The Santa Barbara Transgender Advocacy Network (SBTAN) presents the “Spectrum of Identity Art Show: Celebrating Trans and Neurodiverse Artists.” Following the opening event, admission will be free; the show will remain on display in the Community Gallery until November 1st.
SBTAN seeks art in any medium by artists who identify as trans, nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, (etc.) and/or neurodiverse for an event celebrating and bringing visibility to the beauty and diversity of gender and neurodiverse experiences. The gender and neurodiverse communities have a significant overlap that is not always acknowledged, so this art show is meant to bring awareness to the intersectionality of these identities and uplift those who identify with one or both! All proceeds for any art sold will go directly to the artist.
The event is on October 12th from 5-8 pm at the Arts Fund Community Gallery at 121 S Hope Ave #F119, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Please contact info@sbtan.org to learn more.
The Arts Fund will be tabling at the second annual UCSB Art and History of Art and Architecture department’s Welcome Fair on Friday, October 2nd, 2024 from 3:30-5pm in the UCSB Arts Building. Come say hi, learn more about our programs, and check out some opportunities to get involved!
This year the event will be kicked off by the esteemed new Chairs of the Art departments, Professor Shana Moulton and Professor Jenni Sorkin, and will include a scavenger hunt, where students will be directed to visit the Art Labs, IRC, and AD&A Museum.
Come see us at booth #40 during Pacific Pride Festival! We’re excited to support our vibrant LGBTQ+ community in Santa Barbara County with a day of food, music and family friendly fun and celebration. Stop by our booth to learn more about our programs and how you can get involved, and create an art piece to take home! See you there!
In 2023, The Arts Fund hosted 6 mentorships featuring students from 7 Santa Barbara County High Schools, serving over 60 students.
The mentorships included All Levels Hip-Hop Dance, Self Expression Through Painting, Musical Theater Ensemble, Page to Stage Poetry, Introduction to Music Production, and Traditional/Digital Art Mash-Up.
Spring Mentorships
All Levels Hip-Hop Dance
South County Mentorship with Paris Davidson
Award winning dancer & choreographer Paris Davison mentored 10 students in an All Levels Dance program. These teens showcased their final performance at Center Stage Theater, where friends, family, and supporters were invited to cheer them on.
SUMMER MENTORSHIPS
Introduction to Music Production
South County Mentorship with Talitha Blackwell
Sound engineer and music producer, Talitha Blackwell, led Music Production Fundamentals: Composition and Mixing. This mentorship taught students tools to create music compositions that can be used in collaborations or personal music projects. The students had their creations on display at from November-January at The Arts Fund Community Gallery.
Musician & educator Chad Ruyle led a North County mentorship over the summer. Students learned the appropriate technical and artistic process of singing as a soloist. This workshop concluded with a live in-person concert at the Allan Hancock Fine Arts Recital Hall.
FALL MENTORSHIPS
Self-Expression Through Painting
South County Mentorship with Demi Boelsterli
Under the guidance of multidisciplinary artist Demi Boelsterli in her Funk Zone studio, students were provided with the tools and freedom to create. They also learned the basic elements and principles of design. As the finale, students created artist statements, and had the opportunity to showcase and sell their work through The Arts Fund Community Gallery.
Traditional/Digital Mash-Up
North County Mentorship with Laura-Susan Thomas
Educator and professional artist Laura-Susan Thomas led a mentorship hosted by Allan Hancock College. Featuring written word collectively created by the student artists, participants then created traditionally drawn portraits – that speak and move and show emotions by utilizing accessible motion-capture software. These pieces and their animations were run through an Augmented Reality application, and the work was ready to hang together as an installation in the Community Gallery.
POETRY OUT LOUD
Page to Stage
North County Mentorship
This year we had the opportunity to partner with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture to administer the Poetry Out Loud (POL) Program. POL is made possible through partnership with the National Endowment for Arts, the California Arts Council and the Poetry Foundation. Allan Hancock College, hosted the Regional Poetry Out Loud Competition in their new Fine Arts building. We congratulate Anna Matthews, a Page to Stage mentorship participant, for winning the Regional Champion title! She represented us in the State Competition in March 2024.
Join us for a combined program of audiovisual compositions by Constantin Basica and Andrew A. Watts. The works ponder on contemporary and futuristic issues related to global climate change, artificial intelligence, time travel and time loops, the multiverse, and the end of our known universe.
Included in the concert is a new large-scale electronic composition involving video and 6-channel audio by Watts, as well as a selection of live performances with electronics and video by Basica.
The Arts Fund is honored to showcase a youth centered show from teens in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Santa Maria, and Lompoc. Join us in celebrating the 12 local student artists during the upcoming La Cumbre Art Walk. Our thanks to the mentors for their intentional and inspirational mentorship to these emerging artists.
Following the reception, the Gallery will be open to the community during regular hours Wed-Sun 11AM-5PM until the end of January 2025.
“The Greek myth of Sisyphus references a cruel king punished with rolling a heavy stone up a hill only for it to fall once reaching the top, forcing him to begin again, repeating this cycle for eternity. In similar fashion, the fight for justice and freedom can be quite laborious, seemingly endless, and possibly futile. When fighting for justice, what are the effects on one’s mental sanity, social life, identity development, and spiritual health? Is justice even truly possible to obtain if the definition continuously evolves? Sisyphean Justice contains the work of four multidisciplinary artists utilizing various mediums to convey the resilience, resolve, and resistance necessary when communities, particularly those that are disenfranchised or marginalized, find themselves striving for justice, however hopeless the task.” – @kevinclaiborne
Don’t miss the opening reception of Sisyphean Justice during the first Funk Zone Art Walk of the year this Friday!
