ON Culture | Secret Spies, Show and Sell, and Sarah Jarosz

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on August 13, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON The (Music) Stage

Get out your credit cards and your calendars because we’ve got some great shows coming our way. Four-time Grammy winner Sarah Jarosz, widely regarded as one of acoustic music’s most promising young talents (New York Times), brings her 50-date tour, in support of her new album Polaroid Lovers, to the Lobero on February 29. Also coming to the Lobero this spring is Paula Cole (Apr. 24), whose hit songs like “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and “I Don’t Want to Wait” have been on my playlist for more than a decade.

On the classical music front, Camerata Pacifica’s November program features chamber works by Brahms, Ginastera, and Paul Dean at Hahn Hall on Nov. 10. For tickets, see cameratapacifica.org. And the Santa Barbara Bowl, which ends the 2023 season with Kenny Loggins on November 4, has already announced the first show of the 2024 season: Breakout country star Cody Jinks is coming on May 18, with tickets on sale today (Oct. 27).

And of course, as I’ve mentioned before, Broadway divas Kristin Chenoweth (Nov. 5 at the Granada) and Audra McDonald (Nov. 30 at Campbell Hall) are coming soon, thanks to UCSB Arts & Lectures. Not to mention one of the biggest divas of all — Maria Callas — will get the Opera Santa Barbara Treatment on November 10 at the Lobero with La Divina: The Art of Maria Callas.

Artists Pecos Pryor and James Hapke have their work on view at SBCAW this weekend (Oct. 27-28) with a cool looking show that combines sculpture, print, drawing, weaving, and ceramics. Hapke writes, “Our practices have been directly and indirectly in conversation and collaboration for years and we are excited to show our work together. In the spirit of our parallel disciplines, we are working to establish a new studio that will function as both our own workshop, and a space for public events. The proceeds raised at this show will all go toward this endeavor.”  

The art show opening is Friday from 7-9 p.m. with music, food, and drinks available. Gallery hours on Saturday are 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Imaginings, a benefit art exhibit for the wonderful nonprofit Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation (which supports families battling childhood cancer) by the Abstract Art Collective, is on view at the Voice Gallery in La Cumbre Plaza October 31 to November 30, with an opening reception on November 2 from 5-8 p.m. as well as the 3rd Friday ArtWalk on November 17 from 5-8 p.m.

ON the Page

Heidi August, a Santa Barbara resident who worked at the CIA, will join New York Times best-selling author Liza Mundy (Code Girls)  on November 2 at 6 p.m. at Chaucer’s Books. August is one of the subjects of Mundy’s book The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA. A history of three generations of women at the CIA, the book sounds fascinating.

Book events coming our way include a free Arts & Lectures presentation from Disability Rights Advocate Eddie Ndopu, author of Sipping Dom Pérignon Through a Straw, on November 2 at Campbell Hall (register here), as well as the long-awaited return of David Sedaris, and his newest book Happy-Go-Lucky, to the Arlington on November 4.

ON (Big) Screen

It’s that special time of the year for sports fans and film fans to come together to see Warren Miller’s latest documentary. This one is called All Time, which celebrates the birth of ski towns like Sun Valley and Aspen, icons and innovators like the original hotdoggers, and the most outlandish locations ever skied. A documentary about how snow sports have burrowed into our collective consciousness as an obsession and a way of life, check out this special screening on November 7 at the Lobero.

ON the Airwaves

Kenny Loggins will give his final tour performance at the Santa Barbara Bowl on November 4, and in tribute to that, Santa Barbara Records has a new release, CaliAmericana, Vol. II, honoring the legacy of Kenny Loggins, with each participating artist (including Glen Phillips and Jackson Gillies, among others) contributing one original tune, along with their favorite Kenny Loggins cover. Click here to learn more.

ON The Podium

Poets Robert Krut (a UCSB professor) and George Yatchisin (a longtime Independent contributing writer) come together as featured poets in the Blue Whale Reading Series on November 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Chapel at Unity of Santa Barbara (227 E. Arrellaga St.) Suggested donation is $5 and the readings will be followed by an open mic.

ON The Calender

Dwight Schrute himself, also known as actor Rainn Wilson from The Office, is doing a special benefit for the Rubicon Theatre on November 28. He’ll be interviewed by Rubicon Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns, share some sure-to-be hilarious stories, and perform a short dramatic reading to support the nonprofit theater company. Tickets start at just $20. For more information, click here.

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.