There are loads of great events and exhibits to check out tonight whilst out and about for Santa Barbara’s First Thursday. Here are some recommendations for places you shouldn’t miss.

AG2 GALLERY @ THE FRENCH PRESS
1101 State Street
(805) 963-9800
Etch ‘N Sketch: Art Show and Art Swap. A back to the not so basics of drawing and rendering show featuring Peter Mengert and Roberto Morales, with highlighted local artist Holly McCay. Select art pieces will be on display from local high school students. Bring a black book or sketch pad to swap sketches with your fellow artists. Percentage of sales goes to youth art fund. Music and refreshments will be available.

SANTA BARBARA CONTEMPORARY ARTS FORUM
653 Paseo Nuevo, 2nd Floor
(805) 966-5373
Forum Lounge: Privacy is Dead Because We Said So. Artist James Gilbert will set up a temporary sewing shop and sew several hundred real size pairs of clear, industrial plastic see-through underpants, which will accumulate in huge sculptural piles. This project addresses ideas of privacy, anonymity and identity in relationship to the huge amounts of personal information posted daily on Facebook, youtube, Google and other mass media.

Elizabeth Gordon Gallery
15 West Gutierrez
(805) 963-1157

Viva Design in collaboration with Inga Guzyte present: Love to Read. The exhibit is an installation with the paper-cup characters in the window of the Elizabeth Gordon Art Gallery. We created Alphabet city, a New York (well sort of) right here in Santa Barbara.  The official opening for the exhibit will be Thursday, 9-9, 5-8pm. I hope all locals will sip a wine with us and celebrate the new Viva Design adventure.

UPDATE: This just in from FUZION! This is a big deal folks.

We are hosting a pop up art show by David P. Flores @ Fuzion Gallery 1115 State St.

The reception will be this Thursday the 2nd of September.
The show will hang for one week only so don’t miss this chance to see some of David’s art in person, trust us you will be impressed!!!
http://www.davidfloresart.com/

Reception starts 7PM and can be expected to close around 11PM

This event lies on a First Thursday so SB’s art crowd will be out in plenty!

If you come dressed to impress then the drinks and food are on us!

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Friday night at 6 pm a 24 hour creative art rally will begin at the Contemporary Arts Forum. I have it from good sources that over 100 artists have signed up for the event. Not all of them will be doing the entire 24 hours, but many will and the results are sure to be interesting. There is also a closing reception on Sunday, but I REALLY recommend going to the event to see the creative marathon in action. I hope to see tons of people there.

If you take pictures, send them my way and I’ll post them on the blog.

COLLECT DRAWINGS CREATED BY LOCAL ARTISTS!

Friday, July 23, 6 pm
through
Saturday, July 24, 6 pm
Closing Reception:
Sunday, July 25, 4-6 pm

Come to see local artists draw and to purchase artwork hot off the presses at the rally and at the celebratory closing reception. All of the proceeds will be divided between the drawers and CAF. $5 to attend the rally and get first pick of available artworks.  FREE to attend the closing reception at which any remaining artworks will be for sale. For more information visit sbcaf.org or call (805) 966-5373

Support for From Dusk ’til Drawn provided by: Bella Dolce Bakery, CASA Magazine, City 2.0, Craft Essentials, DJ Colin Marshall, DJ Magneto, The Graphic Vendor, RND Vodka, Santa Barbara Premiere Catering, The Santa Barbara Independent, The Santa Barbara News-Press, and Via Maestra.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

It’s that time again to get your walking shoes on and hit State Street for an evening full of art viewing. It looks as though the June Gloom of the last few weeks has given us a break and it is a perfect day to get out and about on the town. Here is a suggested itinerary of places not to be missed:

AG2 GALLERY @ THE FRENCH PRESS
1101 State Street
(805) 963-9800
Hope and Spirit of Haiti: A photographic journey revealing a spirit of regrowth and resilience in post-earthquake Haiti. How does the Haitian spirit thrive in the wake of natural disaster? This is what photographer, Lindsey Ross, set out to find. Feel the energy with lively cultural music. Refreshments served.

Lindsey is an adventurous and dedicated photographer, and I’m super excited about this one.

