Kids Draw Architecture Gallery Opening Reception

Kids Draw Architecture (KDA) Gallery Opening Reception

Opening Reception, Saturday Nov. 20, 2021 1-4pm
The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce Kids Draw Architecture Gallery Opening Reception. 

Kids Draw Architecture (KDA) program is designed to help the participants learn about architecture and the skill of drawing. This year, with the continuing Covid 19 pandemic, instead of meeting in person as is the norm, the participants masked up and kept their distance while venturing out to find architectural inspiration in our built environment to sketch, learn, and to work on drawing skills.

This year’s exhibition will feature drawings from KDA’s 2021 program and will be on display until December 12, 2021. The 2022 calendars highlighting the work will be available for purchase at the reception, at AFSB and soon in local bookstores.

Announcement drawing by Gweneth McTigue, age 13

Local Treasures Exhibition, Closing Reception with the Artists

Local Treasures Exhibition, Closing Reception with the Artists

Closing Reception, Friday Nov. 12, 2021 5-7pm
The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present Local Treasures, an exhibition of artworks by thirty artists who have exhibited at the Architectural Foundation Gallery during the past seven years.

Local Treasures honors the extraordinary quality, diversity, and vitality of the artists whose work has recently graced the walls of the Architectural Foundation Gallery. Initiated during the 1990s, the Gallery exhibited watercolor paintings by local architects of Santa Barbara. Later, the Gallery committee expanded its mission to present exhibitions of contemporary art, architecture, and design. Throughout the pandemic, following all COVID-19 protocols, the Gallery has maintained its schedule of exhibitions with the support of dedicated volunteers. 

On the Left: TAKEOFF! by Cass Ensberg

October: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

October: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”
 
October’s Book:
The Shining by Stephen King
6-7:30 PM Thursday, October 28, 2021
229 East Victoria Street, Santa Barbara 93101
 

Register at Facebook for this FREE in person book club event at the historic Acheson House: the perfect venue to share the architecture of horror that is The Shining. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!

September: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

September: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”
 
September’s Book:
The Woman in the Window
by A. J. Finn
 

Register at Facebook for this live video event. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!

Behind the Sandstone Wall

Behind the Sandstone Wall

Address Changes but Charm Remains

Credit: Betsy J. Green
By: Betsy J. Green
 

Address: 610 East De la Guerra Street

Originally Published in The Santa Barbara Independent

Link to original article here: https://www.independent.com/2021/08/26/behind-the-sandstone-wall/

A knee-high sandstone wall surrounds the one-story cottage at 610 East De la Guerra Street. The main entrance is highlighted with a modest Greek-revival-style porch that is framed by two large windows ornamented with leaded-glass panels. However, when the home was built in 1913, the main entrance was on Salsipuedes Street. Like the home at 610 East Victoria Street that I wrote about in June, the home’s address was changed in the 1980s. The address was originally 736 Salsipuedes Street.

The stone wall is not original to the home, but it’s fitting for a home built by Italian immigrants since much of the stonework in Santa Barbara was created by them. According to historian Erin Graffy in a 1995 article in Noticias, the “Eastside Italians” settled in the area “bounded approximately by Milpas, Haley, State, and Anapamu.… Some had no family, they knew no one in town, they did not know the language. But all arrived here willing to work hard to make a fresh start, to embark on a new life. They won friends, married, had children, built profitable businesses, launched successful careers. Most of all, the Italians of Santa Barbara earned the respect and affection of their community and became a valued and integral part of the everyday life of their adopted home.”

Credit: Betsy J. Green

A Cozy Family Home

Giovanni Menegon left Italy in 1910, and by 1913, he and his family were living at 736 North Salsipuedes. Giovanni and his wife, Amabile Menegon, raised nine children here. He was a gardener and owned a dairy. In addition, Giovanni found time to serve as a councilman in Santa Barbara’s Italian Benevolent Society. 

 

To again quote Graffy, “It is not difficult to see why Santa Barbara was selected by the Italians as their destination in the U.S. The terrain and the inviting climate prompted the sons of Italy to stay here, and many immigrants remarked how much Santa Barbara reminded them of their homeland…. When we admire the fabulous stone walls throughout the upper Eastside, Mission Canyon, and the Riviera, we see evidence of the Italian stone masons of yesteryear.”

Several generations of the Menegon family lived on the property as the decades rolled on. By 1930, two grandsons were also living here. One of them — Serifo John Menegon — became a successful architect and practiced in Santa Barbara for 40 years. Members of the Menegon family lived in the home until it was sold in 1958. Several other families lived in the home after that.

