ON Culture | Abuzz with Art, Plus Oscar Trivia, Themed Events & More
This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on March 1, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.
ON the Oscar Beat
This year’s crop of Best Picture nominees is one of the strongest in memory, and I’m a sucker for all of the Academy Awards trivia leading up to the March 10 event. At age 81, Martin Scorsese (who was so compelling and sharp at SBIFF this year) becomes the oldest nominated director in history (for Killers of the Flower Moon), but composer John Williams, at age 92, is the oldest nominee to ever compete (his 2024 nom is for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), breaking his record from last year, when he was nominated for his work in The Fablemans. Both films, incidentally, were directed by Steven Spielberg, who at one point considered directing the film that ultimately became Bradley Cooper’s 2024 Best Picture–nominated Maestro.
Lily Gladstone, who graced the Arlington Theatre in fine feathered form at the SBIFF Virtuosos Awards last month, is the first Native American to be nominated for lead actress, for Killers of the Flower Moon, a film that also garnered the second Native American nomination in history — for Scott George and his Osage Tribal Ensemble for best song (they also appeared at the Arlington).
Additional potential records that could be broken on March 10: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) could become the first Irish-born actor to win Best Actor, while Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall) could become the first French woman to win in the Original Screenplay and Director categories. Lastly, Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon) or Jodie Foster (Nyad) could join an elite group of seven actors with more than three Oscar wins for acting, according to USBets.com.
Nominees for the 96th Oscars® were celebrated at a luncheon held at the Beverly Hilton, Monday, February 12, 2024. The 96th Oscars will air on Sunday, March 10, live on ABC. | Photo: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Oppenheimer (13 nominations) could potentially break the record for the most Oscar wins in one night, while Poor Things (11 nominations) has a chance of equaling the record, which is currently jointly held by Ben-Hur, Titanic, and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King — with 11 Oscar wins each.
Looking for a big screen to watch the Academy Awards broadcast on March 10? The Arlington Theatre is hosting a FREE watch party as well as a special pre-show ticketed event, where $20 gets you a red carpet pre-show party, priority seating for the big event, free popcorn, a free cocktail, and a raffle ticket for a chance to win prizes. Tickets are available at the Arlington Theatre box office. See ArlingtonTheatreSB.com for more info.
The Santa Barbara Symphony is also getting in on the Academy Award action, performing live at the Granada on March 16-17 as clips from Oscar-winning films like Gone with the Wind, An American in Paris, and The Wizard of Oz project on the big screen and internationally renowned Maestro Constantine Kitsopoulos guest conducts. Click here for more info.
ON the Stage
The Afro-Latin music group Quitapenas has three FREE performances coming up next week — March 8 at 7 p.m. at Isla Vista School, March 9 at 7 p.m. at Guadalupe City Hall, and March 10 at 6 p.m. at the Marjorie Luke Theatre — thanks to the fabulous ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! collaboration between UCSB Arts & Lectures, Marjorie Luke Theatre, Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center, and the Isla Vista School Parent Teacher Association. Quitapenas, whose name means “to remove worries” is made up of first-generation sons of immigrant parents from Guatemala and Mexico who borrow aesthetics from the radical 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Their songs are a remix of history and invite people to engage in the liberating evenings of Angola, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and beyond. The mission of Quitapenas at this free, all-ages show is simply to make you dance and leave your worries behind.
Another stellar season under the stars is taking shape at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Recent shows announced are: Tedeschi Trucks Band with Little Feat (Jun. 5, tickets go on sale today), Whiskey Myers with Anderson East & Vincent Neil Emerson (Jun. 18), Rebelution (Aug. 14-15), Kings of Leon with Phantogram (Aug. 26, tickets go on sale today), and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with Big Boi (Sept. 5, tickets go on sale today). See sbbowl.com for more information about all of the upcoming shows.
