Calling all (b)artists!

This Saturday at Muddy Waters the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative will be holding the first of many “belly to belly” events. These events are designed to get people together to make connections and foster future resource sharing and collaborations… they are also supposed to be a blast.

I have been heavily involved with the planning of this event, so I can give my personal assurance that this will be a good time. It may also be an opportunity to get a very unique work of art by an artist whose work you’ve admired for years but couldn’t easily afford.

In the afternoon people are invited to come to Muddy Waters to work on their Bar Napkin masterpieces. Starting at 4pm the napkins will be put on display for a silent auction that will begin at 5:30 and end at 7:30. The proceeds from this auction will go to the SBAC’s direct-to-artist grant program.

There are already more than 100 people who have confirmed their attendance on the event’s Facebook page. I know that there are a wide range of artists (not all of whom are visual artists) that will be contributing napkins to the event, some of whom are very well known in town. However, we encourage everyone to take part.

I also happen to know that some extremely awesome SBAC t-shirts will make their world premiere at the event. These t-shirts will be sold for $20 (also to benefit the SBAC), so make sure to stop by an ATM before you come because Muddy Waters doesn’t take plastic.

We are also looking for any donations of supplies to help out with the event:

We are looking for white bar napkins, golf pencils, and art supplies for Saturday. We’d rather recycle or use what’s out there than buy more.

If you have access to any of these things please contact me at: nathan@sbartsblog.com

Also, if you would like to contribute to the event but can’t make it on Saturday, feel free to work on a napkin in advance and bring it (or have it delivered) to Muddy Waters on Saturday.

Here is a partial list of the artists whose napkins you can expect to see at the silent auction (I’ll update this list as more artists confirm).

Hugh Margerum                      http://www.hughmargerum.com/
Vanae Rivera                           http://www.maryandthemachine.com/
Bob DeBris                               http://www.bobdebris.com/
Jane Callister                           http://www.arts.ucsb.edu/faculty/janec/
Keith Puccinelli                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcHtBffHGqA
Penelope Gottlieb                    http://www.penelopegottlieb.com/
Dane Goodman                       http://www.sbcc.edu/art/website/index.php?page=faculty&contact=25
David Starkey                          http://www.vimeo.com/5294834
Bob Mask                                 http://www.west.net/~bobsart/
Elizabeth Folk                          http://www.elizabethfolk.com/
Jim Connolly                            http://www.jimconnollymusic.com/
Sheryl Schroeder                     http://www.schroederville.com/
Anna Abbey                              http://www.myspace.com/radannabbey
Clay Bodine                              http://fishbonsb.ning.com/
Dominique Reboul                  http://fishbonsb.ning.com/
Ben Anderson                          http://www.benjaminanderson.com/
Sean Anderson                        http://www.seananderson.com/
Jimmy Bell                               http://www.jimmybellart.com/

UPDATE:

Colin Gardner (Chair, UCSB Art Department)   http://www.arts.ucsb.edu/content/colin-gardner
Ann Diener                              http://www.anndienerart.com/
Jeff Shelton                              http://www.jeffsheltonarchitect.com/

UPDATE #2

Molly Hahn                              http://mollycules.com/
Kimberly Hahn                       http://www.kimberlyhahn.com
James Van Arsdale              http://www.jamesvanarsdale.com/
Ken Bortolazzo                      http://www.sullivangoss.com/bortolazzo_ken/
Joe LaCorte                            http://www.josephlacorte.com/
Robert Redfield                    http://www.redfieldpictures.com/

If you are an artist who wants people to know that you’ll be at the event, just post your name in a comment on this post.

It has been a crazy week so my usual monthly First Thursday preview is a bit behind this month. However, there is a ton of great shows to see tonight and I want to make sure to highlight some of them so you can make sure to add them to your itinerary. First of all, the Artamo Gallery, CASA Magazine, The Health Gallery and Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery are accepting food donations for Art Helps, a benefit for the Unity Shoppe. This month’s request is for jars of peanut butter. If you bring in a jar of peanut butter you will get a sweet Art Helps button and will receive 10% off a purchase from that gallery. Make sure to pack a jar of peanut butter with you when you head out tonight. Even if you don’t purchase anything, it will help support less fortunate Santa Barbara families.

Click on the image above to see the full-size flyer

The two art shows that I want to highlight start with tonight both begin at 7pm so they would be great places to check out after you’ve made your regular rounds. First off, blog regular Jimmy Bell has a show opening up at Cali Green on West Ortega, just off of State Street. Bell uses a variety of techniques like splatter, scribble and folds to incorporate randomness and chance into his creative process, letting each piece unfold from the outcome of the initial result. Just within the last year you may have seen some of his work  at Red’s, Elsie’s, Blackbird, Fishnet or the Street Murals projec on Mason and Helena Streets. He must be one of the hardest working young artists in town, so make sure to show him your support by stopping by.

The second “Must See” of the night will happen at the Contemporary Arts Forum, also at 7 o’clock. As part of their Forum Lounge series Daniel Barrow will present “Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry”. Barrow comes to us from Winnipeg and was featured in the 2009 Time Based Art Festival in Portland, OR.  He uses obsolete technology like old-school overhead projectors to weave a tale through “manual” animation. It is sure to be an interesting lo-fi event.

Regardless of where you end up tonight, if you see anything that you absolutely loved, make sure to come back to the blog and post your comment to tell us all about it.

I’ve been enthralled with this project from the first time I saw  it a month ago. If you haven’t been to see these murals, they are located on the corner of Mason and Helena Streets, just one block off State Street and one block off the beach; across the street from the Fishnet Gallery. I’ve been digging around for info on these great murals that have covered up the barred windows and broken glass that had adorned this building. I have had more requests for information about this project that I’ve previously mentioned on this blog, so there is obviously a lot of interest, and understandably so.

The artists are all local and the murals are meant to be temporary. Eventually they will be auctioned off on Ebay to the highest bidder, with the money being used to sustain the project. There are already a long line of local artists who want to be included, and if you are someone who might want to get in that line, inquire at the Fishnet Gallery for more info. Images of the murals will be compiled into a coffee table book that will record the results.

I have been waiting for a list of all the artists involved in the first round of murals, but it has yet to end up in my inbox, so I headed down to take pictures of the murals to post here. I think I can make out all the signatures, but if you find a mistake or know an artist that I have left out, please let me know and I’ll make corrections or additions.

Make sure to check these out for yourself and stay tuned to this blog for information about the auction of the pieces which will take place in the near-ish future. This is a great project and it needs your support to keep it going. Help support our local artists and art community by bidding on these great creations.

Brennan Grace

Dani Swann

Dart

David Flores

El Chato

Jimmy Bell

U. Leon?

Lewis Turman

Vogel

The next SOON collective art show is coming up this Thursday. You may remember the last SOON collective show at Blackbird, right  before the place shut down. This time the trio is showing at Elsie’s Tavern at 117 W. De la Guerra St. in Santa Barbara. The show will be occurring on First Thursday on July second and would make an ideal place to converge on as a last stop for the evening, since all the other galleries close shop at 8pm. Show your support by heading to Elsie’s to check out the show, and maybe enjoy a pint while you are at it.

The SOON Collective is composed of Leo Jurado, Jimmy Bell and David Cooley. These guys are young and talented and each has a very unique style so it is always exciting to see what new things they’ve created.

To learn more about the SOON collective check out my previous posts on the group. I hope to see you there.