ON Culture | An Art-Filled Season is Coming Our Way!

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on November 22, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the Stage

The 2024 Santa Barbara Bowl season ended with a fabulously fun dance party (see my review of Sofi Tukker here) and next year’s season is already shaping up to be a good one. Tickets go on sale today for Jack White, whose No Name Tour comes to town on May 15. Also on the calendar so far are the Avett Brothers on April 11, and the Goo Goo Dolls with Dashboard Confessional on September 6. Tickets for all are now on sale. See sbbowl.com for details.

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ON the Walls

Last weekend’s Off Register Art Book and Print Fair was so incredibly cool! Kudos to the organizers — Garrett Gerstenberger, James Van Arsdale, Alex Lukas, Kestrel Tseng, Madi Manson, Albert McCartney, and Jayes Caitlin — who did an amazing job on this inaugural but hopefully soon-to-become annual event. Taking place at CAW (Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop) on Saturday, November 16,  this bastion of creativity and community attracted more than 60 exhibitors and more than 1,800 visitors, reports the team, which, in addition to the organizers, also included 25 plus volunteers. It was just the breath of fresh air — and ideas and energy — we need right now. Click here to see a little slideshow of my pics from the event.

The CAW will be hopping again this weekend when the vibrant annual Ready to Hang show goes up. A favorite annual benefit for Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative (the group that operates the CAW), this event is a great representation of the spirit of the Community Arts Workshop as a space for everyone to create and share — plus it supports local artists and is also a fundraiser. With a 2024 theme of “Connectivity,” joining the work of 350 regional artists who have each created 12 x 12 inch works, 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.” Don’t miss the fun. Ready to Hang is at CAW on Saturday, November 23, from 4-9 p.m. Admission is free with food and drink for sale. Click here to read all about it.

It truly is the season for great group shows. The annual 100 Grand show at Sullivan Goss Gallery — featuring 100 works of art for $1,000 or less — starts on Monday, December 2, at 9 a.m. That’s the Monday after Thanksgiving for those who keep track of such things, and believe me, there will be a line! In their bulletin about the event, Sullivan Goss shared: “Last year, the gallery was astonished to see that more than 60 percent of the exhibition SOLD on the first day. Collectors and fans are encouraged to plan accordingly.” Curated by Susan Bush, the 100 Grand show has 22 new artists featured this year, in addition to many of our longtime favorites. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, photographs, assemblage, and sculpture by both emerging and established artists. Everything is priced to sell and sized (for the most part) to fit into smaller spaces, and with the premise that this is a great way for new collectors to begin to acquire and learn about original art. See sullivangoss.com for more info.

If you missed out on Brad Nack’s annual 100% Reindeer Art Show at Roy this week, you can still shop for some of the 2024 herd. He’s taking fresh Reindeer paintings today (November 22) to sbmidmod, Tracey Strobel’s cool mid-century modern vintage store in the Funk Zone, which I wrote about here. In addition to Nack’s colorfully charming herd, Strobel’s got all kinds of cool, one-of-a-kind items in her shop, which is located at 223 Anacapa Street. There’s a Reindeer art reception on December 6 at 5 p.m. and the work is on view through January 15 if you want to go check it out. Plus, sbmidmod is right next door to Mony’s, which has not just one, but several of the best salsas in town!

ON the Web

Working on this week’s print cover story was a dream come true for me. For so long, I’ve been wanting to embed with a visiting artist and write about what it’s like not just to perform for UCSB Arts & Lectures, but to go all over town and teach and connect with people as part of their educational outreach. When the stars finally aligned for photographer Ingrid Bostrom and I to do just that with Lil Buck and Jon Boogz, I couldn’t have asked for a nicer, more talented, and thoughtful group of artists to work with. There’s so much more I could have written about these guys, far beyond my allocated word count for sure. But I do want to share a few videos so you can better see them in action.

• Jon Boogz’s Emmy award-winning “Dream Sequence Dance” from the television series Blindspotting is incredible. This segment — which also just won the World Choreography Award honor this week — basically explains the history of racism to a young boy through powerful storytelling, primarily using movement. You’ve got to see it to get it. Click here.
• Lil Buck at Fondation Louis Vuitton, dancing among the museum’s masterpieces. Click here. There is also another fabulous Louis Vuitton (co-directed by Jon Boogz with both Buck and Boogz performing) video here.
• “The Color of Reality” – Transfixed by racial, political, and socioeconomic tensions saturating the news, movement artists Jon Boogz and Lil Buck, enveloped by the art of Alexa Meade, switch off the TV and release their emotion into a stirring dance that is both a lament and a spirited call to action. Click here.
• “Mother I Sober” is a short, very powerful film about mental health by Jon Boogz. Click here.

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ON the Page/Audiobook Playlist

Our newest reporter at the Independent, Christina McDermott, recently had a great story about the audiobook production business in Santa Barbara (which you can read here). One of the women she profiled, Claudia Dunn, recently narrated an audiobook version of Santa Barbara–based author Bee Bloeser’s book Vaccines & Bayonets: Fighting Smallpox in Africa Amid Tribalism, Terror and the Cold War. It’s a fascinating story that takes readers through Bloeser’s journey as she and her two young children accompany her husband to Africa where they’re stationed in war-torn regions during the global fight against smallpox. The audiobook is available on leading audiobook platforms, including Audible, Apple Books, Spotify, and more.

I also found the this list of the top 10 bestselling audiobooks of 2024 from Libro.fm  interesting:

1. Funny Story by Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group)
2. The Women by Kristin Hannah, narrated by Julia Whelan & Kristin Hannah (Macmillan Audio)
3. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune, narrated by Daniel Henning (Macmillan Audio)
4. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group) 
5. James by Percival Everett, narrated by Dominic Hoffman (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group) 
6. The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, narrated by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group) 
7. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman, narrated by Nicola Walker (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group) 
8. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, narrated by George Weightman & Katie Leung (Simon & Schuster Audio) 
9. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez, narrated by Christine Lakin, Zachary Webber & Abby Jimenez (Hachette Audio)
10. Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten, narrated by Ina Garten (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group)

I’m not sure if it makes me “basic” or “on trend” but I’ve read or listened to several of these books and the majority of the rest of them are in my library cue.

(Editor’s Note: The above reflects a list that appeared in an earlier draft of this week’s ON Culture Newsletter, not the one that was sent to newsletter recipients)

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ON the Calendar

SOhO’s 30th anniversary celebration shows continue with a special appearance by Glen Phillips on Sunday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. The Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman performs with special guest Chris Beland. You can check out all the details here. For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.