Marilyn McRae first started working with paper by tearing pages out of magazines at her desk. She moved to the dining room table, and eventually took over the guest house at her Hope Ranch home. She welcomes the visitors on the Studio Artists Tour, saying, “I love sharing my process.”
Marilyn McRae first started working with paper by tearing pages out of magazines at her desk. She moved to the dining room table, and eventually took over the guest house at her Hope Ranch home. She welcomes the visitors on the Studio Artists Tour, saying, “I love sharing my process.” Credit: Courtesy photo

Twenty-four years ago, 18 local artists created a concept to help promote Santa Barbara as an arts destination – to open their private studios to the public as a special event.

The now-annual Studio Artists Tour, now held over the three-day Labor Day weekend, is an insider’s look at the creative processes of 23 local artists, from Montecito to Goleta. Studios range from simple garage conversions to hilltop ateliers with ocean views.

“This is a chance to talk with the artists and see the environment the work is created in, with no pressure to make a purchase,” says Francis Scorzelli, Studio Artists founding member and president.

He explains that Studio Artists membership is based on specific criteria and is reviewed by board members (“juried” in art world parlance).

Tour hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The $25 ticket includes access to the studios and an Opening Reception held this Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Community Arts Workshop (631 Garden Street). Tickets are also sold online (www.santabarbarstudioartists.com), but maps must be picked up at CAW. Kids aged 12 and under are free.

Ticket proceeds from this year’s Tour benefit the Grace Fisher Foundation and their Inclusive Arts Clubhouse in La Cumbre Plaza.

Francis Scorzelli’s Downtown Studio

Scorzelli’s studio is in El Zoco Lofts, a downtown live-work space for artists developed by the city of Santa Barbara. The abstract painter was intimately involved in its long approval process.

“I signed up in 1982 when it was announced and was laid off from my job the day before the project broke ground in 1993. I then helped build it for ‘sweat equity’ to reduce my purchase price,” he says, his Boston accent still strong after 45 years in Santa Barbara.

Though it was conceived to keep artists from leaving high-priced Santa Barbara, Scorzelli is now one of only three working artists at El Zoco. “Resales weren’t limited so the original occupants could sell to anyone,” he notes.

Abstract painter Francis Scorzelli has lived and worked for 30 years at El Zoco Lofts, a downtown Santa Barbara development created especially for artists. He’s a founding member, current president, and one of 23 local artists on the Studio Artists Tour, held over the three-day Labor Day weekend.
Abstract painter Francis Scorzelli has lived and worked for 30 years at El Zoco Lofts, a downtown Santa Barbara development created especially for artists. He’s a founding member, current president, and one of 23 local artists on the Studio Artists Tour, held over the three-day Labor Day weekend. Credit: Courtesy photo

The soaring New York-style loft is just over 900 square feet. The concrete floor is splattered with paint and dappled with sunlight from the many large windows. An extra-wide front door (42 inches versus the standard 36 inches) allowed him to create much larger artwork.

Completed canvases now lean against the walls and serve a surprising function when he is painting new works.

“I don’t use easels,” says Scorzelli. “I prop new canvasses against the completed works or lay them on the floor to paint.”

Joan Rosenberg-Dent’s Studio

Ceramicist Joan Rosenberg-Dent hand-built her first studio aided by her three small children when she was a single mother in Ohio. In Michigan, her studio was in a former dairy. In Philadelphia, it was a 120-year-old carriage house that “still smelled of horses.”

“Every time you change studios something natural happens,” she says. “In Ohio, I could get Classical music, and my pieces were all white with classic forms. In Ann Arbor, I could get jazz and color started popping into the work.”

Jean Rosenberg-Dent has had studios in a former dairy and a converted 120-year-old carriage house, and even built one with her young children. The current studio is her smallest, but it boasts a 180-degree ocean view. “How can you not pick up on the natural beauty of Santa Barbara?” she asks.
Joan Rosenberg-Dent has had studios in a former dairy and a converted 120-year-old carriage house, and even built one with her young children. The current studio is her smallest, but it boasts a 180-degree ocean view. “How can you not pick up on the natural beauty of Santa Barbara?” she asks. Credit: Courtesy photo

Her current studio was designed and built with her Montecito home. It is the smallest she’s ever had, but has a 180-degree ocean view.

“My recent pieces are translucent; I call it ‘naked porcelain,’” she says. “The beautiful Santa Barbara light goes right through them.”

Ceramicist Joan Rosenberg-Dent works in a custom studio (with three kilns) that was built at the same time as her Montecito home. She credits the “beautiful Santa Barbara light” for inspiring the translucent works she calls “naked porcelain.”
Ceramicist Joan Rosenberg-Dent works in a custom studio (with three kilns) that was built at the same time as her Montecito home. She credits the “beautiful Santa Barbara light” for inspiring the translucent works she calls “naked porcelain.” Credit: Courtesy photo

Misa Art’s Studio

Misa of Misa Art uses power tools to create her artwork. “I’m a noisy neighbor,” she jokes. Her studio is now in the concerted garage of the Mesa home she shares with her husband, sculptor Jim Martin, and their daughter. “He has his own studio,” she says. “It’s important to have your own space.”
Misa of Misa Art uses power tools to create her artwork. “I’m a noisy neighbor,” she jokes. Her studio is now in the converted garage of the Mesa home she shares with her husband, sculptor Jim Martin, and their daughter. “He has his own studio,” she says. “It’s important to have your own space.” Credit: Courtesy photo

Misa of Misa Art uses grinders, Dremels, torches, chisels, and other sculptural tools to create her artwork.

“Instead of painting on top, I paint and take off the layers, so when the light hits it, there is a 3D effect,” she says.

She and her husband sculptor Jim Martin (a past Studio Artists Tour participant) previously worked out of their State Street gallery, which closed during COVID.

Before converting their garage into her studio, Misa worked in a tent outside their home on the Mesa.

“It was important to build a space for myself. A studio matters, as it contains energy,” says Misa.

“I have a glass garage door, so the light comes inside, and I can feel the outside. The location isn’t that important, but the environment is.”

For Misa of Misa Art, the environment of her studio is most important. Painted all in white, diffuse light comes in through a glass roll-up door. “I can feel the outside,” she says. During COVID, before the garage was converted, she worked in a tent outside her house.
For Misa of Misa Art, the environment of her studio is most important. Painted all in white, diffuse light comes in through a glass roll-up door. “I can feel the outside,” she says. During COVID, before the garage was converted, she worked in a tent outside her house. Credit: Courtesy photo

Marilyn McRae’s Studio

Twelve years ago, Marilyn McRae (then a food stylist for films and commercials) sat at her desk and rolled up a magazine, fanning the edges.

“I was taken in by the colors and the textures,” she says. “I had the most fun creating with it and moved onto the dining room table. Soon it started taking over the whole house.”

The guest cottage of her Hope Ranch home is now a dedicated studio. Dozens of drawers are filled with pages torn from magazines, sorted by color (“my palette”) and themes (“I’ve recently been saving watches, makeup, and lips”).

Marilyn McRae’s studio has dozens of drawers filled with pages torn from magazines. “My palette,” she calls them. Her intricate works come in small and large sizes, some more than six feet across. Credit: Courtesy photo

She utilizes more than two dozen pairs of scissors and blades but often still tears the paper. That’s a lot of ripping, as her larger pieces can be more than six feet across and layered for depth.

“I love being on the Tour as people are so curious about how the pieces are created,” says McRae. “They walk in and can see the physical process in the environment. I love sharing it.”