures in it.

24. ELIZABETH GORDON GALLERY • 136 E De la Guerra St, 805966-1601 • Join us at Elizabeth Gordon Gallery in downtown Santa Barbara on Thursday, April 6 from 5 - 8 pm for wine and to enjoy beautiful, original artwork by America Martin, Greg Miller, Rafael Gaete, Stanley Boydston, and more of our locally loved artists.

Performers & Special Events

SUMMERLAND BAND • 800 Block of State St • Join us the 800 block to enjoy the The Summerland Band. This talented group plays a large variety of styles from Bonnie Raitt to Stevie Wonder... lots of blues, bossas, ballads, and much more. We hope to see you dancing on the streets!

STATE STREET PROMENADE MARKET • 800 Block of State St • Join us every 1st Thursday at the State Street Promenade Market (3 - 8pm) to check out great local artists and vendors, plus enjoy food from surrounding restaurants, live performances, and interactive activities. This month we will be welcoming MTD to table for their annual children’s poster contest.

SANTA BARBARA KITE FESTIVAL • 800 Block of State Street at the Promenade Market • The Santa Barbara Kite Festival invites you to color and build your own kite! Color your kite (free of charge, while supplies last) and get ready for the Annual Santa Barbara Kite Festival, coming to the Great Meadow lawn on the west campus of Santa Barbara City College (Sunday, April 16, 11am - 4pm). Festival staff will be on hand to help build kites and answer questions about kite flying and the festival.

THE ART CRAWL: 1130 State St, 5:30pm • Track down hidden gems and off-the-beaten-track locations during this curated Art Crawl. Meet

at the steps to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and wear comfy shoes so you can crawl in comfort.

Summerland Band will offer a wide range of blues to ballads, to bossas for your toe tapping delight!

11. Discover Primavera an homage to Spring at Colette Cosentino Atelier + Gallery.

24. Elizabeth Gordon Gallery features work by America Martin, Greg Miller, Rafael Gaete, Stanley Boydston.

23. La Paloma Cafe is featuring the work of Navy Veteran Robert who was influenced by spending time in the SB Harbor with his sons.

4. Featured artist Rodolfo Rivademar will be painting live! Also, celebrate artist Richard Schloss’s 70th Birthday!

The Santa Barbara Kite Festival invites you to color and build your own kite! Find them on the Promenade.

A Whale of a Time at Bluewater Grill

By Sigrid Toye / Special to VOICE

ALONG SANTA BARBARA’S WATERFRONT WE HAVE OUR OWN LIGHTHOUSE! At the base of State Street, across from Stearns Wharf, the iconic Lighthouse Building stands in all its majestic beauty, the home of the popular Bluewater Grill. Highly recommend by a friend and encouraged by the beautiful weather and an empty parking spot around the corner, I decided to visit this picturesque eatery designed especially for seafood lovers seeking an ocean view. And what a pleasant afternoon that turned out to be!

As I waited outside on a comfortable settee near the entrance, Autumn Vaughn, the restaurant’s General Manager, welcomed me to the Bluewater Grill with a great big smile. She invited me to visit the innovative dining areas on both the ground floor and the recently added second level with a patio. What knocked the socks off my feet was an area downstairs located directly underneath the lighthouse tower with a round table seating six. This exemplary space was decorated with the traditional winding staircase going up to the very top of the lighthouse funnel and a spectacular chandelier overhead. All I could do was gasp!

“This building allows for so many innovative design possibilities, including the art on the walls created by local artists,” Vaughn explained. “We have two full bars, two dining areas, and, as you can see, seating in unusual areas, such at the round table under our lighthouse. Our upstairs balcony has a view to the harbor and West beach, overlooking Stearns Wharf and the bar has a view of Stearns Wharf and the harbor entrance.”

Sitting in the sun outside, Vaughn recalled her journey from her home state of Florida to San Diego and her first job with the Bluewater Grill chain in Coronado. This chain of restaurants includes locations in the greater Southern California area, Catalina, and in Arizona, and, despite its diverse locations, has the feeling of “family.” Bluewater Grill was established in Newport Beach in 1996 by partners Rick Staunton and Jim Ulcickas and has since grown into a group of seafood restaurants, located in resort communities and committed to serving guests pristine seafood, sustainably caught, and prepared classically. Additionally, seafood is caught with company’s own vessel, The Pilikia, docked in the Southern California area with the finest catch distributed to their local restaurants.

In describing how she came to Santa Barbara, Vaughn recalled,“Deciding it was time for a change, I made the move across the country to California. I’d had previous experience in the guest services areas and after a fabulous dinner with a friend at the Bluewater Grill in Coronado, I applied for a job. A personal interview with the General Manager, Derek Marge, followed and a couple of days later, I was hired! I’d felt so welcomed there by Derek this just seemed the right place for me to be… and nothing has changed since then!”

Vaughn started as a food runner at the Coronado location, quickly moved up to assistant general manager there, and then in October 2021 she was extended the top position in Santa Barbara.

“They always try to promote from within,” she offered, “the entire atmosphere of the

Bluewater Restaurant chain, from the owners to their employees, incorporates the feeling of family that originally attracted me.” She noted that, similar to her own experience, most of the present personnel are chosen within the ranks of the organization to be considered for positions of greater responsibility.

There wasn’t a moment in my lengthy conversation with Autumn Vaughn that I had not had the same feeling of being welcomed as a familiar guest and by her own enthusiasm as the GM of this extraordinary restaurant in Santa Barbara. She simply shone with happiness at her good fortune in being part of the Bluewater Grill’s extended family, and in a position to further extend her welcoming spirit to her staff...and of course, her guests. Continuing the fresh fish legacy accompanied by local wines established by the Castagnola Family who instituted the restaurant on the same Cabrillo Boulevard site in the 1950s, Bluewater Grill Santa Barbara is open daily for lunch and dinner with a contemporary coastal casual vibe and pet-friendly policy. And check out that fabulous menu!

Sigrid Toye volunteers for the Breakwater Flag Project. She is on the board of the Maritime Museum and participates in Yacht Club activities. An educational/ behavior therapist, Sigrid holds a Ph.D in clinical psychology. She loves all things creative, including her two grown children who are working artists. Send Harbor tips to: Itssigrid@gmail.com

Photos by Sigrid Toye

Autumn Vaughn

Safari Local

In Person & Online Activities for Everyone Actividades en persona y en línea para todos BILINGUAL /

SB Welcomes National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry

Month, and Santa Barbara is certainly a community of poets! Whether you're a writer yourself or a poetry enthusiast, here is your weekly schedule of poetry readings, workshops, and more!

POETRY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ZINE WORKSHOP

Make your own zine with SB Youth Poet Ambassador Kundai Chikowero • Eastside Library, MLK Jr. Room • Free • 2-3:30pm Sa, 4/1.

POETRY READING AND BOOK LAUNCH

With former SB Poet Laureate

Laure-Anne Bosselaar and Susan Read Cronin, author of What’s Left • Tecolote Book Shop • Free • 3-4pm Sa, 4/1.

POETRY AND PROSE READING EVENT

Special reading of Writing Through the Apocalypse with 10 local writers • Chaucer’s Books • Free • 6pm Tu, 4/6.

Ten

POETRY IN THE GARDEN: A READING IN CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

Readings by poets David Starkey, Gudrun Bortman, Mary Brown, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, Emma Trelles, & Paul Willis • SB Botanic Garden

• Free with admission, register: https://tinyurl.com/mr3acsn2 • 2:30-5pm Sa, 4/8.

Friday • March 31st

LECTURES | MEETINGS |

WORKSHOPS

SBWPC PRESIDENTS’ CIRCLE

LUNCHEON

With talk by public relations strategist Sarah Leonard • SB Women’s Political Committee • SOhO • $55-75 • https://tinyurl.com/582u6yrj • 11:30am-12:30pm Fr, 3/31.

MUSIC

VOCTAVE FAMILY CONCERT

Family-friendly a cappella concert • Hahn Hall, Music Academy • Free-$10 • www.musicacademy.org • 11am Fr, 3/31.

VOCTAVE AND THE GALA PARTY

A cappella concert and premier reception with The Choral Society • Hahn Hall, Music Academy • www.musicacademy.org • $75-150 • 6:30pm Fr, 3/31.

TOM RUSSELL

Folk-country concert • Lobero Theatre • $35-75 • www.lobero.org • 7pm

Real, Carpinteria • $85 • Call 805-6845411 to RSVP • 12-1:30pm Sa, 4/1.

POETRY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

ZINE WORKSHOP

Make your own zine with SB Youth Poet Ambassador Kundai Chikowero • Eastside Library, MLK Jr. Room • Free • 2-3:30pm Sa, 4/1.

POETRY READING AND BOOK LAUNCH

With former SB Poet Laureate Laure-Anne Bosselaar and Susan Read Cronin, author of What’s Left • Tecolote Book Shop • Free • 3-4pm Sa, 4/1.

MUSIC

MASON JENNINGS

Folk concert, ages 21+ • SOhO • $2025 • www.sohosb.com • 6pm Sa, 4/1.

WESTMONT SPRING SING: APRIL FOOLS

Songs, skits, and more by Westmont students • SB Bowl • $14-37 • www.sbbowl.com • 6:30pm Sa, 4/1.

THE MAGICAL MUSIC OF MOTOWN

Relive the era of motown with this tribute concert • Lobero Theatre • $4878 • www.lobero.org • 8pm Sa, 4/1.

OUTDOORS

MESA HARMONY GARDEN

SPRING PLANT SALE

Sale and irrigation workshop • Mesa Harmony Garden, 500 Dolores Dr. • Sale: free entry; workshop: $10 donation • Sale: 9am-12pm; Workshop 10am-12pm Sa, 4/1.

ARCHITECTURAL WALKING TOURS

Learn about local architecture • Architectural Foundation of SB • SB City Hall on Sa; Central Library Anapamu St. entrance on Su • Suggested $10 cash donation • https://afsb.org • 10am Sa & Sun.

RANCHO LA PATERA & STOW HOUSE

Fr, 3/31.

