ON Culture | Look to the Windows and the Walls for Artful Happenings

Help spiff up downtown's empty window displays | Photo: Courtesy

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on November 21, 2025. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the Windows

File this one in the “at long last” section — this week the Downtown Santa Barbara Improvement Association (DSBIA) put out an artist’s call for a new Vacant Window Beautification Project, which is exactly what it sounds like: They are looking for local artists help “transform vacant storefronts along State Street into vibrant, eye-catching displays of local creativity.” Great idea, right. This opportunity is open to any artists over the age of 18 who live, work, or create in Santa Barbara County. The deadline is 11:45 p.m. (random time) on Friday, September 5. Click here for additional details.

ON the Walls

Charles Fazzino’s new 3D Studio Gallery location at 1011 State Street | Photo: @fazzinopopart

Santa Barbara’s art galleries are moving on up, at least in the case of Charles Fazzino’s 3D Studio Gallery, which left its longtime location on the 500 block of State Street and is now located in a pretty new space at 1011 State Street. The internationally renowned artist, whose distinct, almost sculptural technique is mostly directed toward bright and colorful pop culture–related pieces, has created official artwork for high profile things like the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Times Square New Year’s Eve, Olympic Games, GRAMMY Awards, JFK International Airport, CMA Awards, Belmont Stakes, Daytona 500, Indy 500, K-Pop Museum in Seoul, Korea, and the President William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, among others. See fazzino.com for more information.

Seimandi & Leprieur Gallery | Photo: Courtesy

The new Seimandi & Leprieur Gallery (33 W. Anapamu Street) specializes in fine art from the Caribbean, a welcome new addition to downtown Santa Barbara. Joe Woodard has the scoop on their first show, featuring the big and bold, yet subtle, contemporary-ancestral black-and-white paintings of Martinique resident Ricardo Ozier-Lafontaine, in an exhibition dubbed Fertilum. Read about it here.

“Creation of the Woodpecker,” 2025, Stanley Boydston, 60 x 84”, mixed media on a wood cradle | Photo: Courtesy

The Elizabeth Gordon Gallery (EGG) at 15 W. Gutierrez Street is sadly closing its doors this weekend after a 41 year run. The final exhibit showcases the work of gallery artist Stanley Boydston, a member of the Cherokee Nation whose work was featured in the 2019 Venice Biennale. His show, Athena Rising, uses a decade of paintings of the surf spot “Rincon,” as a stand-in for the waters of both Minoan Crete and the Cherokee. Boydston said “he signals and grounds the concept with two animals, the bull and the woodpecker. The work evolves intuitively, in a way that plays with traditional associations of gender identity normally assigned by historians to shapes and spaces.” The owners were unavailable for comment, but Boydston’s work will be on view through Saturday, August 30, open daily from 10 a.m.-6p.m. or by appointment, (805) 636-8075.

The artist call for CAW’s sixth annual Ready to Hang show opens on Monday, September 1. Now in its sixth year, this show is a must see for art lovers, with a diversity of work that’s pretty mind boggling. They are seeking all types of art — painting, print, fabric, photography, assemblage, clay, wood, and more. Each piece must be exactly 12 x 12 inches, no more, no less and no more than 5 inches deep, and ready to hang. All styles, all mediums, all experience levels, all ages, all people. Visit sbcaw.org/hang to watch an instructional video or to read the guidelines, dates, and important information about how to submit your work. The show itself takes place on Saturday, November 22.

Checking out the art at Ready to Hang 2024 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

ON the (Big) Screen

Supernova Cynthia Erivo will receive the 18th annual Kirk Douglas Award For Excellence in Film from Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The red carpet dinner and tribute fundraising event on December 4, at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara is always a hot ticket, but with the Tony-, GRAMMY-, Emmy Award–winning and three-time Academy Award–nominated actor, singer, and producer in the hot seat soon after the release of her return as Elphaba in Wicked: For Good on November 21, there’s definitely an even higher demand for seats.

Since 2006, the annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film has been awarded to a lifelong contributor to cinema through their work in front of the camera, behind, or both. Past honorees include Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Yeoh, Martin Scorsese, Hugh Jackman, Dame Judi Dench, Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Jessica Lange, Forest Whitaker, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Quentin Tarantino, Ed Harris, and John Travolta. For ticket information, click here.

ON the Calendar

Chris Rupp, “Immigrants Welcome,”2025 coir door mat, enamel, 24×18 | Photo: Courtesy

Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s first exhibition of year — and first without longtime Museum Director Judy Larson, who recently retired — opens on September 4 with a faculty-focused show, Lines of Inquiry. Featuring the work of artist/professors Scott Anderson, Brad Elliott, Ryan Ethington, Nathan Hayden, Nathan Huff, Chris Rupp, and Meagan Stirling, the exhibition (on view through November 1) explores personal narratives, the impact of pattern and perception, and cultural moments in our local and national consciousness. Click here for more about the show.

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.