Get Ready to Hang at Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop

Ready to Hang is back and you won’t want to miss the fifth annual edition of this one-of-a-kind pop-up art show. It’s the largest in our region and an exciting snapshot showcase of Santa Barbara’s current art scene. It truly is a unique opportunity to see new works by our entire community of artists in one show. And it’s all taking place on Saturday, November 23, at Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop (CAW). 

Open to all local artists for creations 12×12 inches in size, Ready to Hang is the largest event put on by the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative on their home turf, and it truly represents the spirit of the Community Arts Workshop as a space for everyone to create and share. It supports local artists and is also a fundraiser to help support the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative’s programs. With a 2024 theme of “Connectivity,” Curator Michael Long describes Ready to Hang as “both a public display and an intimate glimpse into the creative practices of our incredible art community. It offers artists a chance to come out of the studio and share their work with one another.”

In 2023, Ready to Hang exhibited 450 pieces of art by more than 200 artists, with more than 1000 people viewing the show. This year, the team is changing things up by limiting the event to one piece per artist and ending entries once 350 pieces have been reached. While the theme and the artists may change, one thing about this annual show remains the same, as CAW’s Casey Caldwell told me a few years ago: “I don’t think there’s a better way to get a sense of the ‘now’ of our arts scene than this show.”

All works on exhibit are for sale and prices are set by the artists who include dozens of area painters, photographers, assemblage makers, tattoo artists, fabric artists, printmakers, and more. Prices range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars and the 12×12 inch size works are much more affordable to purchase than many shows. It truly is a celebration of our community’s creative diversity.

As an added incentive for artists to participate, there are cash prizes for first, second, and third place winners who will be selected by guest judge Tom Pazderka, the curator for the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture.

Ready to Hang 2024 takes place at Community Arts Workshop (631 Garden Street) on Saturday, November 23, from 4-9 p.m. Galleries open at 4 p.m. for viewing and sales and the party begins at 6 p.m. when purchases are available to “un-hang” and take home. Admission is free with food and drink for sale. There will also be music by Tripform, the duo of Pablo Manzarek and Norm Reed. For more information, see sbcaw.org/hang.