May 19 – 22, 2009

Phoenix Rising “from the ashes of the Tea Fire”

Literally rising from the ashes, this exhibition is intended to celebrate rebirth and regeneration in the aftermath of fires that have ravaged Santa Barbara in the last year, destroying homes, changing landscapes and disrupting the lives of thousands of residence. There will be a lively evening of food and drink on Friday May 22nd from 5-7PM at the AFS Gallery. All are welcome. This exhibition is organized by Melissa Marsted and co-curated by Izzy Greer.

I will be unable to attend the event, so if you go please let us know how it went by posting your comments here.

Just yesterday I bumped into the new blog by the collaborative group known as “Think Tank”. Think Tank was one of the many artists who showed their work in last month’s “Against the Wall: Layers Revealed” show at the Arts Fund Gallery. It was a wonderful show for a wonderful cause and the work by Think Tank was especially good.  From their blog I learned that just last week they were part of a panel discussion on aerosol art at the Faulkner Gallery in the public library, which I am very sad that I didn’t know about. The relatively conservative values and artistic tastes of much of Santa Barbara’s population in combination with the ever growing population of youths looking for a way to be heard means that this kind of discussion is going to become increasingly important. I would have loved to have been there. 

I can’t say I know much about Think Tank, but when I asked Laura Inks, who put together the “Against the Wall” show, she said that they were a duo working in collaboration. To learn more and to keep up with Think Tank’s newest projects make sure to check out Think Tank’s Blog. I know I will.  If you made it to the show at the Art Fund Gallery, please let us know what you thought.