MAKE IT LAST ALL NIGHT

Tribute to Tom Petty • SOhO • $20-25 • www.sohosb.com • 8:30pm Fr, 3/31.

OUTDOORS

ANACAPA ISLAND DAY TRIP

Day-long guided hiking tour • SB Botanic Garden • $140-165 • www.sbbotanicgarden.org • 8:45am6pm Fr, 3/31.

SPECIAL EVENTS

CHOCOLATE & ART WORKSHOPS

Make a chocolate bar and/or paint a chocolate box • Menchaca Chocolates Factory, 4141 State St. E-1 • Call 646369-7277 • www.menchacachocolates. com • 3-7pm every other Fri.

Saturday • April 1st

LECTURES | MEETINGS | WORKSHOPS

KOKEDAMA WORKSHOP

Learn how to make your very own kokedama moss ball • Westerlay Orchids retail showroom, 3504 Via

Mesa Harmony Garden Spring Plant Sale & Irrigation Workshop

Spring has sprung! Help support a neighborhood nonprofit garden by shopping lovely tropical plants, herbs, succulents, and more at the Mesa Harmony Garden Spring Plant Sale from 9am-12pm, 500 Dolores Dr. Experienced or aspiring green thumbs are also invited to stick around the garden for an Irrigation Workshop from 10am-12pm. To participate, make a $10 donation at www.mesaharmonygarden.org

of Commerce • Rincon Beach Club • $150 • www.sbscchamber.com • 5:309:30pm Sa, 4/1.

Sunday • April 2nd

CHILDREN

EL DÍA DEL NIÑO

Enjoy a children’s talent show, music, food, and fun • SB Zoo • Included with admission, register: https://tinyurl.com/2p8tfc4e • 10:30am-4:30pm Su, 4/2.

LECTURES | MEETINGS | WORKSHOPS

CHAUCER'S BOOK SIGNING

Take a tour • www.goletahistory.org • 11am to 2pm weekends.

SPECIAL EVENTS

REPURPOSE REVIVAL

Music, food, and business pop-ups benefitting Explore Ecology • Topa Topa Brewing Co. HQ, 4880 Colt St., Ventura • Free • 12-5pm Sa, 4/1.

SBCAW OUTREACH COMMITTEE

GROUP ART EXHIBIT

Art exhibition, poetry showcase, and guitar by Tony Ybarra • Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden St. • Free • 12:30-3:30pm Sa, 4/1.

SANTA BARBARA TRANSGENDER

DAY OF VISIBILITY

Art show, dinner, and music celebrating transgender & gendernonconforming folks • SBTAN • Unitarian Society of SB • Suggested donation $10-50 • www.sbtan.org • 5-9pm Sa, 4/1.

CARPINTERIA COMMUNITY

AWARDS GALA

Honor outstanding community members • SB South Coast Chamber

With local children's author, Linda Lacunza, Finjamin and the Wild Ones • Chaucer's Books • Free • 2pm Su, 4/2.

OUTDOORS

SB ROLLERS

Rollerskate with an ocean view • SB City College Lot 3 • Free • 3pm Su.

SPECIAL EVENTS

MUJERES MAKERS MARKET

Shop local women vendors • El

Presidio • Free • 10am-4pm Su, 4/2.

GLITTER BRUNCH

Hosted by Vivian Storm & Angel D’Mon • Wildcat Lounge, 15 W. Ortega St. • $5 • https://glitterbrunch.com • Brunch 11am-3pm, Show 12:30pm, Sun.

CAUSE ACTION LEADERSHIP

AWARDS RECEPTION

Honoring Santa Maria City Councilwoman Gloria Soto • Lobero Theatre Courtyard • $100 • https://tinyurl.com/3zn9dhrk • 2-4:30pm Su, 4/2.

Monday • April 3rd

LECTURES | MEETINGS | WORKSHOPS

WOMEN OF INSPIRATION

Half-day retreat celebrating strong women leaders • Girls Inc. of Carpinteria • $200 • https://tinyurl.com/2w6y65k9 • 9am1pm Mo, 4/3.

PARLIAMO!

Italian conversation, all levels • Arnoldi’s Cafe, 600 Garden St. •

Hear live poetry readings at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Photo courtesy of Mesa Harmony Garden Instagram

local poets will unite for a reading at Chaucer's Books

SB Zoo Celebrates El Día del Niño

Enjoy a day full of music, food, and a fun children’s talent show all celebrating the joy children bring to our Santa Barbara community when the Santa Barbara Zoo hosts Día del Niño from 10:30am-4:30pm on Sunday, April 2nd. Participation is free with general admission. Interested talent show participants may register here: https://tinyurl.com/2p8tfc4e

http://parliamo.yolasite.com • Free • 5-7pm Mon.

Tuesday • April 4th

LECTURES | MEETINGS | WORKSHOPS

VETS CONNECT

Learn about available resources • Eastside Library • Free • 2-4pm Tu, 4/4.

VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE

Free tax help for low & mid-income residents • Eastside Library • Full list of documents to bring: • 3-7pm Tu & Th, through 4/13.

TEEN ADVISORY BOARD

Provide input on library programming • Eastside Library • Free • 4-5pm Tu.

MUSIC

WYNTON MARSALIS SEPTET

Jazz band and concert • UCSB Arts & Lectures • Granada Theatre • $20$131 • www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu • 7pm Tu, 4/4.

DREAMLAND

Tribute to music of Joni Mitchell, feat. Kimberly Ford • SOhO • $15 • www.sohosb.com • 7:30pm Tu, 4/4.

OUTDOORS

YOGA AT THE GARDEN

Guided all-levels yoga session • SB Botanic Garden • $15-30 • www.sbbotanicgarden.org • 9-10am Tu, 3/28.

SPECIAL EVENTS

SANTA BARBARA FARMERS MARKET

Shop fresh, local produce and treats • 600, 700, & 800 blocks of State Street • Free • 3-7pm Tu.

Wednesday • April 5th

LECTURES | MEETINGS | WORKSHOPS

2023 CA CENTRAL COAST

CAREGIVERS CONFERENCE

Field experts discuss financial, emotional, health aspects of caring for people with dementia • Alzheimer’s

Asscn. Central Coast • Free, register: https://tinyurl.com/mvfh7cnp • 9am4pm We, 4/5.

1 MILLION CUPS

Virtually network with entrepreneurs • www.1millioncups.com/santabarbara

• Free • 9-10am We.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OF THE APRIL

19TH STATE STREET JOB FAIR

Spanish language program to help individuals prepare for job fair • MLK Jr. Room, Eastside Library • Free • https://tinyurl.com/2p8nyfb6 • 4-5pm We, 4/5.

VIRTUAL CRIME BOOK CLUB

Discuss Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia • SB Public Library • Free, register: https://tinyurl.com/4vbh6wz3 • 5-6pm We, 4/5.

LE CERCLE FRANÇAIS

French conversation, all levels • Arnoldi’s Cafe, 600 Olive St. • http://sbfrenchgroup.yolasite.com • Free • 5-7pm We.

MUSIC

AN EVENING WITH COLIN HAY

Concert by this former Men at Work singer • Lobero Theatre • $59-106 • www.lobero.org • 7:30pm We, 4/5.

OUTDOORS

HIKE ARROYO HONDO PRESERVE

Mon & Wed, 12:30-3pm and the first & third weekends, Sat & Sun 10am12:30pm and 12:30pm-3pm. Free • https://tinyurl.com/ya3pgxge

SPECIAL EVENTS

COCKTAILS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH AMADOR MATCHMAKING

Meet singles from SB area • Fieldside Restaurant, SB Polo & Racquet Club • https://tinyurl.com/mw34jks8 • $3545 • 5-7pm We, 4/5.

Thursday • April 6th

CHILDREN

BILINGUAL SONGS AND STORIES

For kids ages 0-5 • Eastside Library • Free • 11-11:30am Th.

LECTURES | MEETINGS | WORKSHOPS

ENGLISH CONVERSATION GROUP

Practice naturally • Eastside Library • Free • 1-2pm Th.

KNIT 'N' NEEDLE

Knit and embroider with others •

It’s Your Library • Es Tu Biblioteca

Free Public Astronomy Talk: Dark Energy and Dark Matter

Voyage through the stars to learn more about one of space’s greatest mysteries when University of Toronto Postdoctoral Fellow Daniel Gilman, PhD, presents Dark Energy and Dark Matter at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Farrand Auditorium from 7:30-8:30pm on Friday, April 7th. This free event is hosted by the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit.

Montecito Library • Free • 2-3:30pm Th.

CRAFTERNOONS

All ages craft workshop • Art From Scrap, 302 E. Cota St. • $8 • https://tinyurl.com/4xp8vtud • 3:305pm Th.

SCHOOL OF NEW YORK REVISITED: 11 + 11 + 1

An Art Matters Lecture with Karen Wilkin • SB Museum of Art • Free-$15 • www.sbma.net • 5:30-6:30pm Th, 4/6.

CHAUCER’S BOOK SIGNING

With local authors Vanessa and Xander Marin, Sex Talks • Chaucer’s Books • Free • 6pm Th, 4/6.

SPECIAL EVENTS

THE MOTH MAINSTAGE

Experience a part documentary, part theater storytelling collective • KCRW & SB Independent • Lobero Theatre • $76-96 • www.lobero.org • 7:30pm Th, 4/6.

Friday • April 7th

LECTURES | MEETINGS | WORKSHOPS

COAL OIL BEACH LOOP-NORTH CAMPUS OPEN SPACE

Guided walking tour • Land Trust SB County • Coal Oil Point Reserve • Free, RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/2yr2pz5a • 9-11am Fr, 4/7.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OF THE APRIL

19TH STATE STREET JOB FAIR

Learn how to prepare for the downtown job fair • Faulkner Gallery West, Central Library • Free • https://tinyurl.com/2p986s27 • 121pm Fr, 4/7.

SUPER LIBRARY PROGRAM

Teen activities celebrating all things Super Mario Bros • Central Library, Upper Level • Free • 4-5:30pm Fr, 4/7.

