Just a few blocks off State Street on a quiet corner of Garden and Ortega streets, two unassuming-looking brick warehouses are humming with creativity. For the last few months, the Community Arts Workshop has been in the midst of renovation, giving space to some of Santa Barbara’s most creative institutions including The Solstice Celebration, Pianos on State, Revels, Youth Interactive and more.
This April 7, as part of the 1st Thursday festivities, CAW will be filled with art and opened to the public.
During “CAW in Action: The Sculptors Guild.” the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative and the Santa Barbara Sculptors Guild are co-hosting an open-invitation gallery show and open house, inviting both the public to see the CAW and some great art and any artist with an idea to come see how they can use the space.
This 1st Thursday, come experience a new workspace for artists in Santa Barbara with boundless potential.
The Santa Barbara Sculptors Guild will be in residence at the Community Arts Workshop throughout April for their exhibition, “BIG, Little, and Open,” as well as hosting art events for the community throughout the month.
The April 7 event will feature a juried selection of sculptures of all medias and 2D wall art. Appetizers and drinks will be served.
The Santa Barbara Sculptors Guild is making an open invitation to artists to submit work April 3 for juror Rafael Perea de la Cabada to select pieces for the show.
In addition, during the rest of the month there will be several community art projects to which visitors can add their creative touch, including a fiber project and a “Draw Your Dreams and Demons” canvas.
On April 16 an unjuried in-gathering will be held for 8×8 inch sculptures done by the community, including students and children.
Finally on April 24, International Sculpture Day, an awards ceremony and final closing reception will be held for both the Big and Little shows.
The creative possibilities of the CAW are limitless. It is the fulfillment of a vision cast over 30 years ago in Santa Barbara’s Regional Arts Master Plan, which called for a multi-use arts center with rehearsal, training, workshop, gallery and performance space for community arts groups and individuals.
That vision is now being realized at 631 Garden Street, where two industrial buildings are being transformed into a space where people can come together, make and see great work and spread inspiration.
On April 7 the public is invited to see the CAW for themselves. Visitors can tour the buildings, see the great work of the Santa Barbara Sculptors Guild, have a look at iron-work artist David Shelton’s nine-headed hydra (soon to be part of the CAW’s public art gates, featured in a recent Independent article) and share their vision with Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative board members about ways the space can be used.
There will be a presentation at 6:15 p.m. about the CAW and its future. (The CAW was recently awarded the 2015 Citizen of the Year Award by Downtown Santa Barbara.)
Please come enjoy the work of the Santa Barbara Sculptors Guild and imagine what you can do at Santa Barbara’s new Community Arts Workshop.
More information on the Santa Barbara Sculptors Guild, including an official call for entries with information on the show “BIG, Little, & Open,” can be found at www.sbsculptors.org.
The Community Arts Workshop is a project of the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative, a nonprofit organization committed to sustaining and growing all forms of the arts in Santa Barbara.
— Casey Caldwell represents the Community Arts Workshop.