ON the Page
Mandy Jackson-Beverly’s excellently executed Literary Club series at the Belmond El Encanto is back, with a lunch featuring Chloe Benjamin (The Immortalists) on March 5. The $95 event includes a signed copy of the book (a novel about four siblings who visit a fortune-teller when they’re young, and how their very different prophecies intersect with their lives — I quite enjoyed it), a three-course lunch, and valet parking. Click here for reservations and more details, or email concierge.ele@belmond.com. Upcoming events in the series include: May 7, Emily Franklin, The Lioness of Boston; July 2, Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; August 6, Steven Rowley, The Guncle Abroad; September 3, Jan Carson, Quickly, While They Still Have Horses; October 1, Dani Shapiro, Signal Fires; and November 12, Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl.
ON the Walls
California Nature Art Museum in Solvang is abuzz with a new exhibit The Birds and the Bees and More: Pollinators opening March 2 at the former Wildling Museum of Art & Nature. The exhibit features original art by Ava Roth, Susan McDonnell, Elizabeth Weber, and Santa Barbara’s own Cynthia James, and each artist brings a unique perspective to their pollinating subjects. On view through September 2, the exhibit is also a collaboration with the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration at UC Santa Barbara, whose contribution focuses on native bees, including high-resolution images of rare, local bees from the UCSB Natural History Collection, and images of bees visiting flowers of native plants for an up-close look at their beauty and biodiversity. See calnatureartmuseum.org for details.
The Frontier Project group exhibition at the WANTS/NEEDS Art Gallery in Ventura is doing a special pop-up in Santa Barbara for the March 7 1st Thursday event at The Eddy (137 E. De la Guerra St.) featuring Santa Barbara–based artists Demi Boelsterli and Michael Matheson. The show in Ventura, on view through April 14 at 208 East Main Street, is also worth a look. In addition to work by Boelsterli and Matheson, artists Sofia Heftersmith, Jake Himovitz, Matt Hunter, Elijah Jimenez, and Jason Vivona are also featured. See wntsnds.com for more info.
Hom/e-age to Earth from artist and creativity coach Kathy Leader is described as “a love note to nature at the Community Arts Workshop” and will be on view March 5-22, with an opening party on March 8 from 5-9 p.m. and a participatory workshop on March 9 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., inside the gallery space. Born in South Africa, Leader grew up next to the ocean alongside rich, earthy colors in the African landscape. As a result, she said she has always been concerned with both the spiritual impact of nature on her life and the absorption of shapes, colors, and conflicts within the South African context. Her recent work is primarily concerned with the destruction of the environment, a wake-up call to look, listen, observe, and honor the natural world. For more information, click here.
Nip It in the Bud is the theme for the annual juried competition at Santa Barbara Tennis Club (SBTC). This year’s metaphorically scented garden of floral perspectives is being juried by Veronica Walmsley, an English artist who moved to the U.S.A. in 1971, received a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and earned an MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1981. Walmsley has exhibited in juried shows and invitational exhibitions and has won numerous awards. She is a member of Western Edge, based in Santa Barbara, a member of Santa Barbara Art Association, Abstract Art Collective, and the Goleta Valley Art Association.
More than 30 artists will have their work on view at the 2nd Fridays Art exhibition from March 2 to April 3 at SBTC (2375 Foothill Rd.). The gallery is open daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., with an opening reception and awards ceremony on March 8 from 4:30-6 p.m. Click here for more info.
ON the Calendar
Piggybacking on their wonderful cover collaboration for the February 1 issue of the Santa Barbara Independent, Roger Durling will lead a discussion with artist Whitney Brooks Abbott at Sullivan Goss Gallery on Saturday, March 9, at 3 p.m. Abbott, whose current solo show at the gallery is her first in five years, is a second-generation member of the Oak Group based in Santa Barbara since 1986. She is known for her luscious plein air landscapes and interior scenes of patterned light and color. Following an audience Q&A, attendees will have a chance to have a glass of wine with Durling and Abbott. This is a free event, but reservations are requested here.
For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events.
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