FREE PUBLIC ASTRONOMY TALK: DARK ENERGY AND DARK MATTER

Talk by University of Toronto Postdoc Fellow Daniel Gilman, PhD • SB Museum of Natural History, Farrand Auditorium • www.sbnature.org • 7:30-8:30pm Fr, 4/7.

MUSIC

THANK GOD IT'S FUNKY (TGIF)

Dance party with with Area 51 & DJ Darla Bea • 210 Gray Ave, “We Want the Funk" Restaurant and Bar • $20 • https://tinyurl.com/ynd2hdxk • 6-10pm Fr, 4/7.

OUTDOORS

PLANT SPIRIT IMMERSION

Nature connection session, led by Evan Rilling and Mar Harrsen • SB Botanic Garden • $30-40 • www.sbbotanicgarden.org • 1011:30am Fr, 4/7.

SPECIAL EVENTS

MINIATURES WORKSHOP

Turn a cigar box into a miniature scene • Explore Ecology • Art From Scrap, 302 E. Cota St. • $25 • Register: https://tinyurl.com/2sjaz2fd • 6-8pm Fr, 4/7.

Saturday • April 8th

LECTURES | MEETINGS |

WORKSHOPS

HEALING OUR COMMUNITIES WORKSHOP

Talk on breast cancer care options for women of color • Project Heal of SB County • Greater Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 430 East Figueroa St. • Free • 11am-12:30pm Sa, 4/8.

BOOK TO ACTION: WRITING WORKSHOP

Learn how to write personal stories with writer-facilitator JD Mathes • Eastside Library • Free, register: https://tinyurl.com/y5papjj8 • 12-2pm Sa, 4/8.

Photo courtesy of SB Museum of Natural History

Photo courtesy of SB Zoo

Safari Local

In Person & Online Activities for Everyone

CONTINUES / CONTINÚA

Actividades en persona y en línea para todos BILINGUAL / BILINGÜE

The Derek Douget Band at the Lobero

Safari Local

In Person & Online Activities for Everyone

Actividades en persona y en línea para todos BILINGUAL / BILINGÜE

Groove to a night of swinging New Orleans jazz when the Derek Douget Band plays the Lobero Theatre at 7:30pm on Saturday, April 8th. A master of alto and soprano saxophones, Douget is a distinguished member of the Ellis Marsalis Quartet and the Director of the Heritage School of Music. For tickets ($25-106) visit www.lobero.org

MUSIC

SAN MARCOS HS BAND FUNDRAISER

Jam to tunes by Mezcal Martini, SMHS Jazz Ensemble, and La Cumbre JHS DrumLine • Draughtsmen Aleworks Mosaic Locale, 1131 State St. • Free • 5-9pm Sa, 4/8.

THE DEREK DOUGET BAND

Louisiana jazz concert • Lobero Theatre • Jazz at the Lobero Series •$25-106 • www.lobero.org • 7:30pm Sa, 4/8.

OUTDOORS

FROM ARCTOSTAPHYLOS TO VERBENA –CULTIVARS FOR CALIFORNIA GARDENS

Two hour talk/tour of the garden • SB Botanic Garden • $25-40 • www.sbbotanicgarden.org • 8:30-10:30am Sa, 4/8.

STAR PARTY

Explore the night sky with telescopes and an observatory • SB Museum of Natural History, Palmer Observatory • Free • 8-10pm Sa, 4/8.

SPECIAL EVENTS

QUEER CLIMB NIGHT

Rock wall climbing event for LGBTQ+ people and allies • SB Rock Gym • $15, members free • 5-8pm Sa, 4/8.

Sunday • April 9th

OUTDOORS

BEACH CLEANUP

Care for our beach and ocean • Explore Ecology • Arroyo Burro Beach, sign in at Watershed Resource Center • 10am-12pm Su, 4/9.

C o n s i g n f o r a C a u s e

e n e f i t s y o u r f a v o r i t e S a n t a B a r b a r a C h a r i t y

L o u i s J o h n B o u t i q u e S p e c i a l i z i n g i n d e s i g n e r f a s h i o n c o n s i g n m e n t s , e s t a t e w a r d r o b e s a n d a s s e s s m e n t s

I G : @ l o u i s o f m o n t e c i t o

T e x t L o u i s a t 4

E s t a t e o f L a d y L e s l i e R i d l e y - T r e e

' F a s h i o n & E n t e r t a i n m e n t ’

T h e P a r t y C o n t i n u e s . . .

A u c t i o n R e l e a s e P a r t y C o m i n g t h i s S p r i n g

9 5 3

Photo by David Bazemore

The Arlington Theatre

Met Live: Lohengrin

Experience Wagner’s masterpiece of magic and false murder accusations on the big screen when the Music Academy hosts a screening of the Metropolitan Opera's Lohengrin at Hahn Hall at 2pm on Sunday, April 2nd. Directed by François Girard, the filmed performance stars tenor Piotr Beczała, soprano Tamara Wilson, soprano Christine Goerke, bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin, and bass Günther Groissböck. For tickets ($28) visit www.musicacademy.org

It’s not too late to register for Turning Points in Thought From Film!

Fridays at 6pm • Schott Center, Tanahill Auditorium with Kerry Methner, PhD & Mark Whitehurst, PhD

No class Friday, March 31st - Spring Break

Next Class: Friday, April 7th • 6pm

OnSTAGE

Schedule subject to change. Please visit metrotheatres.com for theater updates. Thank you. Features and Showtimes for Mar 31 - Apr 6, 2023

Subject to Restrictions on “SILVER MVP PASSES; and No Passes” www.metrotheatres.com

CAMINO REAL

The House by the Sea (La villa) (2017): Director: Robert Guédiguian; Writers: Robert Guédiguian (screenplay), Serge Valletti (screenplay); Starring: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan Great discussions follow the screening of a range of thought provoking films.

CENTER STAGE THEATER

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN

Musical inspired by classic comic strip • Bishop García Diego High School • Center Stage Theater • $1020 • www.centerstagetheater.org • 7:30pm Sa, 4/1 & 1pm Su, 4/2.

BULLETPROOF UNICORN

Solo dark comedy about a woman’s encounter with her alcoholic brother • Center Stage Theater • $30-50 • www.centerstagetheater.org • 7:30pm Th-Sa, 4/6-4/8.

THE NEW VIC THEATER

THE CHILDREN

Eco-thriller drama about what the older generation owes to the young • Ensemble Theatre Company • $40-84 • www.etcsb.org • 7:30pm Th, 4/6, through 4/23.

RUBICON THEATRE

DARK OF THE MOON

Twilight meets West Side Story in this musical • Rubicon Theatre Company • $30-70 • www.rubicontheatre.org • 7pm We, 3/29, through 4/16.

OJAI ART CENTER THEATER

RED

Play about artist Rothko • $24 • www.ojaiact.org • Through 4/9.

It’s Time to Raise Fed Inflation Target

By Harlan Green, Special to VOICE

IN LIGHT

OF THE RECENT BANK

FAILURES, and the Fed’s own missteps in fighting inflation, history is telling us that the Fed’s current two percent target rate for inflation is too low.

Why? Because Federal Reserve policy since the 1970s has most benefited banks and other financial institutions that manage money.

It’s easy to see why. The Fed is in charge of keeping our banking system sound, which is implied in its mandate to maintain price stability and maximum employment. So its primary focus has always been to defend the value of their assets, and inflation diminishes asset values.

are the kinds of things all-size banks, and all examiners should be worried about.”

Current monetary policy hasn’t improved workers’ wages, either, which haven’t kept up with inflation with the wild gyrations caused by the COVID pandemic and some $6 trillion in pandemic aid.

So isn’t it time for Fed monetary policies to focus on bringing down the record income inequality that has prevailed since then and ranked U.S. income inequality the same as Haiti, far below that of other developed countries, per the CIA’s World-Factbook?

Economic VOICE

By Harlan Green

But the Fed hasn’t maintained price stability as evidenced by the recent inflation surge and was surprised by three U.S. bank failures, causing doubts as to the soundness of our banking system.

Former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair highlighted the dangers of such inattention in a MarketWatch interview.

“This is a risk confronting all banks,” she said. “All examiners need to be on alert for how interest-rate risk is being managed. If there is a run, they will need to sell these securities. Those

Why do we have red and blue states and a divided country, otherwise? Many Americans feel disenfranchised, namely those who no longer have jobs that earn what they did in the 1970s when we still had a manufacturing base in the rust belt.

The average hourly earnings of employees has never risen above the two to three percent range, per the St. Louis Fed. Chairman Powell was explicit in his press conference after the conclusion of the latest FOMC meeting, at which another 0.25 percent rate increase was announced. The labor market is still too hot, he said, and has caused wage growth to accelerate rather than the decline that

Santa Barbara South County Sales

the Fed deemed was necessary to bring down inflation.

So employees’ earnings have now become the culprit keeping inflation too high, when the latest research has shown excessive corporate profits and the Ukraine war jump-started the inflation surge.

In other words, the Fed has been most successful at keeping employees’ wages at or below the inflation rate since the 1970s as they labored to keep inflation in the two percent target range.

This is not a coincidence. Fed Governors since former Fed Chair Paul Volcker have believed conditions that prevailed since the 1970s still rule that caused the wage-price spiral and double-digit inflation of that time.

But widening globalization expanded world trade and developed just-in-time supply-chains that brought in cheaper consumer goods and exported manufacturing jobs to low wageearning countries. Inflation became so tame during the 1990s that it was termed the era of Great Moderation.

So why does our Fed have a two percent inflation target?

Progressive labor economist Jared Bernstein opined on this matter in the Washington Post shortly after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced the Fed’s decision to formally adopt a two percent inflation target.

“The fact is that the target is two percent because the target is two percent. Were the target three percent or four percent, you’d be

reasonably asking me, why three or four? To the extent that there’s an anti-inflation bias among economic elites (and thus an anti-fullemployment bias), and I think that’s often the case, I’d reiterate arguments I made previously… that the debates over full employment and Federal Reserve policy are generally dominated by the interests of the minority who worry more about inflation and asset values than those who worry about jobs and paychecks.”

