Happy Holidays!  Tonight is the night for a particularly festive First Thursday on State Street. The tree is up outside the Arlington, and the lights are out on all the trees that line the street I’ve been so busy preparing for tonight that my monthly recommendations are a bit late, but I hope you will put these stops on your itinerary for the evening.

Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative Art Crawl
After the success of the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative‘s  first ever First Thursday Art Crawl last month, we are going to be making it a monthly event. This month I got local contemporary art super hero, Andi Garcia to curate the crawl. She has put together a truly impressive line up of stops and Art Crawl exclusives that  should create a very special and unique evening. All you have to do to participate in the Art Crawl is show up at Coffee Cat at 5:30 tonight. Look for the lady with the Art Crawl badges. From Coffee Cat Andi will be making stops at many of the places listed below, and other unexpected places.

100 Grand at SULLIVAN GOSS
I’ve spent most of the last week preparing for this show. It is one of my favorite shows of the year and I’m not alone. People have been asking about his show for months already. The idea: 100 works prices at $1000 or less. The 2010 version of the show boasts a roster of 47 contemporary artists all in one room. The show gives the gallery to exhibit work by local contemporary and emerging artist, which is why I get so excited about the show, and why I want to highlight the show on the blog.

SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART
Two of the five exhibitions in the series Reframing America…will be on view: An American Century: 20th-Century Master Drawings from the Collection and American Modernism: Selections from the Permanent Collection. A selection of short (under 10 min) films by Stranger Than Fiction artists Erin Cosgrove and Allison Schulnik will be screened continuously in the Mary Craig Auditorium.

Family 1st Thursday: Picture This.
Bring the whole family to enjoy 1st Thursday together in SBMA’s Family Resource Center. Pose for a Polaroid, then play with places and create your own story by inserting yourself as a character in one of the photographs in the exhibition American Modernism. 5:30-7:30pm.

Quire of Voyces
This amazing group returns to Ludington Court to entertain SBMA 1st Thursday visitors. 6:30–7pm.

The 13th annual Brad Nack 100% Reindeer Art Show
Roy, 7 W. Carrillo St, Santa Barbara
Brad Nack‘s annual show of Reindeer paintings is one of this city’s most popular shows of the entire year.  A show so popular that even during the Great Recession it can sell out. This year’s “herd” is apparently quite limited, so if you want to get first pick of these awesome paintings, I suggest you get there early.

‘HOHO’ UNDERGROUND ART SHOW
125 E. Carrillo
The ‘CHICA BOW WOW’ Team is pre-celebrating Christmas with their last Underground Art Show for this year 2010! We are inviting everyone who would like to celebrate with us not only Christmas but also Art, Creativity and Inspiration. The featured artists will be Ulrike Kerber from Viva Design Inc. and also the founder of lovetoread.com, Ulrike will be showing several experimental films. In collaboration with Ulrike Kerber, Inga Guzyte will be showing her new series of skateboard sculptures. Ms. Guzyte’s work is the hottest thing in Santa Barbara’s emerging artist market. Her show just last month sold out. And there is a good chance that this one will as well. The work is unique and beautiful, so this show should be on your “not to be missed” list.

Forum Lounge: Marco Pinter, Gravitational Forces
SANTA BARBARA CONTEMPORARY ARTS FORUM
653 Paseo Nuevo, 2nd Floor 7PM
Gravitational Forces explores technology as a medium for artistic expression by using dance and video to create a multi-sensory experience. This performance represents the emotions and struggles we face as humans through a fusion of dance, video, and generated sound. Dancers Anaya Cullen, Kaita Lepore, and Steven Jasso pull from the audience’s “kinesthetic sympathy” with the aid of Pinter’s direction and technological additions.

Dave Cooley at Elsie’s Tavern
117 West De La Guerra Street
I have been a fan of Dave Cooley’s work for a long time. It is completely unique, imaginative, and meticulously crafted. The more I see of his work, the more I love it. His latest show opens tonight at Elsie’s Tavern. This would make a great final stop once the main event on State Street closes down at 8pm.

