Author spotlight: Joanne A Calitri

Joanne A Calitri MPA is a professional international photographer & journalist, and News Correspondent for the Montecito Journal Media Group LLC since 2002. Email: artraks@yahoo.com

11th Annual Richie’s Barber Shop Holiday Donation Drive: This Year for St. Vincent’s and Adam’s Angels
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 13, 2022

Richie’s Barber Shop on Coast Village Road is having its 11th Annual Holiday Donation Drive, this year for St. Vincent’s Santa Barbara and Adam’s Angels. The Shop’s event chair and lead barber Jessica Jay is coordinating with Regina Ruiz, Chief Development Officer of St. Vincent’s Santa Barbara, and with Adam McKaig, who formed Adam’s Angels […]

Art for Endangered Animals
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 13, 2022

The Thomas Reynolds Gallery is generously hosting a wall for the art of two local oil painters on a mission to raise awareness of endangered animals and factory farmed animals. The exhibit is titled “EYE AM ART” and is on view now through December 31. The oil painters are longtime painter, illustrator, and teacher Nancy […]

Society Takes Five in Boca
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 6, 2022

Photos by Joanne A Calitri It’s not every Thanksgiving this society gal takes off, but with my hair newly colored by Montecito’s own French Hair Salon expert, Eliane Alexandre International, I was ready to take on the sun-bleached blondes of the Florida coast in true Parisian style. Saving the almost impossible details of getting to […]

Working Vacations with Los Padres Forest Association
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 6, 2022

Coming out of Thanksgiving and heading into the holidays that mark the end of the year – if you are thinking you may want a vacation in 2023, love being outdoors in the wilderness, and want to do something to help our natural forest in California, check out the Los Padres Forest Association website. There […]

Veterans Day Recap at the Friendship Center
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 29, 2022

The Friendship Center Montecito held a private Veterans Day celebration to honor its senior members who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. The event was chaired by Family Services Manager Kim Larsen and Development Director Sophia Davis. Key event sponsor was Montecito Rotary Club President Tony Morris. The program, emceed by Carol Metcalf-Roth, starred […]

Butterfly Ball Deux Benefit for Gwendolyn’s Playground
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 22, 2022

On a most chilly Saturday, November 12, the second Butterfly Ball fundraiser for Gwendolyn’s Playground took flight, raising spirits and funds at the Dos Pueblos Ranch. This intimate and elegant evening for over 300 attendees heated up with lavish dress and renditions of butterflies paired with fur to fend off the frigid Gaviota coastal temps. […]

Silver Anniversary for the Annual Military Ball
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 15, 2022

The Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation held its 25th Annual Military Ball on Saturday, November 5, at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort ballroom.  Guests were greeted by a bagpiper as they checked in and proceeded to the cocktail reception and photo op. There were displays of military hats, along with photographs and art of military […]

Press Conference on Affordable Housing in Santa Barbara County
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 8, 2022

An impromptu press conference with U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Region IX Administrator Jason Pu was held on October 26, at the Santa Barbara Housing Authority Offices on Laguna Street. Rounding out the HUD support were state and local politicians Congressman Salud Carbajal, City of Goleta Councilmember James Kyriaco MPA, and First […]

Halloween Roundup Montecito Country Mart Annual Halloween Fest
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 8, 2022

The Montecito Country Mart held its annual Halloween festivities on Sunday, October 30, from 1 to 5 pm. The pumpkin patch in the center of the mart was the main area of gathering for kids and parents in costume. Kristin Teufel, manager of the mart for J.S. Rosenfield & Company, organized the event and helping […]

Profs at the Pub
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 1, 2022

UCSB’s Computational Mate Choice Lab Head Dan Conroy-Beam PhD presented his research on mating choices and their success rate on Wednesday, October 19, at M. Special Brewing Company on State Street. The sold-out event was the official in-person restart to the monthly UCSB Alumni Department’s Profs at the Pub series, and was the perfect topic […]