Is there real evidence the current 4.4 to 4.6 percent average hourly wage increases employees are enjoying that was reported in the February unemployment report are inflationary?

No, it could be contributing as little as eight percent to product costs in one recent paper by EPI economist Josh Bivens that I cited above.

There is much that government can do to lessen income inequality, which would in turn lessen the yawning gap between haves and havenots in this country. The Federal Reserve can do its part by lessening the inherent bias of a low inflation target that really targets wage earners, which includes 32 million Americans that still live below the poverty line.

Harlan Green © 2023

Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ HarlanGreen

Harlan Green has been the 16-year Editor-Publisher of PopularEconomics.com, a weekly syndicated financial wire service. He writes a Popular Economics Weekly Blog. He is an economic forecaster and teacher of real estate finance with 30-years experience as a banker and mortgage broker. To reach Harlan call (805)452-7696 or email editor@populareconomics.com.

www.VoiceSB.com • CASA Santa Barbara, Inc. 217 Sherwood Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93110 (805) 965-6448 • Established 1993

Independent Community Journalism

Our mission is to provide accessible news for everyone along with a broad and inclusive perspective on our local community in both our FREE digital and print editions. If everyone who reads VOICE Magazine supports it, our future will be made secure.

Mark Whitehurst, PhD Publisher & Editor Publisher@VoiceSB.com

Legal Advertising: Voice Magazine is an adjudicated newspaper of General Circulation (Case #SP 20CV02756 dated: Oct. 27, 2020). We can publish Probate, Trustee, Name Change, Summons, and other notices. Please inquire about our rates: Publisher@voicesb.com

Daisy Scott, Associate Editor • News@VoiceSB.com

Ricky Barajas, Writer • Writer@VoiceSB.com

Payroll Systems Plus, Bookkeeping

Columnists: Robert Adams • Robert@EarthKnower.com

Send a contribution today to: VOICE Magazine, 217 Sherwood Dr, Santa Barbara CA, 93110 California

Kerry Methner PhD Editor & Publisher Editor@VoiceSB.com

Memberships:

Harlan Green • editor@populareconomics.com

John Palminteri • www.facebook.com/john.palminteri.5

Amanda & Richard Payatt • foodwinetwosome@cox.net

Sigrid Toye • Itssigrid@gmail.com

Advertising: Advertising@VoiceSB.com

Circulation: VOICE Magazine • 805-965-6448 or Publisher@VoiceSB.com

Hispanic-Serving Publication

William J. Dalziel Lic#B311003 – Bonded & Insured

CHRIS

(805) 682-4304

www.chrisagnoli.com Experience

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT:

The following person/persons/ are doing business as MIXTECO

INTERPRETING SERVICES at 1720 Vine St., Santa Maria, CA 93454. OLGA SANTOS at 1720 Vine St., Santa Maria, CA 93454. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara on February 6, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0000322. Published March 17, 24, 31, April 7, 2023.

Legal Notices

Run your legal notice in VOICE Magazine

Fictitious Business Name Alcohol License Summons

Name Change Petition to Administer Estate Trustee Sale Public Entities

For information & rates: Publisher@VoiceSB.com

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person/persons/are doing business as ALESSIA PATISSERIE & CAFE at 134 East Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. AVG805 INC. at 134 East Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara on March 7, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the County Clerk.

I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 20230000604. Published March 24, 31, April 7, 14, 2023.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following Person / Persons is/are doing business as SCENIC VENTURE MEDIA at 110 Nina Place, Buellton, CA 93427. JACOB A SEGAL at 110 Nina Place, Buellton, CA 93427. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara on March 14, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0000690. Published March 31, April 7, 14, 21, 2023.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person/persons/are doing business as SANTA BARBARA ORGANIZING at 133 E. De la Guerra Street, Ste. 4, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. BRIDGET P. GARDNER at 133 E. De la Guerra Street, Ste. 4, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara on March 20, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0000749. Published March 24, 31, April 7, 14, 2023.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person/persons/are doing business as LOADSTAR MOVERS at 1014 Via Regina, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. JOSEPH VACCARO at 1014 Via Regina, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara on March 7, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 20230000610. Published March 17, 24, 31, April 7, 2023.

Rep. Carbajal Helps Pass Five Percent Increase in Head Start Funding

Congressman Salud Carbajal announced that he was able to secure more than $19 million in federal grants for Central Coast Head Start learning programs in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. As a former Head Start Parent Involvement Coordinator, Carbajal has consistently advocated for increased funding for critical early learning programs like Head Start and Early Head Start. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved $6,226,789 for CommUnify, formerly the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County and $12,970,253 for Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County (CAPSLO). www.communifysb.org/childrens-services/head-start

Dos Pueblos High School’s News Show Brings Home Five Awards

DPNews, the student-run news station at Dos Pueblos High School participated in the annual Student Television Network national competition and was named one of the top programs in the country. DPNews won five awards this year. The Student Television Network competition features 2,700 students from

media programs all across the country. Contestants were given a prompt to find stories in the Long Beach community and interview strangers on the street. They then had three hours to film and three hours to edit.

www. dpnews.org

Insertion Date: Print: 3.31.23

VOICE Magazine • Community Market • LEGAL NOTICES

Digital included 3.29.23

ORDINANCE NO. 6106

AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA BARBARA ADOPTING THE 2022-2025 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF SANTA BARBARA AND THE FIRE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

The above captioned ordinance was adopted at a regular meeting of the Santa Barbara City Council held on March 21, 2023.

The publication of this ordinance is made pursuant to the provisions of Section 512 of the Santa Barbara City Charter as amended, and the original ordinance in its entirety may be obtained at the City Clerk’s Office, City Hall, Santa Barbara, California. (SEAL)

/s/ Naomi Kovacs Deputy City Clerk

ORDINANCE NO. 6106

STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) )

COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA ) ss.

CITY OF SANTA BARBARA )

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced on March 14, 2023, and adopted by the Council of the City of Santa Barbara at a meeting held on March 21, 2023, by the following roll call vote:

AYES:

Councilmembers Eric Friedman, Oscar Gutierrez, Meagan Harmon, Mike Jordan, Kristen W. Sneddon, Mayor Randy Rowse

NOES: None

ABSENT:

Councilmember Alejandra Gutierrez

ABSTENTIONS: None

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Santa Barbara on March 27, 2023.

/s/ Naomi Kovacs Deputy City Clerk

I HEREBY APPROVE the foregoing ordinance on March 27, 2023.

/s/ Randy Rowse Mayor

Insertion Date: Print: 3.31.23

Digital included 3.29.23

ORDINANCE NO. 6107

AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA BARBARA AMENDING THE SANTA BARBARA MUNICIPAL CODE BY AMENDING SECTION 26.50.070 PERTAINING TO JUST CAUSE FOR RESIDENTIAL EVICTIONS

The above captioned emergency ordinance was adopted at a regular meeting of the Santa Barbara City Council held on March 21, 2023.

The publication of this ordinance is made pursuant to the provisions of Section 512 of the Santa Barbara City Charter as amended, and the original ordinance in its entirety may be obtained at the City Clerk’s Office, City Hall, Santa Barbara, California.

(SEAL)

/s/ Naomi

Kovacs Deputy City Clerk

ORDINANCE NO. 6107

STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) )

COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA ) ss.

CITY OF SANTA BARBARA )

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing emergency ordinance was adopted by the Council of the City of Santa Barbara at a meeting held on March 21, 2023, by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Eric Friedman, Alejandra Gutierrez, Oscar Gutierrez, Meagan Harmon, Mike Jordan, Kristen W. Sneddon, Mayor Randy Rowse

NOES: None

ABSENT: None

ABSTENTIONS: None

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Santa Barbara on March 27, 2023.

/s/

Naomi Kovacs Deputy City Clerk

I HEREBY APPROVE the foregoing ordinance on March 27, 2023.

/s/ Randy Rowse Mayor

Where to Learn About Local Government Meetings

The Santa Barbara City Council meets most Tuesdays at 2pm • To learn more about the council and other City department meetings, visit www.santabarbaraca.gov

The Goleta City Council meets biweekly on Tuesdays at 5:30pm • To learn more about the council and other City department meetings, visit www.cityofgoleta.org

The Carpinteria City Council meets on the second and fourth Monday of the month at 5:30pm • To learn more about other City departments visit www.carpinteriaca.gov

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meets most Tuesdays at 9am • To learn more about other County departments visit www.countyofsb.org

Which non-profits will you support?

Adventures in ECO Land My Humorous Take On Going Green

By Daisy Scott / VOICE

“EVEN THE SMALLEST ACTIONS COUNT” emerges as the mantra of local author Barbara Greenleaf’s newest book, Adventures in ECO Land. Subtitled My Humorous Take On Going Green, this collection of essays is a quintessentially Santa Barbara read — reminding readers that just like the small city of Santa Barbara sparked the national celebration of Earth Day, just one individual can make a difference.

A self-described “late-blooming environmentalist,” Greenleaf captures the humor, anxiety, and questions individuals may experience as they strive to live environmentally-conscious lifestyles. The book’s core messages are very much in keeping with her organization ECO Team, which she founded to encourage and educate people on making small but substantial changes for the planet.

In Greenleaf’s opinion, the best way to accomplish this mission is through humor. Adventures In ECO Land stresses this concept from the get-go, with its first paragraph noting that “humor helps open hearts and minds.” Each of the following essays carries this charge, blending amusing anecdotes of her efforts to help Mother Earth with substantial information about prominent issues impacting climate change.

For example, if all residential clothes dryers in the United States were switched to energy-efficient models, the country could prevent 22 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year. Greenleaf shares this information while laughing over how birds thwarted her early attempts to line-dry her clothes outside, yet remaining undeterred and encouraging readers to make the switch back to a clothesline.

Other notable anecdotes include Greenleaf sneakily cooking a half-meat, half-meat-

substitute meatloaf for her husband, as well as her devastation as a “glitter junkie” in learning that items bedazzled with the stuff can never be recycled. This lighthearted, personal tone does not detract from the severity of issues, as she explores harmful food industries, recycling, political policy, minimizing waste, fossil fuels, and more.

