Art Party with a Purpose
4 Reasons to Attend Visions of the Gaviota Coast
This week, the “save Naples” movement invades the cushy confines of the Bacara Resort & Spa for Visions of the Gaviota Coast. Featuring more than 100 paintings, photographs, and a documentary film, all created on the Gaviota Coast, the free art show will double as a benefit for the Naples Coalition and the Gaviota Coast Conservancy — all held right at the flank of the beloved and endangered region these organizations are aiming to help. Visions takes place Friday-Saturday, March 29-30. For more on the event, visit savenaples.org, or check out our reasons to attend below.
1) Reeve Woolpert: An unsung hero of the fight to save SoCal’s coastal open space, Woolpert takes photos that are pure unadulterated visual poetry. With camera in hand, he stalks the sublime unfurling moments of raw nature with an activist’s motivation and the stealth of a career cat burglar. Lucky for all of us, the Gaviota neighborhood has been his number one subject in recent years.
2) Now Is the Time: One of the most ecologically diverse and important regions on the planet, the great Gaviota is more at risk of development today than perhaps ever before. Money spent now on a beautiful piece of art will go directly toward the still-unfolding struggles against planned development at places like Naples and the nearby Makar property.
3) Get to Know SCAPE: In the past decade, Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment (SCAPE) has grown into a formidable collection of 200 world-class and earth-minded artists. By dedicating a portion of their exhibitions to protecting open spaces and various conservation efforts, this eclectic crew of creators has already helped raise money for area causes like Coal Oil Point Reserve, the Environmental Defense Center, and UCSB’s Sedgwick Reserve. This time around, they have turned their attention to Gaviota, an ever-inspiring muse.
4) Take over the Bacara: It wasn’t long ago that plans to build the Bacara Resort & Spa along the coast of eastern Goleta was one of the least publicly popular development dreams to ever hit the South Coast. Now under its third ownership group, the resort has been trying to establish itself as a more community-conscious outfit via its “Hearts of Bacara” campaign. Hosting this Easter weekend art show, and essentially inviting in many of the same individuals who once passionately opposed the luxury hotel’s existence, is the latest — and perhaps the greatest — incarnation of those efforts.
