Tag archives: design

Campus Connection: Art, Theater, Jazz… and ‘Schmigadoon!’ 
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 21, 2024

Incandescent is the intriguing title of this year’s MFA Thesis Exhibition at UCSB’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum (AD&A), on view May 17 to June 9. The seven grad students with heritage from Mexico, Nigeria, Iran, the Philippines, and elsewhere, drew on Michel Serres’ notion of incandescence to create art that emphasizes the interconnectedness of […]

Orianna Cacchione: New Assistant Director at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum UCSB
By Joanne A Calitri   |   May 30, 2023

The Art, Design & Architecture [AD&A] Museum at UCSB’s newest acquisition is the hire of Orianna Cacchione, PhD, as its Assistant Director. Filling a long vacant position, she brings new perspectives, background, and for certain, relief, to its Executive Director Gabe Ritter, PhD.  Our interview on Wednesday May 17, was at the museum, during the […]

Harvey Houses: The Southwest Legacy of Fred Harvey (Who?)
By Jerry Dunn   |   May 2, 2023

Every year my wife, Merry, and I drive Interstate 40 from Southern California to New Mexico. The route is scenic, but the Arizona part has long stretches of nothing but miles and miles of miles and miles.  I always think of a favorite cartoon: An automobile is starting a trip across a dull, featureless desert, […]

Designing the Dessert
By Claudia Schou   |   February 14, 2023

One of the most memorable aspects of dining out is a well-made dessert that sets the tone for a night on the town.  On the heels of the awards season, the world’s fashion designers are preparing to roll out their latest luxury creations. Similarly, local pastry chefs have added to their menus a smörgåsbord of […]

A Star Achievement
By Richard Mineards   |   December 6, 2022

Digital design and marketing professional Monica Kunz is the recipient of the 2022 AWC Chapter Star Award for lending her talents and expertise to the local chapter of the Association for Women in Communications. “Monica has a keen eye for design and branding,” says Lisa Osborn, president of AWC-SB. “For years she has generously shared […]

Home Crush
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   November 29, 2022

Montecito’s Aimee Miller recently opened Home Crush on Lillie Avenue, after converting a 1930s ocean-view Bungalow into an interactive design studio with multiple rooms, terraces, and destinations. “We kept the home feeling like a residence, but removed the doors so customers can come in and actually see stuff and how it lives in a room,” […]

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, […]

‘Upon a Jagged Maze’ at UCSB
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 6, 2022

With students about to swarm back to the seaside campus, UCSB’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum is opening its fall-winter exhibition, “Ishi Glinsky: Upon a Jagged Maze.” The show is the first solo museum exhibition of L.A.-based Glinsky, an early career survey of 25 works made over the past decade including painting, works on paper, […]

Home Design Roundup: Making Home Your Own
By Zach Rosen   |   August 9, 2022

Montecito has long had its eye on style and recently Summerland is becoming a hotbed for finding the design, décor, and items that adorn your bed and interior spaces. Here is a roundup of the designers and stores in the area that help make our homes feel like home.  Marc Normand Gelinas Interior Design Marc […]

Feeling Your Own Home
By Zach Rosen   |   May 10, 2022

We are always curating our environment to fit our feelings and lifestyle. Just as we put on music to match a mood, we select the colors, materials, and objects of our home to pair with how we want to feel there. Or as Aimee Miller of Home Crush puts it, “Design your life.”  Home Crush […]

More 101 Design Details
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 5, 2022

Last week, Montecito Board of Architectural Review looked at several more design components of the 101 widening project through Montecito, potentially the last of a series of conceptual review meetings before the project comes back for preliminary approval once Caltrans’ application for the project is deemed complete by Santa Barbara County.  As we’ve reported, four […]

James Claffey
By Sigrid Toye   |   March 15, 2022

The iconic multilevel campus of the historic Santa Barbara High School was my destination to meet James Claffey, English teacher extraordinaire. An instructor at the Visual Arts and Design Academy (VADA) division of the school he was highly recommended by a most reliable source: one of his students! In an attempt to make a timely […]

A Celebrated Architect Makes Montecito his Home
By Kia McInerny   |   August 12, 2021

Quietly and without fanfare, Montecito recently welcomed a legendary architect to our village. Though long a celebrity figure for his “elegant barn” aesthetic in rustic settings like Sundance and Napa Valley, it was with delight that we caught up with Howard Backen — at his desk overlooking Coast Village Road — hand sketching a new […]

VADA VADA Voom Art Show on Lobero’s Back Wall Quite a Project(ion)
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 11, 2021

Most of what the students in the Visual Arts & Design Academy (VADA) at Santa Barbara High create is seen on the school’s near-downtown campus. But the program has made a lot of efforts to exhibit the students’ artwork in public places, including showcases as part of the monthly First Thursday gallery walk. But with […]

In Business in the Upper Village: CODA Studio
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 4, 2021

A new design studio and custom furniture showroom is open daily in the Upper Village, located next to Tecolote Book Shop, in the space once occupied by Oliver and Espig. CODA Studio offers an elevated style of distinct furnishings, artwork, home décor, and lounge wear.  The studio, which is a subsidiary of their manufacturing business, […]

Imagining the Downtown of Tomorrow
By Zach Rosen   |   January 7, 2021

An earthquake a century ago shook Santa Barbara but united the city. Can today’s housing and economic crises coalesce to effect similar change? The retail closures of State Street and local housing crisis are familiar topics in the area and have been discussed for years. In 2017 the Santa Barbara chapter of the American Institute […]

TED Goes Uncharted
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 13, 2020

TED began as a conference converging “ideas worth spreading” in the fields of technology, entertainment, and design. So after 35 years, there was no way it would let a little thing like a global pandemic prevent its big annual gathering from taking place, even if all of the talk and energy exchanges had to happen […]

Raoul Textiles
By Megan Waldrep   |   June 25, 2020

Though Raoul Textiles can be found across the nation and across the pond, this company is as Santa Barbaran as you can get. “Our family is from here, we all live and work here, and the store is our most personal reflection of our aesthetic and how we live in Santa Barbara,” designer and founder […]

The Power Of Ted
By Mitchell Kriegman   |   June 4, 2020

This is a story about moving from Chaos to Order. We need that right? It’s also about the Adventures of Mark and TED. Who is TED? The question is rather what? TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design and at this point it’s an American media institution, a publicly sourced think tank, that holds conferences all […]

Silverhorn Plans New Designs for Post-Coronavirus Era
By Nick Schou   |   April 9, 2020

Although it had to close its design studio on Coast Village Road and boutique shop inside the Four Seasons Hotel a week ago, Montecito’s Silverhorn Jewelers isn’t letting the coronavirus epidemic stall its preparations for the future. “All our employees are working from home since we are listed as an unnecessary business,” says Anne Luther, […]