Perhaps most notable, however, is Greenleaf’s advice on how to communicate with individuals who are not embracing an eco-conscious lifestyle. Broaching the subject of ethical consumption is often a stressful experience, whether that be due to political differences or a reluctance to alter one’s lifestyle. Others may argue that as large corporations are the principal perpetrators of climate damage, individual choices do not matter.

Understanding this, Greenleaf repeatedly includes examples of how she has talked to her husband and friends about climate change as well as more general advice on how to effectively communicate with others. This, combined with her recommendations of lifestyle changes — ranging from eliminating plastic bags to driving an electric vehicle — makes the book an approachable beginner’s guide to navigating an environmentally-conscious lifestyle.

Add in Santa Barbara-specific references to local areas, nonprofits, and photos of art made by local artists using reclaimed materials, and Adventures In ECO Land is an engaging read that emphasizes the value of collective, grassroots action in Santa Barbara and beyond. Barbara Greenleaf will host a book signing at Tecolote Book Shop from 3 to 4pm on Saturday, April 15th. The book is also available via Amazon.

Spring Magic Closing Party

This Friday, March 31st, 2-5 p.m.

Enjoy the last days of this exhibit with artists from LA, Palm Springs, Rosarito, Ventura, & Santa Barbara

Exhibitors: Airom, Allois, Enrique Avilez, Jessica Darke, Matt Mazza, Gregory Hordenski, RT

Livingston, Salvatore

Matteo, Jim McIninch, Hung Viet Nguyen, Gerald Patrick, Ryan Schude, Lana Schmulevich, Larry

Vigon, and Eric States, Robin Walker

in collaboration with BG Gallery in Santa Monica, CA

Exhibit open 1- 5 p.m. 7 days per week through March 31st

in the beautiful VOICE Gallery

121 S. Hope Ave. Unit H-124, La Cumbre Plaza, Santa Barbara

Barbara Greenleaf

Horse #1, Mutli-media, by Enrique Avilez

Plastic Outdoor Chair in Bronze by Jim McAninch

SB Earth Day Honors Activists with 2023 Environmental Hero Award

THE COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL

COUNCIL (CEC) proudly announces the recipients of its 2023 Santa Barbara Earth Day Environmental Hero Awards. CEC will honor Nalleli Cobo and Cesar Aguirre, who both work tirelessly in their communities to combat the devastating effects of the fossil fuel industry. The awards ceremony will be emceed by past Environmental Hero Award recipient Florencia Ramirez, kitchen activist, podcaster, and author of How to Eat Less Water

The ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 30th from 2 to 3:00pm on the main stage in Alameda Park. Both awardees will be on stage to accept their awards.

“This year’s recipients of the Environmental Hero Award embody what it means to be an advocate for community health, resilience, and a more just future,” said CEC’s CEO Sigrid Wright. “Their passion and commitment is humbling and we are honored to celebrate them at this year’s Earth Day celebration.”

In March of 2020, at the age of 19, Cobo led a grassroots campaign to permanently shut down a toxic oil drilling site that was causing significant health issues in her Los Angeles community. Her

success in raising awareness about the health impacts of urban oil extraction has yielded major policy movements in Los Angeles, which included the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voting unanimously to ban new oil exploration and phase out existing sites. Among many accomplishments, she cofounded People not Pozos, a nonprofit that aims to secure a safe and healthy environment for the community of South LA by educating, empowering, and working in unison with community members, and the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, which focuses on environmental racism in the community. Aguirre is the Oil and Gas Director for the Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN). At CCEJN he works throughout Kern County helping fenceline communities affected by oil, gas and pesticides understand how to protect themselves from these sources of pollution and how to advocate for systemic changes that prioritize their health. He tirelessly canvasses in communities to gather testimonies to present in front of the California Air Resources Board and at gatherings throughout Fresno and Sacramento. Aguirre is also a co-founder of the Youth vs. Big Oil statewide coalition.

Earth Dance

April 2nd to 29th

Día de la Tierra de SB honra ambientalistas con el Premio Héroe Ambiental 2023

EL CONSEJO COMUNITARIO DEL MEDIOAMBIENTE (CEC) se enorgullece en anunciar a los ganadores de sus Premios al Héroe Ambiental del Día de la Tierra de Santa Bárbara 2023. El CEC honrará a Nalleli Cobo y César Aguirre, quienes trabajan incansablemente en sus comunidades para combatir los efectos devastadores de la industria de los combustibles fósiles. La ceremonia de premiación será cedida por Florencia Ramírez, ex ganadora del Premio Héroe Ambiental, activista de la cocina, podcaster y autora de Cómo comer menos agua.

La ceremonia tendrá lugar el sábado 30 de abril de 2 a 3pm en el escenario principal del Parque Alameda. Ambos premiados se presentarán en el escenario para aceptar sus premios.

“Los galardonados con el Premio Héroe Ambiental de este año representan lo que significa ser un defensor de la salud comunitaria, la resiliencia y un futuro más justo,” dijo la Directora Ejecutiva del CEC, Sigrid Wright. “Su pasión y compromiso es humilde y nos honra celebrarlos en la celebración del Día de la Tierra de este año”.

En marzo de 2020, a la edad de 19 años, Cobo dirigió una campaña popular para cerrar permanentemente un sitio de extracción de petróleo tóxico que estaba causando problemas de salud significativos en su comunidad de Los Ángeles. Su éxito en la concienciación sobre los efectos del extracción de petróleo urbano en la salud ha dado lugar a importantes movimientos legislativos en Los Ángeles, que incluyeron la votación unánime de la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Los Ángeles para prohibir nuevas prospecciones petrolíferas y eliminar gradualmente los sitios existentes. Entre muchos otros logros, cofundó People not Pozos , una organización sin fines de lucro que tiene como objetivo asegurar un medioambiente seguro y saludable para la comunidad del sur de Los Ángeles mediante la educación, el empoderamiento y el trabajo que vaya acorde con los miembros de la comunidad, y la Coalición de Liderazgo Juvenil del Centro Sur, que se centra en el racismo ambiental en la comunidad. Aguirre es el Director de Petróleo y Gas de la Red de Justicia Ambiental de California Central (CCEJN). En CCEJN trabaja en todo el condado de Kern ayudando a las comunidades afectadas por el petróleo, el gas y los pesticidas a entender cómo protegerse de estas fuentes de contaminación y cómo abogar por cambios sistémicos que prioricen su salud. Incansablemente va de puerta en puerta en diferentes comunidades rurales para reunir testimonios que presentar frente a la Junta de Recursos del Aire de California (CARB) y en reuniones a lo largo de Fresno y Sacramento. Aguirre también es cofundador de Jóvenes vs. Petrolíferas (Youth vs. Big Oil), una coalición estatal.

St. Francis Foundation of Santa Barbara Names New Executive Director and Board Chair

THE ONLY LOCAL GIVING FOUNDATION with the sole focus of supporting programs that help to relieve human suffering, the St. Francis Foundation has announced that Tina Frontado will serve as its new Executive Director, and Salvatore “Tory” Milazzo will act as new Board Chair. Together, the duo will lead the foundation’s mission to give back to agencies making a difference within the Santa Barbara South Coast community. www.stfrancisfoundationsb.org

TINA FRONTADO assumes the role of Executive Director after Debbie Cloud, who ran the organization for close to 40 years. Frontado holds a long history working with the local nonprofit sector, including working with Hospice of SB, Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, SEE International and SB Education Foundation. Her experience also includes acting as the funding bridge and advisor between the corporate and business world and philanthropic organizations and endeavors. Beyond her professional experiences, Frontado has volunteered and served on the board of directors for many organizations, including Compassionate Care of Carpinteria, Business Giving Roundtable, Girls Inc., and Sarah House. She has also been awarded with the Women of Inspiration-Carpinteria, Girls Inc. And Leadership in Arts Award from the Children’s Creative Project. She holds her Master of Public Administration with an Emphasis in Organizational and Strategic Management from CSU Northridge.

Earth Dance highlights our connection to the Earth and celebrates the planet. The exhibition includes work by local artists in a range of styles and mediums.

1st Thursday Reception

www.VoiceSB.Art

April 6tth, 5-8pm Stop in for the art - stay for music with Harold Kono and birthday cake for Voice Magazine’s 30th birthday.

SALVATORE “TORY” MILAZZO succeeds Kathleen Baushke in the role of St. Francis Foundation Board of Directors President. Currently, Milazzo works as a Director and Investment Executive for Union Bank and HighMark Capital Management in Santa Barbara. Born and raised in northern Alabama, he moved to Santa Barbara with his family from Wyoming in 2008. A lifelong lover of the outdoors and nature, Milazzo worked as a mountain guide in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska, after graduating from Colgate University. Salvatore Milazzo

Courtesy photo, goldmanprize.org

Nalleli Cobo

Cesar Aguirre

Tina Frontado

The River Runs Through Me by Jim Bess

Carpinteria Wind Event Deemed a Tornado

By John Palminteri

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22ND: The National Weather Service sent a damage survey team to Carpinteria on Wednesday, where crew members determined Tuesday night’s wind event to be a tornado.

The cleanup from awnings and broken pieces of mobile homes continues in Carpinteria after the major wind event Tuesday.

It happened about 5:45pm about the

USS Santa Barbara Visits SB Waters Before Official Commission

same time hail and thunder were reported in the area. The swirling winds began tearing through the Sandpiper Mobile Home Park on Via Real at Cravens.

Debris was flying in a circle in the air. Several residents said it was a small, quick tornado, but it was not verified. The National Weather Service checked to see the damage and determined it was a tornado that hit the area.

More than 25 homes were damaged. Winds were estimated at 75 miles an hour. For more, visit tinyurl.com/mrypkje9

Southbound Hwy 101 Closed After Crash Injures Emergency Responders

By John Palminteri

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29TH: Two Santa Barbara Co. Fire personnel were injured by an out-of-control van at the scene of a minor injury crash on SB Hwy

101 at Nojoqui near Hwy 1. The Captain and Engineer are awake and talking at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Crash occurred at 5:20am. Eight patients were transported. Two by helicopter. The freeway is closed for the investigation.

