I seem to have been so busy lately that I have been slow to get organized for this month’s Art Crawl. Because of this, I’m going to publish the exact same map that I used for last month’s Art Crawl, but I’ll also reserve the right to make some last minute deviations of our route. One of the challenges in organizing the Art Crawl is that many of the places I want to hit the most are also the farthest apart and for some people that is just too far to walk. So I do my best to balance these factors and encourage people to wear comfortable shoes. OH… and try to eat before you come. 1st Thursday happens right at dinner time and you can find yourself famished before get to see the place you’ve been waiting for all night.  The last few month’s we’ve had a really great turn out, and I’ve met some really great people… not to mention seen some pretty great art.

The Art Crawl begins at 5:45 sharp, however, if you know you’re going to be late you can follow our progress on Twitter.

Maybe we’ll see a movie star?

click on the image above for a larger map

First Thursday is now only two days away. With Halloween behind me I can finally start to focus on this month’s offerings. November is music month in Santa Barbara, highlighted by the New Noise Music Conference and Festival, which brings in a bunch of great bands and music professionals.

One of my favorite parts of this festival is “Pianos on State“.  Throughout the week pianos will be placed at strategic locations on State Street for anyone to use. These pianos have been decorated by local artists and have an uncanny ability to spawn serendipitous moments of audio bliss. It is not uncommon to see bands that played at SOHO or Velvet Jones the night before, jamming on one of these pianos the following afternoon.

Another music related 1st Thursday event will be taking place at Santa Barbara Sheet Music (1036 Santa Barbara St.). This will be their first time putting on an event during 1st Thursday and you can expect live music from a variety of different groups and a suite of work by local artists on the wall. I will admit, I’ve never been to Santa Barbara Sheet music, but I have intrigued by the place for a long time and I’m glad I finally have a proper excuse to go up and check the place out.

You will find more information on both events below.

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Music to your ears” Anyone can play and all are encouraged to listen!

Pianos on State, a collaborative and interactive musical experience coinciding with the 2011 New Noise Festival (www.newnoisesb.org), kicks off downtown during First Thursday November 3rd. Sponsored in part by Santa Barbara Beautiful and Cox Communications, this is the second annual event made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Santa Barbara Bowl, Notes for Notes, Santa Barbara Education Foundation, Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative, Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, and New Noise Festival Nov. 3-6. Each piano will become its own piece of art as local professional Santa Barbara artists create unique looks. Pianos will be available for musical exploration, impromptu play and planned performances morning, afternoon and evening over two weekends (10am – 9pm per piano). Amateur and professional musicians alike will be scheduled to perform and the public is invited to sit down and play during non-scheduled hours.

http://notesfornotes.org
http://newnoisesb.com
http://sbbowl.com
http://granadasb.org/education.html
http://sbartscommission.org
http://sbefoundation.org

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New store manager, Kristen Reed, comes to us by way of New York and Paris, to breathe some new life into a business that has been a fixture in our community for over forty years.  “I see a great opportunity here to reach out, support, and encourage the next generation of musicians here in Santa Barbara. With all that this community does for its music and art organizations, we can’t help but want to be a part of it!”

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Alvaro Suman -
“Alvaro has exhibited his work in the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City; Cuernavaca, Mexico; Casa de la Raza, Santa Barbara; Los Angeles Art Museum; San Francisco Art Museum; among others. Alvaro’s art reflects a style that varies from magical realism to fantastic surrealism and one can clearly see his indigenous Mexican background.”

Molly Hahn -
Mollycules™ is the brainchild of multimedia artist Molly Hahn.

http://www.mollycules.com/

Now I’m only going to tell you this if you promise to stop by the show on 48 Helena St too, ok? Promise?

Good. So this sounds like a super fun event up on Gutierrez. It’s gonna be a busy weekend.

Lately, it seems as though the Funk Zone has been going through a welcomed renaissance, as local businesses in the neighborhood help celebrate the arts. This is, in part, helped by the recently developed urban wine trail, which brings more foot traffic to the area. One of these wineries will be hosting a one-woman comedy show this Thursday night. Author and comic Polly Frost has been published in numerous places including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Narrative Magazine and The Barnes and Noble Review. Her humor was selected for both of The New Yorker “best humor” anthologies: Disquiet, Please! and Fierce Pajamas; and was also selected for last year’s anthology, Humor Me, edited by Ian Frazier.

Frost got in touch with me a while back to let me know about her upcoming show at the Oreana Winery. I love the idea of performances in unconventional spaces, but I also love the willingness of business to consider such events. Sure Oreana is hoping to do some extra business on the night, but going to a comedy show at a wine tasting room sounds like a blast, so it’s a win-win for everyone. When businesses discover that supporting the Arts can be financially beneficial, that can only be a good thing for artists and art lovers alike.

You can read one of Frost’s humor pieces that was published recently in The Atlantic HERE.

Maybe you have heard about this thing called Burning Man and been quietly curious. Maybe you are one of those poor souls who put off buying a ticket this year and fell victim to the first sell out in Burning Man history. Either way, for tonight’s 1st Thursday you can come and get a taste of the event at 515 Garden St.

I checked the place out last night, and it really is a remarkable environment…especially considering it can be found in downtown Santa Barbara. The legendary PyroBar will be there and that alone is reason enough to check this out tonight. But there are so many other reasons.

So, once you have visited the galleries tonight, walk on over to the Walkabout Woods. You will be so glad you did.

Burning Man is right around the corner, and Walkabout Woods is getting ready to showcase the largest art installation Santa Barbara and Fishbon has ever brought to the playa. We’ve been busy for the better half of this past year preparing for this, and we are rounding into the home stretch. Come celebrate with us in our warehouse space. We will have Wild Cultures Kombucha on tap, live art, the opportunity to paint if you desire, music, gifts, and all around delicious energy.

Directly following First Thursday activities, on Garden Street between Hailey and Cota.