I’ve been hoping for it for a couple of months now, but I think finally we’re going to get some nice warm weather for 1st Thursday this week. We’re going to mix it up a bit this month by stopping at a few places that will be totally new to the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative‘s Art Crawl. I hope you can join me for the night. It should be a blast. All you have to do to join the Art Crawl is show up at 900 State Street in the Walkabout Woods Installation at 5:30 this Thursday. Look for the Art Crawl sign.

Click on the image below to see a larger version of this month’s map.

A Rough Itinerary for the Evening

Here are a few of the things I’m most excited about.

WALKABOUT WOODS
900 State Street
Walkabout Woods is a highly collaborative, interactive art installation made by Fishbon, a local arts collaborative. The project, in its entirety, will resemble a vast abstract enchanted forest and is destined for Burning Man 2011. Come enjoy a small portion of the forest on the patio.

SOJOURNER CAFE
134 East Canon Perdido Street
(805) 965-7922
Kat Devlin won’t be the only draw for this event, the ever popular painter, Chris Potter is teaming up with our long time favorite Kevin Gleason (ask Kevin about our mural), along with a special wine tasting with David from Southern Wine & Spirits. The best place to close out your 1st Thursday evening, open until 11pm.

THE GRANADA THEATRE
1214 State Street
(805) 899-3000
Zombies and Buddhas art exhibition by Jill Littlewood in the McCune Founders Room. “My sons, and their friends, often talk about zombies and surviving zombie attacks. I’ve never heard girls bring this subject up. I began wondering what zombies mean to young men, so I played with the imagery. As I was painting – using colored paper pulp – every once in a while a buddha would appear and give me some relief from the anger and turmoil of zombie faces.” Enjoy Modern Jazz, Latin and Pop from Cut Time, presented by theSanta Barbara Youth Music Academy.

FUZION
1115 State St.
(805) 687-6401
Downstairs at Fuzion Gallery we are hosting Jamie Dufek’s art reception from 7PM-10PM with the show hanging through the month of May, Free drinks for 21+and Guest DJ Chadillac will be playing all night too!

I really should be doing my taxes right now. But it is once again time for 1st Thursday, and I am very excited to have some extra daylight and warmer temperatures for our monthly art outing.  There should be lots of people out on the street making for a particularly energetic evening.

This month we have an extra special event to end the evening. Michelle Detorie will be presenting her Poetry Booth, for which she was awarded a Direct-to-Artist grant last year by the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative.  Detorie describes her project like this, “The Poetry Booth is a public, free, and mobile display and workspace for experiencing and creating poems with the help or guidance of practiced poets and educators. The booth will provide space (tables and chairs), supplies (paper, pencils, pens, markers, glue, scissors, typewriters), and poetic inspiration in the form of example poems and poetic objects, writing prompts, and activities. The available poetries and activities include poetry games and puzzles, tactile and visual poetry, postcard poetry, collaborative poetry, traditional and invented poetic forms, performance poetry, poetry in translation, and book arts. Participants will also have the option to submit their work for publication on the poetry booth blog. ”

All you have to do to join the Art Crawl is join me at the Channing Peake Gallery at 5:30 this Thursday. I hope to see you there.

Click above to see a larger version of the map.

Tonight there is a great holiday party at Art From Scrap. There will be all sorts of holiday activities to partake in, and it is also your last chance to see the Retro Muse exhibit at the AFS Gallery. There is also a toy drive, so bring any unwrapped toys you might have sitting around and give them a good home.  If you haven’t got plans for the evening, this is a great event for a great cause. Happy Holidays!

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

October 22-December 11, 2010
RETRO MUSE
“Reception Friday October 22, 5-7pm”

Muse- noun: a source of inspiration; especially: a guiding genius. On Friday, October 22, from 5:00-7:00 pm, the new exhibition Retro Muse opens at the AFS Gallery. Retro Muse features the work of well known assemblage artists Susan Tibbles, Tony Askew, Dug Uyesaka, Ron Robertson, and Alver; all of whom have been selected as the “Assemblage Muse” at the Art From Scrap Annual Assemblage Art Show. We guarantee that these assemblage geniuses will a-muse, move, and inspire you.

The funky folks that make up Fishbon are at it again. They have brought together a seriously eclectic group of artists and performers for an alternative holiday “Fishmas Bizarre“.  The event takes place right off State Street near the corner of Helena and Mason streets.  The bazaar opens Friday Decemer 10th at 4 pm with a holiday market stuffed with artist-made gifts, Fishbon Trees, and other fabulous Tchotchkes. SantaCon leaves from the event at 9 Friday. If you haven’t participated in or seen a SantaCon, it is truly a sight to behold. Saturday features a full lineup of livepainting, Aerial, fire, performance vignettes, stellar DJs, live music, artist booths and much more. Sunday 12-6. I have insider information that amongst the other awesome artists’ booths will be  hot LA clothing design company Kucoon.

There is a lot going on and the fun lasts all weekend. So make sure to stop by and spread the holiday cheer.

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….