TUESDAY, MARCH 28TH: The USS Santa Barbara made some laps past the

City of Santa Barbara Monday morning. It will be at a Naval Base in Ventura County to be commissioned the morning of this Saturday, April 1st. The 418 ft. combat vessel was just off Stearns Wharf.

Ten Stores Participating in “Vintage Treasure Hunt” This Weekend

TUESDAY, MARCH 28TH: Multiple locally owned businesses will hold a “Vintage Treasure Hunt” this Saturday as a way to help each other and share their locations with shoppers looking for something unique or special.

They feature furniture, clothing, specialized decor, and art along with signs and books.

The event was coordinated by Faitell Attractions which recently moved off State Street in downtown Santa Barbara to a new location a few blocks away on Canon Perdido Street near Chapala.

The stores will often catch your eye with their displays, give you an idea for new decor, or get you interested in a retro outfit. For more, visit tinyurl.com/2nm2rfhe

John Palminteri is a veteran news reporter and anchor for Newschannel 3-12 TV and both KJEE and KCLU radio in Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/ Ventura. Off the air, he’s often bringing his smile and positive energy to the microphone at fundraisers and civic events. John’s social media presence has one of the largest followings in Santa Barbara, and this page has the weekly highlights.

Twitter: @JohnPalminteri

John Palminteri

Instagram: @JohnPalminteriNews www.facebook.com/john.palminteri.5

with John Palminteri

By John Palminteri

A rt | A rte

BELLA ROSA GALLERIES: 1103-A State St • 11-5 daily • 805-966-1707

CASA DE LA GUERRA: Haas Adobe Watercolors • $5/Free • 15 East De la Guerra St • Th-Sun 12-4 • www.sbthp.org/casadelaguerra

CASA DOLORES: A Fortune Inside My Piggy Bank / Una Fortuna Dentro De Mi Alcancía De Cochinito; Bandera Ware; traditional outfits ~ ongoing • 1023 Bath St • www.casadolores.org

CHANNING PEAKE GALLERY • 1st fl, 105 E Anacapa St • 805-568-3994

CLAY STUDIO GALLERY: Women Makers: Then, Here Now ~ May 31 • 10-4pm Daily • 1351 Holiday Hill Rd • 805-565-CLAY • www.claystudiosb.org

CORRIDAN GALLERY: Contemporary Fine Art of Santa Barbara • Central Coast Artists • 125 N Milpas • WeSa 11-6 • 805-966-7939 • www.corridan-gallery.com

CYPRESS GALLERY: Wood & Water: Neal Andersson and Chuck Klein ~ Apr 23 • 119 E Cypress Av, Lompoc • Sat & Sun 1-4 • 805-737-1129 • www.lompocart.org

EL PRESIDIO DE SANTA BÁRBARA: Nihonmachi Revisited; Memorias y Facturas • 123 E Canon Perdido St • Th-Sun 11-4 • www.sbthp.org

10 WEST GALLERY: Awaken

~ May 15 • 10 W Anapamu • Thu-Sun 11-5 • 805-770-7711 • www.10westgallery.com

ARCHITECTURAL FDN GALLERY: Holly Hungett: Natural Interpretations

~ May 20 • 229 E Victoria • 805-9656307 • www.afsb.org

ART, DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE

MUSEUM • Christopher Suarez - Espíritutectual; On Famous Women, 1400 – 1700; Genius Loci: Domesticity and Placemaking in Southern California ~ May 7 • www.museum.ucsb.edu

ART FROM SCRAP GALLERY: 302 E Cota St • We 11-4; Th 11-5; Fr, Sat 11-4 • 805-884-0459 • www.exploreecology.org/art-from-scrap

THE ARTS FUND: The Power of Objects: The Art of Ron Robertson~ Apr 28 • La Cumbre Plaza, 120 S Hope Av • Su-Thu 11-6; Fri, Sa 11-7 • www.artsfundsb.org

ATKINSON GALLERY: SBCC Student

Sculpture Pop-Up • April 5th- 7th • Mo-Th 11-5, Fr 11-3 • http://gallery.sbcc.edu

ELVERHØJ MUSEUM: Ephemera In Form ~ May 7 • 1624 Elverhoy Way, Solvang • 805-686-1211 • Th-Mo 11-5 • www.elverhoj.org

FAULKNER GALLERY • 40 E Anapamu St • 805-962-7653

GALLERY 113: Members of SB Art Assn • 1114 State St, #8, La Arcada Ct • 805-965-6611 • Mo-Sa 11-5; Sun 1-5 • www.gallery113sb.com

GALLERY LOS OLIVOS: Because We Paint: Garrett & Ginny Speirs ~ March 31; Jim Tyler: voices and vistas ~ Apr 1-30 • Thu-Mo 10-5 • www.gallerylosolivos.com • 805-688-7517

GANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: 805.969.9990 • www.lotusland.org

GOLETA VALLEY LIBRARY: 500 N. Fairview Ave • Tu-Thu: 10-7pm; Fri & Sa 10-5:30pm; Su 1-5pm • www.TheGoletaValleyArtAssociation.org

HELENA MASON ART GALLERY: Work by Pedro De La Cruz • 48 Helena Av • 11-5pm Wed-Mon • www.helenamasonartgallery.com

JAMES MAIN FINE ART: 19th & 20th Fine art & antiques • 27 E De La Guerra St • Tu-Sa 12-5 • Appt Suggested

• 805-962-8347

KARPELES MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY & MUSEUM: 21 W Anapamu • We-Su

12-4 • 805-962-5322 • https://karpeles.com/museums/sb.php

KATHRYNE DESIGNS: Local Artists

• 1225 Coast Village Rd, A • M-Sa

10-5; Su 11-5 • 805-565-4700

LA CUMBRE CENTER FOR CREATIVE

ARTS: Three Multi-Artist Galleries at La Cumbre Plaza - Elevate, Fine Line, and Illuminations Galleries • TuesSun noon-5 • www.lcccasb.com

LEGACY ART SANTA BARBARA: Artwork of Susy and Carroll Barrymore • 1230 State St.

LOMPOC LIBRARY GROSSMAN

GALLERY: 501 E North Av, Lompoc • 805-588-3459.

LYNDA FAIRLY CARPINTERIA ARTS

CENTER: Shape & Soul ~ Mar 16 • ThuSu 12-4 • 865 Linden Av • 805-6847789 • www.carpinteriaartscenter.org

MARCIA BURTT STUDIO: Summer in Winter - paintings and photographs by gallery artists ~ April 2 • 517 Laguna St • Th-Su 1-5 • 805-9625588 • www.artlacuna.com

MAUNE CONTEMPORARY: Santa Barbara Group Exhibition: Andrew Catanese & Taher Jaoui • 1309 State St • Tu-Su 11-5 & By appt • 805-8692524 • www.maune.com

MOXI, THE WOLF MUSEUM: Exploration + Innovation • Daily 10-5 • 805-770-5000 • 125 State St • www.moxi.org

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SANTA BARBARA: Antonio Pichillá Quiacaín’s: Tejiendo El Paisaje/Weaving the Landscape • 653 Paseo Nuevo.

MUSEUM OF SENSORY & MOVEMENT

EXPERIENCES: La Cumbre Plaza, 120 S. Hope Av #F119 • www.seehearmove.com

MY PET RAM: Now You Don’t: Anders Lindseth and Raychael Stine • 16 Helena Av • Fri-Sun noon-7pm • www.mypetram.com

PALM LOFT GALLERY: Rooted and Reaching: by Rick Drake, Kerri Hedden, and Tom Henderson ~ Apr 1-May 28 • 410 Palm Av, Loft A1, Carp • By Appt • 805-684-9700 • www.Palmloft.com

Art Events

Eventos de Arte

CLOSING PARTY SPRING MAGIC •

SILO 118 hosts closing of their satellite exhibition at VOICE Gallery, La Cumbre Plaza • 2-5pm Fri, 3/31

OPENING RECEPTION ROOTED AND REACHING • Meet artists Rick Drake, Kerri Hedden, & Tom Henderson • Palm Loft Gallery • 4-6pm Sa, 4/1.

GRAND OPENING RECEPTION

WATERHOUSE GALLERY MONECITO

• Congratulate Ralph and Diane on the newest Waterhouse Gallery location • 3-6pm Sa, 4/1

SBCAW OUTREACH COMMITTEE

GROUP ART EXHIBIT • Art exhibition with poetry showcase and guitar music by Tony Ybarra •

Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden St. • Free • 12:30-3:30pm Sa, 4/1.

OPENING RECEPTION ATKINSON

GALLERY • SBCC Student

Sculpture Pop-Up • Mo-Th 11-5, Fr 11-3 • 5-7pm Thu, 4/6

VETERANS’ PHOTOGRAPHY

EXHIBIT RECEPTION • View works by artists in SBCC’s School of Extended Learning veterans photography class • Lobby of Luria Library, West Campus, SBCC • 12-3pm Th, 4/6.

RECEPTION: SENIOR GRADUATES

EXHIBITION 2023 • Meet

Westmont student artists • Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art • Free • 4-6pm Th, 4/6.

SENIOR GRADUATES EXHIBITION 2023 • Opening Reception • Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum Of Art • 4-6pm Th, 4/6.

SB ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW • Local artists & artisans • 236 E. Cabrillo Blvd., SB • 10am-5pm Sundays.

Esther Jacobsen Bates to Retire as Head of Elverhøj Museum

ESTHER JACOBSEN BATES, Executive Director of Solvang’s Elverhoj Museum of History and Art, has announced her retirement after almost twenty years of service. She will retire this summer, but continue in her position through a transition process that has already started with the search for the museum’s next Executive Director. In her tenure, Bates has led the museum through a period of growth and expanded public engagement, including working with the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, D.C. to bring ambassadors, musicians, performers, athletes, educators, and members of Denmark’s royal family to Solvang. She also worked with Ann Dittmer to co-author The Spirit of Solvang, expanded museum art gallery exhibitions, and led the effort to renovate and update all interior and exterior spaces. Her leadership was key in maintaining the museum’s fiscal stability and long-term sustainability during the pandemic.

