The first question I am usually asked: “Is Ashleigh Brilliant your real name?” Yes, it is. My father was Victor Brilliant, and he came from a whole family of Brilliants. The origins are Russian and Jewish. Around the time of Napoleon, Jews were allowed to choose their own surnames. Many chose pleasant-sounding names, such as […]
Lea másIt has been an incredible past two-plus months in the Montecito real estate market, to say the least. Sales are up and still climbing. Not since perhaps 2002-2006 have agents seen this kind of buyer activity, in all price ranges. Sales have been solid in Summerland, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, and Goleta as well this summer, […]
Lea másMusic brings people together across borders, religions, and even time. Paul Willis, professor of English at Westmont, explores this idea in his newly published young-adult novel, All in a Garden Green (Slant Books, 2020). His experience teaching at Hengrave Hall in England (the home of the Westmont-in-England semester for 20 years) inspired him to depart […]
Lea más
Twelve Westmont art graduates, unable to exhibit their artwork at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum on campus in May due to COVID-19, are displaying their senior projects virtually. “Adjacent: Westmont Graduate Exhibition 2020” is available in person at the museum only to the artists and their families by prior appointment. The exhibition, including a virtual tour, […]
Lea másWestmont is working relentlessly to begin the fall semester in person with flexibility and safety concerns for students and faculty as a priority while observing all Santa Barbara County health and COVID-19 guidelines. A plan to repopulate its campus is on hold until further progress is made in slowing the spread of the coronavirus in […]
Lea más
Montecito’s Ginger Salazar has joined the volunteer Board of Directors of Cottage Health. Salazar, born and raised in Lompoc, has spent the last decade working to improve health and opportunities for Santa Barbara County residents. She leads branding at Kate Farms. Her professional career began in brand management and marketing for Procter & Gamble. She […]
Lea más
Due to the ongoing pandemic, Casa Dorinda residents and staff missed out this year on celebrating the recipients of the Casa Dorinda Scholarship in person, an annual tradition dating back to 1998 when a group of Casa residents began a fund to help staff members and their families achieve their educational goals. But the pandemic […]
Lea más
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara partnered with local company Kate Farms last week to support those most impacted amid the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic through accessible nutrition. On Tuesday, August 11, 15 volunteers came together to package 8,000 meals to be delivered to the Santa Barbara community. Santa Barbara-based Kate Farms was founded by […]
Lea másAt their hearing on Tuesday, August 18, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed debris basin on Randall Road. A draft of the report was released in early May. The project, which is still in its design phase, includes building a new off-channel debris basin on San […]
Lea másThis week, school started for our two public elementary schools, via distance or virtual learning due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, public health officer Dr. Henning Ansorg told the Board of Supervisors that the county’s number of COVID-19 cases is below certain thresholds, and the County is now drafting guidance and forms for […]
Lea más
Natalia Alarcon, 34, is not the first woman, nor is she the first Hispanic, to run for a seat at the Carpinteria City Council dais. But she is the first Latina woman – and the youngest – to run, at least in recent history. Two seats are open in the race – a new mayor […]
Lea más
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is one of the cultural gems of our city with a collection of more than 80,000 irreplaceable objects and artifacts relating to Santa Barbara’s extraordinary past. For local history it’s a must. The museum complex was constructed in 1965 by the Santa Barbara Historical Society (now called Museum), which was […]
Lea más
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s what the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation did. Because of COVID-19 their spring event was cancelled and also their fall fundraising event, the Gold Ribbon Luncheon. They have been operating since 2002 and hope their latest venture will add to the coffers. And it did. The […]
Lea másWe can’t succeed without a comprehensive national program for COVID testing “Testing Insanity” – Bill Gates, Global Pubic Square What exactly was Bill Gates trying to communicate when Fareed Zakaria interviewed him recently on his CNN GPS show? Zakaria is a serious interviewer who pries information out of his guests. And Gates, well what can […]
Lea másWhat’s a Montecito Memory Many People Don’t Know About? “I grew up in Santa Barbara and my dad was in Montecito. I’ve been surfing Hammonds and Biltmore since I was a little kid. In high school, I actually used to manage the Liquor & Wine Grotto during my senior year. Then, I was a bartender […]
Lea más
It’s 2016 and a millennial Santa Barbara gallery owner and multi-medium visual artist is seated writing furiously in his journal at the Café Rendez-Vous des Amis in Montmartre, once home to 19th century artists Gauguin, Monet, Degas, and Cézanne. Also sitting there is a chic femme artist-musician from Belarus studying philosophy at Sorbonne University Paris. […]
Lea másVera Cruz, the short film by UCSB professor and veteran documentarian Christopher Jenkins that follows artist-architect Jeff Shelton as he cajoles the creative community into decorating the outside of a colorful house at 521 Santa Barbara Street, gets renewed focus as this week’s entry in the film festival’s new online series of screenings and discussions […]
Lea másDespite a lack of socializing and being forced to sit on a car seat rather than a blanket or lawn chair, fans have still taken to UCSB Arts & Lectures’ 2020 free Summer Cinema series Game On! Grit, Grace & Glory, which has proven to be almost as popular as previous years held at the […]
Lea más
The next episode of the Santa Barbara Symphony’s live broadcast series takes place at 3:30 pm on August 23, when the Music-Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti will be joined by the symphony’s new Director of Music Education, Kristine Pacheco, to shine the spotlight on students of all levels from the youth program. The young musicians persevered […]
Lea másThe Pulitzer Prize-winning American born British-Libyan author Hisham Matar won the coveted award for The Return, his 2016 memoir about his journey to Libya to find out what happened to his father. An exiled opponent of the infamously brutal Gaddafi regime, the elder Matar was kidnapped in Cairo and flown back to Libya, where he […]
Lea más