In the summer of 1966, the May Company’s store on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax held a sale of approximately 4,000 items of pre-Columbian art. The sale, sponsored by Morton D. May, president of the company and a well-known art collector himself, was part of a larger trend when pre-Columbian art experienced a moment in the collecting spotlight across the country, particularly in urban centers like Los Angeles. Dealers like Earl Stendahl had established the viability of collecting such objects as art in the 1930s. They had also developed a roster of clients that included Hollywood luminaries like Vincent Price, whose cultural cachet extended to the objects they owned, promoted, and sold. Price – like May, a native of Saint Louis – shared May’s conviction that art of all kinds should be accessible to and even buyable by a broad swath of the public. These personalities moved along a spectrum of mass media that included print advertisements, television appearances, and movies where pre-Columbian art objects featured as primitivist MacGuffins that completed the backdrops of modernist homes.

Image: Still from "North by Northwest" (dir. Alfred Hitchcock), 136 min., 1959

Opera Santa Barbara returns to present crowd-pleasing pop-up performances in the Museum galleries.

When D. B. Norton (Edward Arnold), an oil magnate with political ambitions, takes over a city newspaper and begins firing employees by the dozen, columnist Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) fights back, penning a fake letter from a jobless “John Doe,” who in protest against the state of the world threatens to commit suicide by jumping

Community makes the difference

A history of oil spills, fires and other challenges keeps bringing people together in Santa Barbara over half a century to protect their environment and community. The 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill sent shock waves around the world, inspiring Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency, National Environmental Policy Act and a host of nonprofits that provide strength and resilience to Santa Barbara and beyond through recent disasters. Leaders and citizens keep generating community solutions. Love for a place connects, strengthens and unites people into a powerful, resilient force for the common good.

A film by Isaac Hernandez. Narrated by Christopher Lloyd.

45 minute film
Free entry.

Our local private schools are coming together for a casual informational fair for families who are curious about these schools’ academic & financial aid programs. Come meet the schools, ask questions, and pick up brochures. This event is free and family-friendly.

After years in clubs and being incarcerated, Latrice Royale was literally forced to remold herself into a stronger, more dedicated individual. Now, a decade after her release, she is stronger than ever and more determined to show the world who she is. Not only did she appear on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 4, where she won Miss Congeniality, but she has also hosted the documentary, “Gays in Prison,” which reveals her own experiences in jail and explores the stories of gay men and transgendered individuals in and out of the prison system. Latrice will perform two numbers, followed by a moderated discussion to share how drag is used as a platform to unapologetically express one’s identity and work through the oppression faced by queer people of color.

With unprecedented access to this intensely-private mother of 11, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to social change.

This week’s “Solutions News” live radio broadcast will feature Andrew MacCalla, vice president of emergency response for the nonprofit Direct Relief.

Join Garden staff for a moonlight exploration of the Garden including night hikes, storytelling, wildlife observation, and stargazing.

Join us this Friday at Carr Winery for live music with Dan & the ZimmerMen!

Santa Barbara High School continues their string of contemporary Broadway musicals with Head Over Heels – A New Musical.

November 8-17

Head Over Heels is the bold new musical comedy from the visionaries that rocked Broadway with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Avenue Q and Spring Awakening. It played its final Broadway performance on January 6, 2019.

This laugh-out-loud love story features the music of the iconic 1980’s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs, “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.” This modern musical fairy tale where once-upon-a-time is right now, follows the escapades of a royal family who set out on a journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction. Through a plot containing usurped kingship, unlikely lovers, and gender-fluid disguises.

Head Over Heels preaches unconditional love and acceptance of yourself and everyone you know, no matter their gender or sexual identity.

New York Magazine calls the musical “a clever, delightful, bubbly, exuberant party!”

Showtimes:

Friday, November 8th @ 7pm
Saturday, November 9th @ 7pm
Friday, November 15th @ 7pm
Saturday, November 16th @ 2pm & 7pm
Sunday, November 17th @7pm

GA: Under 12 $5, GA: Students/Seniors $10, GA: Adult $15, Reserved Seating: $25

Tickets available at the door and, in advance, at purplepass.com/sbhstheatre.

Unity of Santa Barbara will host the Santa Barbara premiere of "Twisp: The Power of Community" (www.twispmovie.com), a 40-minute documentary that asks, “In a society that seems increasingly polarized and confrontational, how do some communities manage to get along?” The film, which has won awards from half-a-dozen national and international festivals, is by long-time Santa Barbara resident (SBHS ’71) Leslee Goodman. It will be shown at Unity of Santa Barbara (227 E. Arrellaga St.), on Friday, Nov. 8, at 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30, admission is by donation, and a Q&A with the director will follow the film.