Montecitans Host Suffolk University Alumni Reception
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 1, 2022

Christine Garvey, Juris Doctor and Trustee of Suffolk University, and Susan Cappiello J.D. co-hosted the Southern California Suffolk University Alumni Reception with its president Marisa Kelly at the Jonathan Club Los Angeles on September 29. The elegant event brought out over 30 alumni, mainly from its Law School and the Sawyer Business School undergrad and […]

Helena Mason Gallery Art for Good Event
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 25, 2022

“Art for Good” is indeed the modus operandi for Helena Mason Art Gallery owner Natalie Olivas Sanchez, with her husband, realtor Jamie Sanchez. Moving from strictly doing art exhibitions and selling art, she decided to turn the hip interior with an outdoor patio into an event space, one that brings the community together and benefits […]

Photographs by Patricia Houghton Clarke at Silo Gallery
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 25, 2022

Patricia Houghton Clarke’s newest exhibit Primal Wild is on view at Silo 118 Gallery, now through October 29. There are 18 framed and matted photographs in the show, five color and seven black and white, square sized at 24×24” and rectangles at 33×49”. The selection was curated and installed by Bonnie Rubenstein. In a curio […]

Andrew Antone’s Wildlife Exhibit & Book ‘Africa’
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 18, 2022

On honeymoon in March 2022 with his partner Patrick, photographer-musician Andrew Antone’s safari journey turned into a project to bring awareness to the natural world and wildlife he encountered through his camera lens. After pooling through 11,094 images, he selected 500 images for his book, and 32 photos for his exhibit at the Santa Barbara […]

39th Ojai Studio Artists Tour
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 18, 2022

The Ojai Studio Artists (OSA) had their annual tour with free ticketing – in the spirit of communities and art – again this year. The tour had over 70 artists participating, and an estimated 750-1,000 visitors. Highlight included new OSA member Christopher Noxon, a former L.A. journalist and Los Feliz transplant during the pandemic, who […]

Johnny Irion’s U.S. Elevator Swings  Back to SOhO
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 18, 2022

Breezing into town after a three-year hiatus, Johnny Irion and his band U.S. Elevator, with members Erich Riedl, Brett Long, Nate Modisette, and Anders Bergstrom, took the stage to a standing-room only show at SOhO on Sunday, October 9. Irion started with a solo acoustic set on guitar and piano. Invited guest Khasy Modisette sang […]

St. Vincent’s 21st Golf Classic Fundraiser at the Montecito Country Club
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 18, 2022

An overcast Monday, October 10 saw the 21st Annual St. Vincent’s Golf Classic Fundraiser at the Montecito Country Club touting 88 participants from 22 corporate sponsors, the most since its inception. This year the tee-gift for each participant was a pair of golf shoes. Overseeing the event were St. Vincent’s President & CEO Rosa M. […]

Rona Barrett Foundation Giving Quality of Life to Our Seniors
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 18, 2022

With one of the most world-recognized names in TV, magazine, and print news media, Rona Barrett fashioned her career on well-researched and deep-dive interviews, asking the questions no one would have at the time. Barrett broke many glass ceilings in the media industry for women and as a person with muscular dystrophy. She took on […]

Ishi Glinsky UCSB Retrospective Exhibit
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 11, 2022

I attended the opening of Ishi Glinsky’s solo exhibit titled Upon a Jagged Maze at the Art, Design & Architecture (ADA) Museum at UC Santa Barbara, sponsored by the ADA Museum’s Council. The exhibit is on view through January 22, 2023.  The 25 works from 2009 to 2022 were selected by museum Director Gabriel Ritter, […]

Persons of the Year 2022
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 4, 2022

Ginger Salazar and Katina Zaninovich were honored as the Santa Barbara Foundation Persons of the Year 2022 at a luncheon on Wednesday, September 21, at the Santa Barbara Hilton. Both women were enthusiastically welcomed and congratulated by the attendees as they each spoke about their work in the community via a video presentation, and again […]

The Friendship Center’s 10th Annual Wine Down
By Joanne A Calitri   |   September 27, 2022

The Friendship Center Montecito held its annual wine event on Thursday, September 8 at the center’s outdoor patio area. Guests were greeted with an option to wear a mask made available at the reception desk. Ready with big smiles at the wine glass pickup area were Event Chair Kathy Marden and Co-Chair and Board Vice […]

Sojourner Kincaid Rolle’s ‘Free at Last’ Book Release
By Joanne A Calitri   |   September 27, 2022

The poet, playwright, activist, and local elder for Santa Barbara County Black History, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, has released a new book titled Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem, illustrated by Alex Bostic, published by Sterling Books/Union Square Kids. This hardcover 10 x 10 inch 32-page poem/picture book tells the story of the end of slavery […]

Silver Air Private Jet Opens
By Joanne A Calitri   |   September 20, 2022

The newest buzz in the air is the grand opening of the World Headquarters of Silver Air (SA), at 225 State Street, celebrated with a soirée Friday, September 9. The announcement comes at prime time heading into the fourth quarter for global business and wealth management.  On board at the event were its co-founders and […]

Astronomy on Tap Is On!
By Joanne A Calitri   |   September 13, 2022

Tune in you star trekkers, gazers, and galaxy aficionados, Las Cumbres Observatory’s (LCO) Astronomy on Tap is back on the planet every month in a new location: the outside patio at M Special Taproom on State Street. The new venue allows for the Astro on Tap monthlies to be an all-ages event, while still be […]

Talking Kinetic and Optical Art with Alexander Alberro
By Joanne A Calitri   |   September 6, 2022

Art historian Alexander Alberro, PhD presented his research on Kinetic, Op and Participatory Art at Mid-Century at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art on August 31. He has written about this topic in his 2017 book titled, Abstraction in Reverse: The Reconfigured Spectator in Mid-Twentieth-Century Latin American Art. He is a Virginia Bloedel Wright Professor […]

Tamara Thompson: Art as a Side Hustle
By Joanne A Calitri   |   August 30, 2022

Sunday, August 21 marked the reception for the second public art exhibit for Tamara Thompson, with over 40 natural seaweed designs on watercolor paper, framed and matted, for wall and tabletop.  Thompson, self-named “The Seaweed Artist,” is in a group show with her father, Michael Harvan, a local landscape painter, at the Apiary in Carpinteria […]

Dr. Regina Ruiz Named Chief Development Officer of St. Vincent’s
By Joanne A Calitri   |   August 16, 2022

In its ever-expanding role to serve our town, St. Vincent’s Santa Barbara has promoted Dr. Regina Ruiz from her 2019 role as the Vice President of Development and Marketing, to Chief Development Officer this month, a new position for the organization that President/CEO Rosa Paredes said, “The time has come and Regina is the perfect […]

The Tenacity of New Art: Toni Scott at Silo 118 Gallery
By Joanne A Calitri   |   August 2, 2022

Placing her bright white 36”x36” square canvases on the floor, she meditates and pours a line of indigo paint in a circle. Yes, a circle in a square. She watches as the paint free forms to create what she terms a ‘Spiritual Plateau,’ a place of quiet and peace for her, thus titled, Meditation Circle […]

Sonya Harris’s 101 Freeway Ramp Garden Relocated
By Joanne A Calitri   |   July 26, 2022

Summerland is blessed with the beautiful green thumb of Sonya Harris, who single-handedly created a garden scape with over 250 plants and stonework along Lillie Avenue’s sidewalk through the northbound 101 onramp.  Caltrans was ready to bulldoze through that garden were it not for a good deed message from Kirsten Ayars, PR for the Caltrans […]

Steve Binder in the Year of Elvis
By Joanne A Calitri   |   July 19, 2022

In 2022, Elvis has once again become a larger-than-life phenomenon, crowned thus via a June 24th release of Baz Luhrmann’s film, Elvis, a biopic movie focusing on that illusive twist of fate: Elvis’s relationship with his business manager Col. Tom Parker. Luhrmann knew better than to do the film without consulting the actual people who […]

Montecito’s 27th Village Fourth Parade
By Joanne A Calitri   |   July 12, 2022

It was the perfect sunny day for the Montecito Village Fourth car parade to celebrate Independence Day. The parade drew a huge turnout with the crowds along the route cheering and waving flags, most dressed in red, white, and blue. It is our town’s great privilege to start the parade with the annual flyover of […]

Solstice Shines on Parade
By Joanne A Calitri   |   July 5, 2022

To bring some Shine into the summer, the Santa Barbara Solstice Parade returned on June 25 with that theme, and a new route up Santa Barbara Street. Perhaps it should have been on this historic road all along. An estimated over 100,000 attendees paid homage to the sun, and yes, ‘60s hippies crawled out of […]

Special News Edition: Laura B. Whitmore and Annual NAMM Report
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 28, 2022

Launching the Women’s International Music Network (WiMN) 12 years ago to create a support system for women in the Music Industry (MI), and the She Rocks Awards in 2012, Laura B. Whitmore believes we have a lot more to do to level the playing field. “We are making progress by asking the difficult questions and […]

Our Town’s 20th Annual Graduation Issue: Part 2
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 21, 2022

Our town’s schools held their 2022 graduation ceremonies from May 29 through June 10. The eight school graduations are covered in order of occurrence with part one in the previous issue (Vol. 28, Iss. 23, June 9) and this issue including El Montecito Early School with 20 grads, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School with […]

Our Town’s 20th Annual Graduation Issue: Part 1
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 14, 2022

Our town’s schools held their 2022 graduation ceremonies from May 29 through June 10. The eight local school graduations are covered in order of occurrence, in two news reports, part one today and part two on June 16. This issue has Cate School with 66 grads, Montecito YMCA Preschool with 14 grads, Cold Spring School […]

New EHT Image of Sagittarius A*
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 7, 2022

Location: Earth. Star-date 75825.4 (May 12, 2022): the long suspected supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is confirmed by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team via millimeter-wave radio telescopes. Prior evidence and other phenomenon of Sgr A* was noted by astronomer Harlow Shapley in 1918, […]

Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus in Concert
By Joanne A Calitri   |   May 24, 2022

The Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus (SBGMC) will give our town its second concert on Monday, May 23, at 7:30 pm at the First United Methodist Church, 305 East Anapamu Street. Tickets are on sale now and at the door. The concert titled “Tomorrows: Songs For a Brighter Future!” is a one-hour, no intermission program […]

Helena Mason Art Gallery Opens
By Joanne A Calitri   |   May 17, 2022

I was invited to attend the May 6th opening of the Helena Mason Art Gallery. The address – 48 Helena Avenue – brought me back to a 2005 world where, in that exact location, magic happened by underground artists and scientists, who spun their current creations late on Wednesday nights. If you know… you know. […]

Block Party Revival 
By Joanne A Calitri   |   May 10, 2022

Spring has sprung, bringing with it the revival of our town’s neighborhood block parties. Recent Montecito town gatherings were the Holiday Tree decorating on San Ysidro Lane in December, and the last block party in April 2019 before the lockdowns. Both events were spawned by members from the Montecito Association, whose love of our town […]

Don’t Cancel This
By Joanne A Calitri   |   April 26, 2022

John Cleese Presents “An Evening of Exceptional Silliness” on May 25 at the Granada Theatre. John Cleese has revealed his upcoming tour stop in Santa Barbara, May 25, at the Granada Theatre. In our exclusive interview, he gives an affectionate nod to Montecito, his former home for himself and his daughter Camilla, along with a […]