Midwinter Night’s Dream: Artful Affairs at the SB Museum of Art

Santa Barbara Museum of Art held its annual fundraiser titled, “Artful Affairs: Seasons of Change, Midwinter Night’s Dream,” on Saturday, February 24, at the museum galleries. The coveted upscale attire event saw the mix of art and music, as the SBMA joined with the Music Academy for a collaborative affair, accented with art themed hors d’oeuvres, champagne, and boutique libations.

Event co-chairs – SBMA Board of Trustees and Development Chair Martha Townsend, and SBMA Women’s Board two-time past president Jeanne Fulkerson – took a moment to explain. “The Midwinter Night’s dream is the second Artful Affairs event of SBMA’s two-part annual fundraiser through which the Santa Barbara community can support the Museum’s community programs and exhibitions. The midwinter theme focuses on discovery, reflection, wonder, and renewal. Tonight’s immersive art experience promises to bring art into the lives of people in the Santa Barbara community.”

The program commenced with a private reception and concert for SBMA sponsors in the Loeb Family Gallery. From there we moved to Ludington Court for the welcome remarks by SBMA Eichholz Foundation Director Amada Cruz and the event co-chairs. The evening proceeded with guests touring the four gallery events, noted as follows.

In the Campbell and Gould Galleries was a first time viewing of the Meiji Period Japanese ink on paper six-panel screen titled, Winter Landscape (146 x 69”). The work inspired Japanese music performed on the sho – a mouth organ descending from the Chinese sheng, used in gagaku (court music) – played by Fabio Rambelli, a professor of Japanese religions and cultural history at UCSB. He performed an esoteric work by Yoko Ono’s first husband, avant-garde composer and pianist, Toshi Ichiyanagi, titled “Galaxy.” Rambelli followed that piece with a classical late 1400s composition in B minor, akin to Bach. Briefs on the art were presented by SBMA Atkins Curator of Asian Art Susan Tai. Guests were served Japanese yellowtail and avocado rolls, chicken yakitori, and ginger shumai and traditional Japanese Sake.

The Photography Gallery, managed by SBMA Curator of Photography and New Media Charlie Wylie, showcased a work by Ansel Adams titled, Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, Lone Pine (1942, gelatin silver print, 19.75 x 23.5”). Opera singer and sound artist Amanda Gregory performed nature and biorhythms, with dessert being served in the locale.

The Preston Morton Gallery showcased French artist Pauline Auzou’s Two Women Making Music (1796). The work is said to have been inspired by Italian mannerist prints of the late 17th century. J. S. Bach’s “Flute Sonata in E Minor, BWV 1034” was performed by the Music Academy’s Evan Shinners (harpsichord), Katrina Agate (cello), and Erin McKibben (flute). Shinners is a dual Julliard degree holder and Bach aficionado with his recently launched podcast dedicated to Bach called “WTF Bach.” Italian hors d’oeuvres and libations were served. 

The closing piece was a contemporary mix of the painting, area code (2019, oil on acrylic linen, 108 x 82”), by Ena Swansea with a piano performance by Shinners of his selections from J.S. Bach. The multi-colored painting depicts a young child in a lighted glass phone booth in a snowy forested meadow. Contemporary art is curated by James Glisson. 

The event committee members are Karen Brill, Lynn Cunningham Brown, Kathleen Feldstein, Michael C. Linn, Christian McGrath, Jeanne Towles, and Gregg Wilson.

SBMA new board members present were Jacquelyn Klein-Brown, J. Paul Longanbach, and Beth Wood. This bi-annual funder supports the museum’s educational programming and exhibitions. Key sponsors were Susan B. Bowey, Kandy Luria-Budgor and Beno Budgor of the Luria Family Foundation, Jane and Ken Anderson, Robert Castle, Robin and Daniel Cerf, Marcia and John Mike Cohen, Joan Davidson, Jane Eagleton, Martha Gabbert, Paul Longanbach and Donald Polk, Christian and Angie McGrath, Rosemary and Nicholas Mutton, Betsy and Charles Newman, Nancy and Doug Norberg, Merrill Sherman, Jeanne Towles, Martha and Tim Townsend, Beth and George Wood, and Susan and Bruce Worster.  

411: www.sbma.net