Former Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde is turning his talents toward Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative, the organization that operates the Community Arts Workshop (SBCAW), with a special art fundraising exhibition. The show, called Inner Light, features a series of 12 oil paintings on wood panels, the latest in a series which dates back across several decades.
“For some years, I have collected dried-out old leaves, mostly sycamores, holding them up to the sun to illuminate them, and then painting, from life or from photographs, the imagery revealed by the light,” said Rohde in his artist statement. “I’m inspired by the hidden life and beauty residing in something so common and so negligible that we literally crush them beneath our feet as we walk. To me, these are sort of spiritual paintings, hinting at a life within objects that we consider to be completely dead and useless.”
He continued, “They’re also a kind of landscape painting, because I choose the leaves based on their unusually complex topography, which allows the light to fall not only upon them, but through them. They are, like California itself, dry, but beautiful. … They remind us that beauty and wonder exist not in the world, but in how we look at the world. We can bring fascination and joy to anything we choose, provided we hold it up to the light and look.”
Rohde recently retired from a 40-year career with Disney, where he was a pivotal figure in creating Disney’s Animal Kingdom; Aulani: A Disney Resort and Spa in Hawai‘i; Villages Nature, an eco-resort adjacent to Disneyland Paris; and many other projects. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Disney Conservation Fund, which has raised more than $130 million for missions worldwide. All proceeds from the SBCAW exhibit will be donated to the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative.
Joe Rohde: Inner Light is on view at SBCAW (631 Garden St.) from January 18 to February 7, with an opening reception on Saturday, January 18, 5-8 p.m. Regular gallery hours are Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment. In addition, there will be a Lunch & Learn presentation by Rohde on January 18, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tickets are $75 and include a buffet lunch. Seesbcaw.org/upcoming.
