Siempre Más / Always More-Postponed

Due to Santa Barbara County’s COVID-19 regulations pertaining to museums, galleries and zoos, the anticipated opening on July 25th of Siempre Más / Always More, an exhibition of textile works by Minga Opazo at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, is postponed. 

 

Our goal is to welcome visitors in mid-August to view these provocative artworks by Opazo, a fourth-generation craftsperson from Chile who explores the problem of excess clothing made from synthetic fabrics that cannot be absorbed back into the natural world. 

 

Please stay tuned for the new date of Opazo’s Opening,  The exhibition will feature colorful wall sculptures and installations, plus a site-specific weaving on the 2nd story porch railing of the Architectural Foundation, facing Victoria Street!

 

In anticipation of Opazo’s coming show, she will be a guest on Elizabeth Stewart’s Arts Radio Shows from KZSB AM 1290 Santa Barbara broadcasted each Friday at 10 a.m and archived to her website https://elizabethappraisals.com/category/radioshow/for repeated listening.  

 

Minga Opazo received her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (2020) and her BA from University of California Berkeley (2015). She maintains a weaving studio in Ventura and another in Joshua Tree for large scale installations. She was Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Art Center (Canada), the Acre Residency (Wisconsin) and the Haystack Mountain School (Maine), had solo shows at Dab Art Gallery (LA), the CAM Studio Gallery (Oxnard), and large public installations at the HUD Gallery and the Museum of Ventura County.

LAST CALL: Meandering the Edges, an installation by Nathan Huff

Please join us on two Saturdays for Meandering the Edges, an installation by Nathan Huff!

June 20 and June 27, from 1- 4 PM.

We will welcome drop-in visitors. Social distancing and face masks will be required. 

Only one person (or family) will be allowed inside the Gallery at one time.  

Nathan Huff will be on hand to answer questions. 

We are so happy to finally share Nathan’s work! 

Meandering the Edges by Nathan Huff

Exhibition Dates: March 13 – May 6, 2020
Opening Reception with the Artist: Friday, March 13, 5-7 pm
Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of Meandering the Edges, an installation of works on paper and sculpture by Nathan Huff. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, March 13, from 5 to 7 pm. All are welcome.

Meandering the Edges examines ways in which we inhabit homes and move through domestic spaces based on memory and emotion. Installed in unconventional ways on the walls, floor, and corners of the AFSB’s meeting space/gallery, Huff’s paintings on paper of furniture, wood floors, tables, and shovels are meant to draw attention to the space itself as an important part of the narrative. The Architectural Foundation is housed in a historic Victorian Italianate style home designed and built in 1904 by James J. Acheson. The Acheson House was a residence prior to hosting the offices of several non-profit organizations including the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Chapter of the AIA, and the Junior League of Santa Barbara.

This unique exhibition encourages viewers to muse and meander their way through an ordinary environment transformed by art, inviting them to imagine scenarios and summon lost memories as they go. Huff comments, “As someone fascinated by the stories that reside in our memories and are imbedded in the built environment, I believe that the designed aesthetic of architectural space has a powerful impact on our home life and community structures.” His poetic, provocative images and sculpture are rarely straightforward.  Viewers will experience a range of surrealistic styles and installation techniques that slide between the almost comprehensible to the absurd. 

“I hope that this imagined excavation of home invites viewers towards attentive looking at built environments in new ways, charging them with a range of narrative potential and drawing out latent emotion.”

Huff earned an MFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University Long Beach, a BA in art education from Azusa Pacific University, and has also studied art in Italy, France, the UK, and Spain. Huff’s installations have been featured in solo exhibitions at Sullivan Goss Gallery (Santa Barbara), UCR Culver Museum and Sweeney Galleries (Riverside), Los Angeles at D.E.N. Contemporary (West Hollywood), Minthorne Gallery, (Oregon), Gallerie View (Salambo, Tunisa), group exhibitions at JK Gallery (Culver City), Lotus Land (Santa Barbara), and the Westmont Ridley Tree Museum of Art (Santa Barbara.)  Nathan has taught art at CSU Long Beach, LA Southwest College, Biola University, and Azusa Pacific University as an adjunct lecturer. Currently, he is an associate professor of art at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.

Haven: an exhibition of 10” x 10” prints created by Santa Barbara Printmakers

Exhibition Dates: January 8 – March 5, 2020

Opening Reception with the Artists: Friday, January 10, 5-7pm

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of “Haven, an exhibition of 10” x 10” prints created by Santa Barbara Printmakers” who live in and around Santa Barbara and beyond.  An opening reception with the artists will be held at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, January 10, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. All are welcome.

For this unique exhibition, artists were invited to create 10” x 10” prints inspired by the theme “haven” and each artist interpreted the theme in their own personal way. Look for images of the Central Coast, home, places of safety, landscapes, and even abstractions. Made with techniques ranging from intaglio, relief, screen printing, and monoprint, all the prints are unframed and affordable. Proceeds from the exhibition are distributed to the artists and to the Architectural Foundation to support their community programs for all ages.

Santa Barbara artists Claudia Borfiga and Meagan Stirling developed the exhibition concept in collaboration with the Architectural Foundation and were joined by architect/architecture historian Jeremy White in jurying the exhibition.

The Santa Barbara Printmakers (SBP) is a group of artists dedicated to creating and presenting prints made using hand and press printing techniques: etching, dry point, monotype, monoprint, woodblock, collagraph, linocut, clay, lithography, serigraphy, transfer, and digital processes. This volunteer organization presents several exhibitions and newsletters each year through membership dues and the talents, skills, and energy of members. SBP welcomes applications from printmakers throughout California who use hand and press printing techniques. For more information, visit sbprintmakers.com.