In retirement, Bates intends to spend time playing with her grandkids, hiking and traveling, and expanding on her passion for nurturing arts and culture in the community. www.elverhoj.org

Hank Pitcher Painting Donated to UCSB AD&A Museum

OFFERING A MAJESTIC OVERVIEW OF A FAMILIAR

LOOKOUT POINT, local artist Hank Pitcher’s work Magic Forest has been donated to the UCSB Art, Design, & Architecture Musuem. First exhibited at Sullivan Goss in 2003 as a part of the gallery’s Hank Pitcher: Big exhibition, the piece went into the hands of a private collection. The family has now decided to share the painting with the larger community by donating it to the museum collection for Director Gabriel Ritter to eventually showcase.

www.museum.ucsb.edu

PEREGRINE GALLERIES: Early California and American paintings; fine vintage jewelry • 1133 Coast Village Rd • 805-252-9659 • www.Peregrine.shop

PORTICO GALLERY: Open Daily • 1235 Coast Village Rd • 805-7298454 • www.porticofinearts.com

SANTA BARBARA ART WORKS: Artists with disabilities programs, virtual exhibits • 805-260-6705 • www.sbartworks.org

SANTA BARBARA FINE ART: Winter Show ~ Spring • 1321 State St • MoSa 12-5; Su 12-4 • 805-845-4270 • www.santabarbarafineart.com

SB BOTANIC GARDEN: Interlopings: Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements: Helén Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt ~ April 16 • 1212 Mission Canyon Rd • 10-5 daily • 805-682-4726 • www.sbbg.org

SB HISTORICAL MUSEUM: Clarence Mattei: Portrait of a Community; Memories of Mountain Drive: SB’s Bohemian Community ~ June; The Story of SB • 136 E De la Guerra • Thur 12-5, Fri 12-7; Sat 12-5 • 805966-1601 • www.sbhistorical.org

SB MARITIME MUSEUM: Dan Merkel: The Lure of Lighthouses and Dancing Waves ~ Aug 27; The Chumash, Whaling, Commercial Diving, Surfing, Shipwrecks, First Order Fresnel Lens,

and Santa Barbara Lighthouse Women Keepers ~ Ongoing • 113 Harbor Way, Ste 190 • Thu-Su 10-5 • 805-962-8404 • www.SBMM.org

SB MUSEUM OF ART: Scenes from a Marriage: Ed & Nancy Kienholz ~ May 21; Out of Joint: Joan Tanner ~ May 14; Portrait of Mexico Today; Highlights of East Asian ArtOngoing • Tu-Su, 11-5; Thu, 11-8 • www.sbma.net • 805-963-4364

SB MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: Drawn by a Lady: Early Women Illustrators ~ July 2; Native People Through Lens of Edward Curtis ~ Apr

30

• Wed-Sun 10-5 • 2559 Puesta del Sol • www.sbnature.org

SANTA BARBARA SEA CENTER

Dive In: Our Changing Channel ~ Ongoing • Daily 10-5 • 805-6824711 • 211 Stearns Wharf • www.sbnature.org

SANTA BARBARA TENNIS CLUB: Nip It In The Bud ~ April 12 • 9-7 daily • 2375 Foothill Rd • 805-6824722 • www.2ndfridaysart.com

SILO 118: 118 Gray St • 12-5 Th-Sa/ by appt • www.silo118.com

SULLIVAN GOSS: Betty Lane & Christopher Noxon: From One Generation to the Next ~ Mar 31May 22 Surreal Women: Surrealist Art By American Women ~ April 24; Regenerate: Works of J. Bradley Greer & Lynda Weinman; The Winter Salon ~ Mar 27 • 11 E Anapamu St • 805730-1460 • www.sullivangoss.com

SUSAN QUINLAN DOLL & TEDDY BEAR MUSEUM: 122 W. Canon Perdido • Fr-Sa 11-4; Su-Th by appt • 805-687-4623 • www.quinlanmuseum.com

SYV HISTORICAL MUSEUM & CARRIAGE HOUSE: Art Of The Western Saddle • 3596 Sagunto St, Santa Ynez • Sa, Su 12-4 • 805-688-7889 • www.santaynezmuseum.org

TAMSEN GALLERY: Work by Robert W. Firestone • 911.5 State St, 805705-2208 • www.tamsengallery.com

THOMAS REYNOLDS GALLERY: Western Edge ~ Mar 25 • Th-Sat 12-5; By Appt • 1331 State St • www.thomasreynolds.com

UCSB LIBRARY: www.library.ucsb.edu

VOICE GALLERY: Silo 118 Gallery presents: Spring Magic ~ March 31; Earth Dance ~ April 2-30 • La Cumbre Plaza H-124 • 805-965-6448

WATERHOUSE GALLERY MONTECITO: Notable CA & National Artists • 1187 Coast Village Rd • 11-5 MonSun • 805-962-8885 • www.waterhousegallery.com

WATERHOUSE GALLERY SB: Notable CA & National Artists • La Arcada Ct, 1114 State St, #9 • 11-5

Mon-Sat • 805-962-8885 • www.waterhousegallery.com

WESTMONT RIDLEY-TREE MUSEUM OF ART: Senior Graduates Exhibition 2023~ April 6-May 6 • 805-565-6162 • MoFr 10-4; Sat 11-5 • www.westmont.edu/museum

WILDLING MUSEUM: Bird’s Eye View: Four Perspectives ~ Sept 4; Dunes: Visions of Sand, Light & Shadow ~ April 3 • 1511 B Mission Dr, Solvang • www.wildlingmuseum.org

Artists: See your work here! Join VOICE Magazine’s Print & Virtual Gallery! Affordable Advertising opportunity –Just for Artists Find out more & reserve a space by emailing Publisher@VoiceSB.com

VeronicaWalmsleyArt.com freidabme@gmail.com

A. Michael Marzolla, Fine Artist Excogitation Services/Marzozart Paintings, drawings, prints Commissions accepted

Esther Jacobsen Bates

Photo by Ingrid Bostrom Photography

Majestic Forest by Hank Pitcher

Rethinking the Term ‘Self-Taught’

By Debra Herrick / The UC Santa Barbara Current

FOR YEARS TRAVELERS HAVE VISITED A PECULIAR ROADSIDE ATTRACTION

just off California State Route 118 in Simi Valley called Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village, a patchwork of oddly shaped dwellings made of salvaged materials like brightly colored bottles. But the property is more than just the amusing and eccentric home of an inventive person.

“Bottle Village can be examined as the confluence of midcentury roadside advertising, Southern California tourism and placemaking strategies of second-wave feminism,” said Elizabeth Driscoll Smith, a doctoral candidate in UC Santa Barbara’s art history program. To examine how self-taught artists such as Prisbrey — who took inspiration from nearby theme parks Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland — responded to the expanding infrastructure of the last century, her dissertation project was recently awarded a Luce/ American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Fellowship in American Art. Her research explores how increased accessibility to travel, including mass transportation and waterway expansion projects, altered how folk or self-taught artists saw

themselves and their communities in the mid to late 1900s. Driscoll Smith also looks at folk artists within the context of a burgeoning folk art tourism.

“Elizabeth is the fourth Luce/ACLS Pre-Doctoral Fellow I have had from History of Art & Architecture over a period of five short years: these are national-level, extremely competitive fellowships,” said Jenni Sorkin, art history professor and Driscoll Smith’s dissertation advisor. “She is part of a generation of emerging scholars that I am training here at UCSB to rethink the way we frame and tell the story of American art: enlarging representation by bringing a wider and more diverse lens to a field that has an historic East Coast and painterly bias.”

“My dissertation project marshals many forms of evidence to counter decades of collector-driven literature,” she said, “that has historically separated work by folk or self-taught artists like Prisbrey from the context of their built environments.” By consulting photographs and videos taken by the artists’ friends, community members and what artists themselves wrote about their work, Driscoll Smith seeks to add nuance to the descriptor “self-taught,” which she finds conveniently imprecise

“In the case of Prisbrey, for example, she was a parts assembler for Boeing during World War II, which likely contributed to her interest in building,” Driscoll Smith said. Another artist she’s looking at, Sam Doyle, a Black folk artist from South Carolina, developed his artistic skills at the Penn School, the first educational center in the American South for formerly enslaved African Americans.

“Conventionally art and artists classified in these terms have been treated as isolated, with little impact beyond the regional, traditional practices of their localities,” said Laurie Monahan, History of Art & Architecture chair. “We congratulate Elizabeth on her efforts to counters those perceptions by critically examining and documenting the ways in which these artists engaged and strategically grappled with increased accessibility and modernization as manifested by the expansion of national infrastructure and tourist networks. Her project will have a real impact on the ways in which these artists and their works are understood and considered as a vital part of 20th century American culture and art.”

Currently a predoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., Driscoll Smith’s research goes on to question why artists like Prisbrey or Doyle are even considered self-taught when they have some formal and informal training and education.

“They have so much knowledge and experience and yet we still call them self-taught,” she said. “I want to offer some insight into how we can think about forms of knowledge and pedagogy differently.”

Originally from Kentucky, Driscoll Smith said she turned her focus to self-taught artists after working as a research assistant at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, where she had a supporting hand in the exhibition, Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art

“Within their work I saw so much of what I saw at home growing up in rural Kentucky,” she said. “I saw myself in their work; I saw my community.”

Courtesy photos

Elizabeth Driscoll Smith

Unfolding Histories

Artist Sandy Rodriguez illuminates forgotten pasts of the Central Coast

By Tom Jacobs

The UC Santa Barbara Current

THE PHRASE “LOCALLY SOURCED” usually refers to food. But in the case of artist Sandy Rodriguez, it actually applies to her paints.

Rodriguez, whose latest site-specific exhibit, Unfolding Histories — 200 Years of Resistance, is on view at UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum, personally fabricates plant and soil-based paints to create images that are grounded in a particular place — in this case, California’s Central Coast.

