Venturing Behind and Within Santa Barbara Artists’ Studio Doors

Come Labor Day Weekend, the road map of art appreciation in Santa Barbara expands greatly, as the long-standing Santa Barbara Studio Artists’ Open Studios Tour flings open studio doors all over town. The Open Studio tradition is a widespread phenomenon in many locations, and the concept achieves particular relevance in a city as resplendent with art activity as Santa Barbara. Two dozen separate artists are involved in this year’s event, part of a now-22-year-old tradition launched by Dorothy Churchill Johnson (who recently passed away; read her In Memoriam at Independent.com).

Tickets earn visitors entry to studios spanning the region (the tour doubles as a survey of the variety of Santa Barbara’s living-working spaces), from Saturday to Monday, with an opening reception on Friday night at the Community Arts Workshop (CAW). Adding to the event’s win-win allure, proceeds benefit the Alpha Resource Center, which engages those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and runs the acclaimed Slingshot Art Studio and Gallery.

Featured artists on the tour this time around, in various media, include Ann Shelton Beth, Peggy Ferris, Gerry Winant, Cathy Quiel, Francine Kirsch, Marilyn McRae, and Susan Tibbles. Additional artists opening their studios for the holiday weekend are Pamela Benham, Isaure de la Presle, Stan Evenson, Tricia Evenson, Karen Fedderson, Angela Ferraro, Rosemarie Gebhart, Kevin Gleason, Jane Hurd, Rob Robinson, Joan Rosenburg-Dent, Eric Saint George, Ann Sanders, Francis Scorzelli, Kerrie Smith, Marlene Struss, and Dorene White. Each artist will have a piece featured at the Friday night CAW reception, which is a great opportunity to see a sampling of the work and decide which artist studios are your personal “must visits.” 

Susan Tibbles, an artist specializing in assemblage who for many years created art for the Los Angeles Times opinion page, also has the distinction of curating the “2nd Friday” art exhibition series at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club.

We recently connected with Tibbles to talk shop and studios.

Is it a welcome occasion to have people see where the art happens, in what might often be a solitary workspace?  Open Studios is a lot of fun and gives me the opportunity to meet new collectors, curators, and artists in a private environment. This is a golden opportunity for people to see the artists at work and play.

You have also supported the local art scene by curating the S.B. Tennis Club exhibitions. Is it important for you to have that connection to the area’s vibrant art scene?  “2nd Fridays” has been ongoing for 15 years or longer. As a curator, it’s essential to support artists and provide a space for them to exhibit their work. I relish brainstorming with the artists and getting to know them better.

Did you work in different areas of art-making and find yourself drawn into assemblage and mixed media?  Assemblage came easily to me and is the first art form that I delved into. I had seen Joseph Cornell’s work and became curious about objects and the messages they could convey. I was very prolific, and within a year, I had gallery representation and was exhibiting nationally.

Growing up, my Saturdays were spent going to thrift stores in Santa Barbara. These thrift stores were more like antique stores back then, filled with treasures, figurines, and keepsakes from all over the world. I think this also fueled my desire for assemblage.

Is your art process partly a matter of being salvager, collector, and ultimately connector of objects?  My work is very intuitive. The process of salvaging, collecting, and connecting objects is central to how I approach and create my work. I believe my process involves attaching a feeling or memory to a specific object that resonates with you in some way. Then putting these objects together and assigning them a new meaning. The juxtaposition of objects is what makes assemblage so strong.

Your art has accompanied many an L.A. Times opinion page, along with other newspapers and publications. How was that connection made, and did that have an influence on your art’s evolution?  The Op/Ed art director of the L.A. Times introduced himself to me while I was having a solo show at the Patricia Correia Gallery in Bergamot Station, Santa Monica. A week later, he contacted me and inquired about an illustration for the upcoming Sunday Opinion article, six months after the events of 9/11 in 2001.

Over the next 20 years, I had the opportunity to illustrate around 250 articles, with the majority of them being featured on the Sunday Op/Ed pages. This experience significantly impacted my artwork and perspective on the world.

For info, visit santabarbarastudioartists.com.