The Beast Of

Our Best Of issue just got beastier with this year’s mascot, Indy the Condor, representing both the soaring adventure of The Indy‘s soon to be 30-year run and a winged leitmotif in Paul Wellman’s brilliant photos. The construct of art director Ben Ciccati (right), our bald bird friend was most often personified by Ethan Stewart (left), who heroically donned the dense felt suit amid hot and humid end-of-summer days when he wasn’t otherwise visiting with winners or pecking at his keyboard to put together this year’s collection of the Best of Santa Barbara. Carry on!