I hope to see huge  crowds on State Street tonight taking part in the festivities. If you have any other recommendations to add to this list, please post a comment with the details. Also, if you see anything particularly wonderful and want to share it come back here and post a comment about what you saw. See you out there….

It is finally time, Loyal Blog Readers. I have been waiting a long time for this event, and I couldn’t be happier that it is finally here. This Thursday is, of course, First Thursday, but it will also be your chance to preview the Grand Opening show for AG2 Gallery. If you aren’t familiar with this gallery from previous posts, AG2 is the first full time gallery space in Santa Barbara dedicated to new art by emerging artists. This won’t be the first time you’ll have seen this kind of art; it has been found in coffee shops and bars throughout town. And thought, the AG2 Gallery does share some space with a coffee shop, this gallery will be bringing a focus on this kind of art that this town has not yet seen.

If, like me, you are a fan of this kind of art and want to see works emerging artists who are experimenting with new genres of artistic production, this venture will need any kind of support you can afford to give.  Make this one of your high priority stops for First Thursday, and make sure to come back on Saturday for the Grand Opening itself.

I’ll see you there. Details below.

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Andi Garcia has finally landed, well sort of , and opening a constant gallery space at 1101 State Street tucked French Press in Downtown Santa Barbara on the corner of State and

Figueroa .

August 1st Thursday, Aug 5th is the preview of Ag2 Gallery grand opening with art works from Portland , San Francisco, Los Angeles and beyond with a significant representation of the Hive Gallery in Los Angeles .
Highlighted in the global mix are Santa Barbara’s own core favorites Dave Cooley, Nomelove, Andy Proctor , Vanae Rivera and Jimmy Bell.

Ag2 Gallery is delighted to have Sino Tequila introduce themselves to Santa Barbara with their own brand of Super Sino Spicy margaritas as an added treat.

Music to be provided for by DeLaVina acoustic and live art painting by Yuki Miyazaki !!

Viva up all your senses this Fiesta week at Ag2 Gallery this 1st Thursday Aug 5th 5- 8pm and Grand Opening celebration featuring debut of TwentyFour Black Birds Artisan Chocolates , Saturday , Aug 7th 5-8pm

Gallery Hours : Mon through Friday 8am to 7pm
Sat and Sun 8am to 5pm
Art Sales by appointment
Andi Garcia 805.637.2521

Gallery Location :
Ag2 Gallery @French Press
1101 State Street , Santa Barbara , Ca 93101

Gallery Blog :
ARTiFAQZ Blog http://artifaqz.blogspot.com/

In case you have forgotten, the SOON (Something Out Of Nothing) collective has their first show tomorrow night at Blackbird. Blackbird is located just of State Street downtown at 29 Parker Way.  The collective consists of three talented and ambitious young artists: Jimmy Bell, LJS, and Dave Cooley. The artists each have their own individual style so it will be very interesting to see how the collabration effects their work. Make sure to check out their work at the links provided above. Judging their past successes it should be a very popluar show, so if you are interested in getting something to stick on your wall at home (and I hope you are), make sure to get their early. The way these guys are going it won’t be long before you’ll have to drive to LA to see their work. So take advantage of the opportunity and help to support the local art scene. If that isn’t enough CALI GREEN CLOTHING and XXXVII CLOTHING will be giving out door prizes and other goodies. See you there.

I recently got word from one of my favorite local artists, Jimmy Bell, that he and two other artists, LJS and Dave Cooley, have formed an art collective called Something Out Of Nothing (SOON). They will be having their first collaborative show at Blackbird  on Friday March 13th. Jimmy’s show at Red’s last month was very successful, and I can’t wait to see what these guys have put together.  Help support these very talented local artists by attending what is sure to be a very exciting event. You can get all the info from the flier below.

Soon Collective at Blackbird.