Painting Workshop: Abstract Still Life

Abstract still life painting workshop led by artist Paige Patterson Wilson held at AFSB Gallery.

Paige Patterson Wilson’s current exhibition at the AFSB, Abstract Trompe L’oeil, highlights her deep interest in the interplay of colored surfaces.

The artist will present a related workshop on Saturday, October 26 from 1 – 3 pm. Participants will experience her working process by creating their own box/collage still life and translating it into an abstract painting.

Please bring a small cardboard box. All other materials will be provided.

Meet other local artists and art enthusiasts in your community.

All levels welcome!

BUY TICKETS HERE

Exhibition – ABSTRACT TROMPE L’OEIL by Paige Patterson Wilson

Exhibition Dates: September 20 – November 14, 2019

Opening Reception with the Artist: Friday, September 20, 5-7 pm

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery


The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of Abstract Trompe L’oeil, an exhibition of oil paintings by Paige Patterson Wilson.  An opening reception will be held at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, September 20, from 5:00-7 pm. All are welcome.

Abstract Trompe L’oeil highlights Wilson’s deep interest in the interplay of colored surfaces. Her previous paintings were conventional still life paintings depicting recognizable objects with reflective, transparent surfaces that appear as small abstractions. Creating these paintings led her to the idea of creating purely abstract still life paintings. At first glance, her new work appears to be flat, hard edge, geometric and abstract. Upon closer observation, viewers are drawn in by the illusion of depth.

To create these unusual paintings, Wilson first constructs an abstract “still life”—a three-dimensional composition of opaque, translucent, and transparent papers, and colored gels.  After arranging lighting above to create a kaleidoscope of reflections, she paints the “still life” from direct observation, challenging herself to create the illusion of three dimensions and transparency using only opaque pigments.

Although the paintings are formal compositions, they evoke futuristic cities, outer space, and science fiction settings. Surface flatness and the illusion of depth coexist simultaneously, creating spaces where the interplay and fusion of saturated colors, abstract shapes and imagination magically coexist.

Wilson received her BA in 1979 from San Francisco State University where she studied with Robert Bechtle, a photo-realist painter. She completed her MFA in 1982 at UCSB where she studied with Ciel Bergman and William Dole. She has maintained a studio and residence in Santa Barbara for 40 years and has participated in many group exhibitions and several solo exhibitions. She currently teaches art classes at SBCC School of Extended Learning.

Art Talk: A Look at Assemblage Art

Saturday, August 31, 2 – 3 PM

**FREE. Limited Space. First come, first served seating.**

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present a conversation on assemblage art, both past and present. Please save the date and join us in our gallery space for an art talk with Michael Long, Tony Askew and Nathan Vonk.

Michael Long currently has a show up at AFSB titled, “Hole in the Wall”, which focuses on assemblage art, will close September 12th, 2019. His show is made up of 21 assemblage works.

Michael states in his artist statement,

“This current body of work focuses on recreating pieces of recalled dreams by obsessively re-constructing a model of an intangible memory made in a specific, physical place. I recreate these recalled dreams of actual spaces from memory, down to every minute detail.”

Joining Michael in the conversation are Tony Askew and Nathan Vonk. Tony Askew is a local artist and professor emeritus from Westmont College. Nathan Vonk is the owner of Sullivan Goss, An American Gallery.

We are looking forward to seeing you on August 31st as we learn about assemblage art, join in the conversation with Michael, Tony, and Nathan, and enjoy Michael’s very own work on view!

Exhibition – HOLE IN THE WALL by Michael Long

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

July 19 – September 12, 2019

Opening Reception: Friday, July 19, 5-7 pm

 

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of Hole in the Wall, an exhibition of assemblage works by Michael Long. A reception will be held at The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, July 19 from 5-7pm. All are welcome.

Hole in the Wall is a capsulized study into unnoticed aspects of the physical world as well as the dark corners of Michael Long’s mind. Blending aspects of real, typically local, architecture with images from his imagination, Long creates unique assemblage boxes that emit a preternatural vibe. He draws from the twin wellsprings of his recurring childhood dreams, nightmares, and memories and his careful observations of actual buildings in Santa Barbara. These small, precisely constructed works are eerie reminders of forgotten spaces – both interior and exterior – surreal architectural fragments that evoke curiosity and a myriad of associations and feelings in viewers.

ART + ACTIVISM: Painting Disaster

ART + ACTIVISM: Painting Disaster

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

2:00 PM on Saturday, June 15, 2019

FREE (limited space, please RSVP)

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present a conversation about how art reflects the ways in which we relate to the world today. This event features Santa Barbara artist and teacher, Cynthia Martin, in dialogue with Torrie Cutbirth, artist and Executive Director of The Arts Fund, and Charles Donelan, Executive Arts Director for the Santa Barbara Independent. Please join us for a provocative discussion on the intersections of realism, abstraction and pressing contemporary issues.

  • Cynthia Martin’s current AFSB exhibition, The Passing Landscape, will close on July 11, 2019.
  • Teacher/Indy Arts Editor Charles Donelanteaches English at Laguna Blanca School and been writing about the arts for The Independent for more than 15 years.
  • Torrie Cutbirth is the Executive Director of The Arts Fund and an artist.
RSVP