Credit: Betsy J. Green

A Change of Address

In 1988, David Sampanis bought the home, and it was he who asked that the address be changed to 610 East De la Guerra. He told me that he felt it was a more desirable name than Salsipuedes. “De la Guerra runs to historic downtown and is associated with that architecture and history, whereas Salsipuedes is associated with the industrial part of town. The translation of Salsipuedes didn’t help — as you know it means ‘Get out if you can,’ so I could and I did.… It seemed like a free upgrade to the value of the home.”

Sampanis enjoyed his time in the home. “It was overall a very pleasant place to live…. I enjoyed being so close to downtown and being able to bike most places.”

Today the home is owned by Leah and Kip Evert-Burks. “The house has obviously had many updates, but we still find it charming…. It’s little, but we love it. We bought it back in 1996 and raised our two kids here.” She added that she had once seen a 1920s photo of Santa Barbara that showed their home. “It was one of the only houses in this area at that time.” They built the sandstone wall as one of several upgrades that they have made to the house.

Please do not disturb the home’s residents.

Local Treasures Opening: September 18

Local Treasures Festive Opening with Music... and Covid safety precautions
Saturday, September 18, 1-4 pm.

September 18, 2021 Saturday, 1-4
The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present Local Treasures, an exhibition of artworks by thirty artists who have exhibited at the Architectural Foundation Gallery during the past seven years. The exhibition runs from Saturday, September 18th through November 12th, 2021. The public is invited to drop by on the opening day, September 18th from 1-4 (masks and social distancing required).

In the Foundation’s garden, the group Glendessary Jam will be providing music for the event.  

July: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

July: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”
 
July’s Book:
The Fallen Architect
by Charles Belfourne
 

Register through Eventbrite below to automatically get the ZOOM link for July’s book club meeting. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!

Exhibition – DANCING WITH PAINT by Marlene Struss

Dancing With Paint by Marlene Struss

July 16 – September 8, 2021
The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present Dancing with Paint, an intriguing exhibition of new paintings by long-time Santa Barbara artist Marlene Struss. The exhibition runs from July 17 through September 8, 2021, and the public is invited to an Opening Reception with the Artist on Friday, July 16th, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. 

The title, Dancing with Paint, contains multiple references.  It conjures the sloshing, swirling, elegant movements of Struss’s painting style, which she describes as biomorphic abstract expressionism with an Asian twist.  On another level, Dancing with Paint characterizes Struss’s partnership with her paintings—how the organic, structural images quickly and almost magically emerge as the artist’s hand and the paint respond to each other in bursts of coordinated, exhilarated movements.  “To prepare for those special moments of focused inspiration,” says Struss, “I spend much time and deliberation on my choices of harmonious colors, paint viscosity and unusual applicators (including yarn, balloons, plastic forks, acetate, rags, you name it)—but it’s dancing around the studio that really primes me and seems to be an essential part of my painting process.”

Marlene Struss graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1973, where she studied drawing with Howard Warshaw, painting with Irma Cavat, and printmaking with Bruce McCurdy. She subsequently spent many years developing a unique style of abstract collage, for which she was awarded the Independent Artist Award for Assemblage in 2004 from the Santa Barbara Arts Fund.  After a brief but significant stint with digital painting, she then turned to acrylic painting on panel to increase spontaneity and decrease limitations, to enliven the work with surface texture, and work more physically.   More information and past and present artworks by Struss can be seen at www.marlenestruss.com.

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara has been dedicated to expanding our community’s appreciation of the built environment since 1983. The AFSB Gallery is located in the historic Acheson House at the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara. Regular gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm and weekdays by appointment.

June: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

June: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”
 
June’s Book:
Loving Frank
by Nancy Horan
 

Register through Eventbrite below to automatically get the ZOOM link for June’s book club meeting. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!

A Summer Lecture Series: The Architecture of India

A Summer Lecture Series: The Architecture of India

By Dr. Allan Langdale

Thursdays, Via Zoom.
June 17 - August 19, from 6:45 - 8:00 PM

$10/lecture or $80 for all

Tickets on Eventbrite

This lecture series focuses on several monuments and architectural complexes in India, surveying the Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic traditions of the sub-continent. The material will be presented in chronological order, spanning dates from the 2nd century BCE to the sixteenth century.

Read more about each individual lecture on our Events Page.

 

Allan Langdale has had seasons of powerful lectures with the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, including several sold-out lectures. He has his PhD in art history from UCSB and currently teaches at UC Santa Cruz. He also works in the tourism industry for Smithsonian Journeys and Zegrahm Expeditions, doing about a dozen trips a year. Allan is the author of several articles and books, including Palermo: Travels in the City of Happiness (2014) and The Hippodrome of Istanbul / Constantinople (2020). His travel blog can be found at ‘Allan’s Art and Architecture Worlds’: https://allansartworlds.sites.ucsc.edu/