CANARY HOTEL
31 West Carrillo Street
(805) 884-0300
World-renowned artist Emma Ferreira has been a full-time contributor to the contemporary art world since 1998. Emma’s entrepreneurial spirit allows her to use her creative gifts to support her countless philanthropic endeavors.

I haven’t been in this space in the Canary, so it will be interesting to see.

THE GRANADA
1214 State Street
(805) 899-3000
Summer Speakeasy: Escape the summer heat in the cool downstairs as we revisit the end of the roaring 20s with swanky music, wine sampling courtesy of Santa Barbara Winery, beer tastings and an Old Hollywood art exhibit from our Hall of Fame of entertainment icons who appeared in their heyday.

SANTA BARBARA CONTEMPORARY ARTS FORUM
653 Paseo Nuevo, 2nd Floor
(805) 966-5373
Forum Lounge: FAST-FORWARD: A Screening of Contemporary American Video Art: Curated by Annie Wharton, FAST-FORWARD is a compilation of short length videos by several artists working in the medium. The videos encompass a wide range of subject matter ranging from corporeal, action based performances to humorous slices of life. In addition, CAF will show works on monitors and projections by several other artists. 7pm.

COUCH
9 West Ortega Street
(805) 965-8505
Not to be missed, the very unusual necromantic art of multi-media artist Kimberly McBride. She uses video, music and paint to channel cultural icons from Marilyn Monroe to Kurt Cobain. Kimberly will be painting live using her brushless technique. Join us for an artist reception and refreshments.

THE CHURCH GALLERY
125 West Ortega Street
(805) 451-8845
A Certain Slant of Light: New Works by Cyndee Howard and Lisa Schulte, is a two-person exhibition exploring the notion of light as a formal as well as thematic medium. Curated by Miki Garcia, the exhibition features new works in photography by Howard and neon sculpture by Schulte.

C4
914A Santa Barbara Street, at the Built Green Resource Center
The Green Building Art Show brings together work by a diverse group of designers, architects and artists who specialize in green building. In addition, C4’s Build Smart mobile demonstration trailer will be onsite. Refreshments will be served.

BROOKS INSTITUTE GALLERY 27
27 East Cota Street
(805) 690-4913
Brooks Institute’s Gallery 27 will have on display a selection of work from local student artists. Refreshments will be served.

If there are any great events going on that I have missed, send me a message and I’ll do my best to update the post.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

This is an especially action-packed First Thursday in Santa Barbara.  It will, in fact, be hard to see all of the great things going on this evening, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying.

To start off, there is a great underground show at 123 E. Carrillo St. The show will feature work by The Protist, some ridiculously awesome sculptures by Inga Gyzyte, and stop-motion animation by Viva Design Inc. This one goes from 5 to 10, so it would make a perfect last stop on your First Thursday tour.

At the AG2 gallery, our friend Bill McVicar is putting on a show of work by museum guards called “Please Don’t Touch the Art“. I have been excited about this show since the moment I heard about the idea. This is one of the most original shows I’ve heard about in ages.

Other highlights tonight include:

SANTA BARBARA CONTEMPORARY ARTS FORUM

653 Paseo Nuevo, 2nd Floor

Forum Lounge: John Williams, a multimedia interactive installation. Multimedia artist John Williams uses vinyl records, record players, speakers, effect pedals, slide and 8 mm projectors to create an ultra-sensory environment of small assemblage sculptures with projections and sounds created in real time. As Williams converts the gallery space into one giant kinetic sculpture, the viewer becomes an active participant in his improvised visual choreography. 7pm.

WHEELHOUSE

528 Anacapa Street

WheelHouse, along with Bike Moves, is proud to present The WheelHouse Hoedown! Bring your boots, hat and wranglers to this county fair themed event featuring Brengrass, a local folk music group. There will also be fun events throughout the night including a pie eating contest and mini bike races. Yee-Haw!!!

THE GRANADA

1214 State Street

Let us entertain you with an evening of lively arts! Santa Barbara Artists Collaborative presents surprise vignettes and mini performances throughout the theatre. Enjoy the colorful pop art paintings of Stephen Holland on display upstairs in The McCune Founders Room. And enjoy a diverse line-up downstairs including Kit of Astrohoops as you sip savory wines available at our no-host wine bar.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite