ON Culture | From ‘Little Shop of Hoarders’ to Flamenco Intimo and Fredlandia

ON the Stage

Favorite funny guy Fred Armisen comes to the Lobero on Wednesday, September 17, with his show Comedy For Musicians but Everyone Is Welcome. I’ve been looking forward to this one since it was announced. The comedian, writer, producer, and musician is an 11-season veteran of Saturday Night Live, was band leader of the 8G Band on Late Night With Seth Meyers from 2014-2024, is in the hit Netflix series Wednesday as Uncle Fester, and is currently starring in the Broadway play All In. Among his many credits, he also stars in HBO Los Espookys, the Amazon’s series Forever, as well as the late great show Portlandia. Click here for tickets and more information.

I’m fortunate to get to attend many special cultural events, but last week’s Flamenco Intimo in the Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s Covarrubius Adobe was a particularly joyous evening of passionate, fiery performances in an intimate historic setting. Guest artists in the series, coming from Mexico and Spain and curated by Flamenco! Santa Barbara artistic director María “La Chacha” Bermúdez, included Marién Luévano, dancer; Pepele Mendez, singer; Kina Mendez, singer; Pablo Heredia, guitar; and Gabriel Rodriguez, flute. In addition to the exceptional performances (we’ll have a full report from dance writer Jatila van der Veen later on), I also had the pleasure of meeting Olympic athlete Jane Frederick at the event. Read all about her in John Zant’s story here.

---

ON the Page

Looking for another reason to visit the Santa Barbara Public Library (SBPL)? In honor of National Library Card Sign-Up Month, SBPL recently unveiled three unique new library card designs. They each feature the work of a local artist — DJ Javier, Miguel Rodriguez (Ome Pache), and Jeremy Harper.

The new designs are available at all SBPL locations and the Library on the Go. Don’t miss this chance to carry a piece of local art in your pocket. You can also pick up one at the Library on the Go Happy Hour on Wednesday, September 17, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Brass Bear Brewing Uptown (3302 McCaw Ave.).

---

ON the (Big) Screen

With offshore drilling resuming off the Santa Barbara coast by Sable Offshore Corp, the Marjorie Luke Theatre’s Green Film Series hosts the West Coast premiere of The Cost of Silence on Sunday, September 14 at 4 p.m. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, this searing documentary exposes the concealment of a human health disaster following the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill — and how a cover-up allowed the same toxic response methods to be cemented into national spill response plans. Today, the film reveals that every coastal community, including Santa Barbara, faces a largely unknown and potentially deadly threat.

Following the screening, the event will feature a community forum designed to share the latest information and provide ways audiences can engage in the issue through the introduction of ENGAGESTREAM, a custom-engineered action platform built to empower audiences to take immediate and sustained action on the issue. Click here for tickets and more information. View trailer here.

The visionary films of Akira Kurosawa will be shown at the SBIFF Riviera Theatre from September 12-18. This special Kurosawa retrospective features: The Hidden Fortress, High and Low, Ikiru, Rashomon, Sanjuro, Seven Samurai, Stray Dog, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo. Click here for the complete schedule.

---

ON the Don’t Miss List

They had me at Artist Swap Meet, not to mention Art Show, and PANCAKES. Put those things together — along with 25 Barbie heads, 15 glass door knobs, 2,000 burned matches, and thousands of bottle caps — and Little Shop of Hoarders is shaping up to be an event you don’t want to miss.

Opening on Friday, September 12 from 5-8 p.m. with an art show at CAW featuring the work of ten artists in a “junk-inspired” celebration. The fun continues with an art inspired swap meet and pancake breakfast on Saturday, September 13, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pancakes will be served from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with proceeds going to support CAW.

Featuring work by Adrienne De Guevara, Leslie Ekker, Gisele Grable, Skip Lau, Dan LeVin, Vanae Rivera, Dug Uyesaka, Sue Van Horsen, and Frank Whipple, the gallery show runs from  September 12-21, with open hours on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment. Text (805) 319-0964.