The Los Angeles-based artist, whose work has been displayed in major museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, and the Huntington Library, spent months researching the history and botany of this area. Among her excursions was a four-day trip to the Channel Islands.

“It was glorious,” Rodriguez said. “We were driven around the island, where we could observe plants that exist nowhere else in the world. We also visited archeological sites. I got to sit and draw and go on beautiful hikes.

“I returned home — with permission, of course — with a handful of very beautiful plant and soil samples, which I then created paints from. Colors from that process are included in the objects you’ll see in the show.”

Those colors — including deep reds and a particularly vibrant teal — have a

unique beauty. But her work is not simply about providing aesthetic pleasure. In many of her pieces, Rodriguez draws attention to protest movements past and present, juxtaposing imagery in a way that suggests resistance to oppression is a long and continuing story.

“Sandy blends the past and the present,” said Sophia McCabe, curator of the exhibition. “She tells the story of California history from the perspective of the colonized. This history is often left out of Western history books.”

The centerpiece of the UC Santa Barbara show is a “monumental doublesided maple folding screen,” Rodriguez said. “One side is the nighttime view looking at Santa Barbara from the Channel Islands, all done in hand-crafted charcoal. It’s a sparkly and reflective nighttime sky. I inlaid about 300 small pieces of abalone to create the stars, and used handcrafted oil paints to create something more enduring.

“The other side uses the soils from Santa Cruz Island, which gives it a warm, earthy tone. On that side, I painted a map of Central California, highlighting sites of resistance spanning 200 years.”

Through the work, Rodriguez draws attention to a largely forgotten piece of local history: The Chumash Revolt of 1824. That year, the native peoples of this region rebelled against the Spanish and Mexican colonizers who controlled the area.

Rodriguez commemorates this event by both referencing it on the map, and including in the exhibition a painting of Mission Santa Ines on fire. These images are juxtaposed with others depicting more recent acts of rebellion, including the protest marches following the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

“Sandy’s paintings critique the legacy of colonization,” McCabe said. “She brings together historical and present-day events, showing how we have arrived at this moment.”

Originally from the San Diego area, Rodriguez comes from a family of artists. “There’s my grandfather, my grandmother, my mother, myself — and I suspect it went back a bit further,” she said. She knew from a young age that she was destined to go into the family business.

“I was 16 when I was recruited to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts,” she recalled. “I was overjoyed that I could do my English, math, and history all before noon, and then be in the studio from noon to 3pm. That felt so right!”

Before turning to full-time art-making, Rodriguez spent two decades working

at various art museums. She reports this experience contributed to her growth as an artist. “Part of my museum work was teaching studio courses,” she said. “So I used studies by masters like Degas and Courbet and thought about their use of line. My work draws on those influences. It’s an intentional mixing of the European tradition with traditions from the Americas.”

Her most direct influence is the Florentine Codex, an encyclopedic study of the people and plants of colonial Mexico put together by Franciscan missionaries in the 16th century. Rodriguez uses that work as a template, creating new paintings on the same ancient form of bark-based paper used for codexes. Among the paintings she produced for this exhibit are several depicting native flora that are unique to this region.

“This is my first sustained engagement with the Central Coast,” she said. “It has been really transformative. The conversations with artists, historians, and people with such diverse backgrounds as anthropology and sociology to ethnobotany have just been incredible.”

Utilizing that background information, Rodriguez creates beautiful works that reveal some ugly facts about our region’s past — and show how timeless notions of freedom and equality still resonate today.

“One of my strategies is to seduce and engage the viewer, and then to introduce conversations we’re not likely to have unless we’re engaged,” she said. “We have to confront the reality of the time we are living in, and understand how we got here. We can link the past and the present to see the future.”

Photo by Ruben Diaz

One of my strategies is to seduce and engage the viewer, and then to introduce conversations we’re not likely to have unless we’re engaged.

- Sandy Rodriguez

Installation view of Sandy Rodriguez — Unfolding Histories: 200 Years of Resistance at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum

Mapa de Califas—Atrocities, Isolation and Uprisings 2020-2021 from the Codex RodriguezMondragón, 2020-2021. Hand-processed watercolor on amate paper. Detail. By Sandy Rodriguez, courtesy of the artist. © Sandy Rodriguez

Closing Party Friday, March 31st, 2-5pm

The complete list of exhibitors: Aerom, Allois, Enrique Avilez, Jessica Darke, Gregory Hordenski, R.T. Livingston, Salvatore Matteo, Matt Mazza, Jim McAninch, Hung Viet Nguyen, Ryan Schude, Lana Schmulevich, Larry Vigon, and Robin Walker

Oh, by Ryan Schude, 60 x 48in

Getting High on Art in Culver City

By Edward Goldman, ART Matters

AFEW DAYS AGO WHEN THE CLOUDS PARTED, I drove to Culver City to check out some gallery exhibitions. I expected to spend less than an hour there, and then proceed to Midtown to check out other galleries. To my delight, the art I encountered was so challenging and so full of surprises that I spent the afternoon in Culver City getting high on art.

Two exhibitions at Blum & Poe couldn’t be more aesthetically different. On the ground floor, there is a sprawling installation of figurative paintings by LA and NY based artist, Asuka Anastacia Ogawa (b. 1988). In a magical world imagined by Ogawa, her “signature, childlike figures” are presented in “scenes of quiet meditation.” To be completely honest, I admit that while initially checking the gallery website before going to Blum & Poe, I was not that impressed by her cartoon-like figures, but that changed completely when I stood in front of her canvases. There is a quiet magic coming from them, and it echoes Ogawa’s experience of spending her formative years in Japan and Brazil.

The exhibition, pedra, runs through April 15.

Visitors: A Mid-Career Survey Exhibition

MY NEXT STOP IN CULVER CITY WAS AT THE WALTER MACIEL GALLERY, with its mid-career exhibition by Oakland-based artist, Robb Putnam (b. 1971). The gallery presents Putnam’s multiple sculptures of life-sized animals all made from “found fabric and mixed media materials.” There is an unsettling combination of innocence and fear emanating from these creatures. They are all soft to the touch, but ready to bite you, as well. Each of his toy-like sculptures has intriguing character and personality, which makes me think about their creator…Robb Putnam. Hmmm. Isn’t it interesting that he avoids making human figures, while his animals exude human-like emotions. “They exist in a state of flux, somewhere between coming together and falling apart.”

The exhibition, Visitors: A Mid-Career Survey Exhibition, runs through April 29.

NOW MY FRIENDS, BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THE EXHIBITION, Make Me Feel Mighty Real: Drag/Tech and the Queer Avatar, at Honor Fraser Gallery. It is group exhibition of 40 artists chronicling seven decades of techniques that “queer artists have pioneered to build community, and cruise utopia.”

The multimedia installation evokes the glamour and aesthetic of queer night clubs, virtual chat rooms and underground performance venues inherent to queer culture. With the current movement “Don’t Say Gay” by ultra conservative states, this exhibition is definitely not going to travel to Florida to challenge and scare its governor, Ron DeSantis. But for us, in Los Angeles, the exhibition is on view through May 27.

Discover

Edward Goldman was art critic and host of “Art Talk,” a weekly program which aired prime-time Tuesday evenings during All Things Considered on LA’s largest NPR affiliate, KCRW 89.9 FM, for more than 30 years. Along the way, he also contributed weekly art reports to the Huffington Post and developed a strong digital following.

Photo by Heather Rasmussen

Photo courtesy of Honor Fraser Gallery

Make Me Feel Mighty Real: Drag/Tech And The Queer Avatar at the Honor Fraser Gallery

Photos by Edward Goldman

T: Asuka Anastacia Ogawa, sleepy, 2022

B: Julian Hoeber, In and Out of Captivity, 2023 Blum & Poe Los Angeles

Robb Putman Installation views, 2023 Walter Maciel Gallery

T: Asuka Anastacia Ogawa Installation View, 2023

B: Julian Hoeber Installation View, 2023 Blum & Poe Los Angeles

APRIL 11–12, 2023

Conference: Listening to Cumbia 2023

Pollock Theater; 6020 HSSB

Listening to Cumbia brings together scholars, filmmakers, artists, and archivists for a symposium, screening, and DJ event on the contemporary cultural and political history of cumbia music in Mexico and the United States. Cumbia – as transnational record circulation and as local sound system dance scenes – is a living culture that provides insight into the cross-border effects of this popular music as force of social identity and mode of communication among Latinx communities.

APRIL 11, POLLOCK THEATER

7:00–10:00 PM | Screening: Yo No Soy Guapo (Joyce Garcia, 2018) and Sonidero Metropolis (Alvaro Parra, 2023)

APRIL 12, 6020 HSSB

10:30 AM–12:00 PM | Archiving Cumbia: Jorge Balleza, Carlos Icaza, Gary Garay, and Alexandra Lippman

Moderator: David Novak

12:00–1:30 PM | Lunch

1:30–3:00 PM | Visualizing Cumbia: Joyce García, Alvaro Parra, Roberto Rodriguez, Mirjam Wirz

Moderator: Raquel Pacheco

3:30–5:00 PM | Listening Through Time: Myths of Past Futurities in Cumbia Rebajada: Juan David Rubio Restrepo

8:00–10:00 PM | Baile/Performance (Storke Plaza): Sabotaje Media, Space Primo, Ganas, Tropicaza, Xandão, and Penny Lane

Organized by the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music. Cosponsored by the IHC’s Faculty Collaborative Research Grant, Carsey-Wolf Center, Humanities and Fine Arts, KCSBFM, Anthropology, Chicana/o Studies, Film and Media Studies, and Ethnomusicology Forum

Image: Dave Novak

888 Lilac Drive | Riskin Partners Estate Group $33,500,000

3599 Padaro Lane | Emily Kellenberger & Associates $ 24,800,000

20 Camino Alto | Beth Slifirski $8,499,000

9985 Alisos Canyon Road | Carey Kendall $8,450,000

2005 Birnam Wood Drive | Riskin Partners Estate Group/King $7,495,000