Hotel Santa Barbara is pleased to announce our Makers Workshop Series. First up is a driftwood wall hanging/wreath workshop led by Wild Buffalo Workshops’ artist Alana Clumeck

Standing Above the Clouds is a story of inter-generational women activists, who call themselves Aloha ʻĀina, or warriors of the land. The mothers and daughters find themselves standing with many others at the forefront of the Indigenous movement to safeguard their sacred mountain, Mauna a Wakea, after a construction permit was granted for an eighteen story, Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to be built directly below the summit on pristine, untouched land. The film brings into focus how this movement has brought a new found expression of solidarity and a spirit of hope to people across lands and oceans who work to form alliances that will safeguard their environment, lifeways, and future. Post film discussion panel to follow.

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Audubon Society, and UCSB Arts & Lectures Thematic Learning Initiative have partnered to bring Dr. Kenneth Rosenberg, lead author of a landmark study on bird populations in North America, to the Museum’s Fleischmann Auditorium on Wednesday, January 29 from 7:30–9:30 PM for a free public presentation.

Laguna Blanca School is hosting its third TEDx event titled "RE.IMAGINE" on January 29th.

Laguna Blanca School is hosting its third TEDx event titled "RE.IMAGINE" on January 29th.

As part of the World Music Series, Ngoki will perform an extended drum solo on the djembe on Wednesday, January 29th at 12 pm in the Music Bowl. Santa Barbara-based Ngoki has developed his own style and vocabulary of drumming that he calls Primal Funk or Roots Funk, with influences from hip hop, rhythm and blues, soul, and beyond.

Join us for a dialogue between Roberto Strongman (Black Studies) and Jennifer Tyburczy (Feminist Studies) about Strongman’s new book, Queering Black Atlantic Religions: Transcorporeality in Candomblé, Santería, and Vodou. Refreshments will be served.

Jahman Ariel Hill is a poet, playwright, and college professor based in Birmingham, AL. He is currently ranked 3rd in the world in slam poetry and is touring his award-winning one man show, Black Enough, which previewed Off Broadway at Theatre Row. As an academic, he has earned a BA in International Studies with a focus in Middle East Relations, an MA in Communication Studies, and is working towards an MA in Women's Studies. His academic and activist work helped earn him the Marsha Houston Award for Outstanding Student Work in Social Justice and Diversity.

The Thalea String Quartet brings together artists of Nigerian, Venezuelan, Japanese, and Canadian heritage. With repertoire as diverse as its members, and every bit as exuberant, Thalea connects with audiences on a musical, emotional, and personal level, from first-time listeners to string quartet aficionados. Top prizewinners at both the 2018 Fischoff and Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competitions, Thalea was founded in 2014 and made its U.S. début at the Kennedy Center in 2016. They have performed across North America and in Italy, France, and Belgium. “Thalea never failed to deliver a stirring performance.” - Calgary Herald

They will perform Aaron Copland’s "Movement for String Quartet," a new work being written for the Thalea Quartet, Beethoven’s "Op. 59 No. 2," and "Three Folksongs in Counterpoint" by African-American composer Florence Price.

The Thalea String Quartet brings together artists of Nigerian, Venezuelan, Japanese, and Canadian heritage. With repertoire as diverse as its members, and every bit as exuberant, Thalea connects with audiences on a musical, emotional, and personal level, from first-time listeners to string quartet aficionados. Top prizewinners at both the 2018 Fischoff and Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competitions, Thalea was founded in 2014 and made its U.S. début at the Kennedy Center in 2016. They have performed across North America and in Italy, France, and Belgium. “Thalea never failed to deliver a stirring performance.” - Calgary Herald

They will perform Aaron Copland’s "Movement for String Quartet," a new work being written for the Thalea Quartet, Beethoven’s "Op. 59 No. 2," and "Three Folksongs in Counterpoint" by African-American composer Florence Price.

America Then and Now:
What History Tells Us About the Future

“He has seen how American politics works close up... yet he has remained uncynical. He is an adroit and appealing storyteller.” The New York Times

Celebrating 30 years as a band, Toad the Wet Sprocket is still making music and touring with the same spirit of unwavering independence that started it all over three decades ago.

The band is thankful for the continued help and enthusiastic support of their fans, which helped spur the release of All You Want and also serves as inspiration for the band to tour and play live. They also continue to support their most recent releases, New Constellation (2013) and The Architect of Ruin EP (2015). Toad the Wet Sprocket share in the kind of musical chemistry that can only come from meeting in high school and writing, recording and touring on albums over the course time. After Bread & Circus, they followed with Pale in 1990, fear in ’91, Dulcinea in 1994, and Coil in 1997, as well as some compilations along the way. While most will still feel the comforting familiarity of the Billboard-charting hits, “Walk on the Ocean”, “All I Want”, “Something’s Always Wrong”, and “Fall Down”, fans will also be well familiar with tracks with lyrics that resonate for so many life milestones like “The Moment”, “I Will Not Take These Things for Granted” and so many more.