In addition to their artworks, the artists (and other community members) will  be selling assemblage-worthy finds — ephemera, antiques, oddities, collage materials, and other creative treasures. Little Shop of Hoarders is more than an art exhibit. It’s a community gathering designed to spark creativity, encourage collaboration, and promote resource-sharing. Admission is free, and all ages are welcome. Click here for more information.

ON the Walls

Renowned naturalist and underwater photographer Ralph A. Clevenger has a new exhibition titled Redwoods of the Sea: Life in the Channel Islands Kelp Forests at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. “Ralph Clevenger’s photography immerses viewers in the vibrant underwater world of our local kelp forests,” said SBMM Curator Emily Falke. Imagine swimming through a swaying forest where shafts of sunlight flicker across the seafloor and schools of fish weave through a towering underwater landscape. This vibrant, thriving world — one of the most productive and diverse ecosystems on Earth — comes to life in Clevenger’s breathtaking images of the giant kelp forests surrounding the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. The work is on view through January 4, 2026. See sbmm.org.

Nature’s Palette, SCAPE’s annual juried fall exhibition, opens on September 12 at Music Academy of the West and continues through September 13. This two-day exhibition showcases talented local artists while raising funds for Explore Ecology, a nonprofit whose programs inspire more than 38,000 children annually to connect with nature and develop lifelong environmental stewardship. “Proceeds from the show will support the next generation of environmental stewards, helping to fund field trips, outdoor learning in school gardens across the county, and creative reuse art workshops,” said Lindsay Johnson, executive director of Explore Ecology.

SCAPE (Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment) fosters artistic growth while supporting environmental causes through exhibitions, donations, and member driven events. Since 2002, SCAPE has donated to numerous environmental nonprofits.

The free event is open to all ages and takes place Friday, September 12, from 2-7 p.m., with a reception from 5-6 p.m., and Saturday, September 13, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Music Academy of the West, Lehmann Hall, 1070 Fairway Road.

UCSB’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum presents three permanent collection exhibitions this fall. Opening on Saturday, September 12, and on view through December 7 are Beyond the Object: Selections from the Permanent Collection; Mexican Prints: The Garcia-Correa Collection; and Environmental Communications: Big Bang Beat L.A.

Please visit the AD&A Museum website for a full list of related programs.

Celebrated portrait artist Alice Matzkin, who has two paintings in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian, one of which is Ojai’s Beatrice Wood at age 100, has a new series of large and colorful abstract paintings that will be on exhibit at Ojai’s restaurant/exhibit space Farmer and the Cook through October 6. Matzkin calls the series, “Painting In Tongues, Emanations From a Silent Mind,” because the work flows from her almost automatically.

According to a sweet note I got from her 80-something husband Richard, “Alice had never painted abstract art before, but now she works passionately in her studio, at times from sunrise to sunset. Sometimes she gets so involved, I have to bring her food, or she’ll forget to eat. Now, for the first time, she will exhibit her (abstract) work.”

The opening reception is Saturday, September 13, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Farmer and the Cook, 339 West El Roblar Drive, Ojai. Click here for more information about the space (they’re part of the original organic farm movement) and here for more information about the artist.

---

ON the Streets

Pianos on State, one of my favorite fall art extravaganzas, heads our way again September 30-October 19. With each piano hand-painted by a local artist, these vibrant works of public art are not to be missed. Congratulations to this year’s commissioned artists: Maddie Cupples, Kaz Fanton, Stephanie Gonzales, Sami Hutchinson, Stephanie Ingoldsby, Vandana Khare, Kieran Meaney, Jack N. Mohr, irene ramirez (Arts Fund Teen Mentor), Katherine A. Taylor, Juan Trejo, Mae Wilson, and Helen Yanez.

---

ON the Calendar

Linda Ronstadt is one of my all-time favorite artists, and singer Shannon Rae and the premier tribute band Ronstadt Revival are known for doing a particularly good job of capturing the essence of what made her such a legend in the music industry. The band performs on Friday, September 12, at the Lobero. Click here for details.

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