Community Calendar

Join us for a hands-on creative workshop led by Guest Artist Sondra Weiss where kindness comes to life through art and words! Children and families will design handmade cards and appreciation notes for the people who make our community special, from teachers and mentors to local helpers, favorite restaurants, and nonprofits. Using colorful collage materials and thoughtful writing prompts, we’ll craft messages that spread gratitude and joy throughout our town. Together, we’ll celebrate caring connections and help our community shine a little brighter, one card at a time. All tools and materials are provided.

Join us for another Film in the Gallery! This month, we will be screening Victor Sjöström’s The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen). A sometimes-overlooked standout from the silent era, The Phantom Carriage was voted by FLM—Sweden’s leading film magazine—as the greatest Swedish film of all time, earning the honor above the major of films of Ingmar Bergman and other outstanding Swedish directors. This horror-adjacent film follows David Holm, as he is taken by the ghostly driver of the eponymous carriage and forced to contend with the ways he has selfishly lived his life.

We are beyond excited to present this Swedish masterpiece with the live piano accompaniment of Michael D. Mortilla!

VIP tickets include priority seating and a free drink and snack from our bar.

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Michael D. Mortilla has worked as a full-time, freelance journeyman composer for over half a century. His many commissions include feature films by Frank Capra for Sony/Columbia Pictures, countless scores for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as well as original scores for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Library of Congress, Olympic Games, Martha Graham Dance Company, and many others. Michael scored the World’s First Internet broadcast of a film in association with the American Film Institute and was resident composer on the faculty at UC Santa Barbara for 14 years. He has lectured at CALARTS and has a teaching license for the City of New York Public Schools. Michael is also the entertainment curator for the Catalina Island Museum for Art & History. He is largely self-taught.

Attendees will enjoy a welcome drink while we give a brief introduction to our bean-to-bar, dark chocolate making process. Ingredients for decorating will abound and inspire, and you'll learn a few tidbits about how we invent flavor combinations for new delicious, sweet products at our chocolate factory. We will fill chocolate bar molds with luscious 75% dark chocolate, and you will get to decorate chocolate bars with local ingredients, like flowers, salt and fruit. While bars are setting up, we will lead a 20-30 minute chocolate tasting experience while you sip on perfectly paired wines to enhance the flavors. We are happy to provide a non-alcoholic tasting experience for anyone in the group who might require that. Your custom chocolate bars will go home with you in beautiful, resealable Twenty-Four Blackbirds pouches. Don't miss out on this delicious experience!

In 2022, Gary Mullen & The Works celebrated the 20th Anniversary of their world-renowned One Night Of Queen live concert performance.

Gary Mullen & The Works (featuring Gary Mullen on vocals, David Brockett on guitar, Billy Moffat on bass, Malcolm Gentles on keyboards and Jon Halliwell on drums) will have you dancing in the aisles during their 2-hour show, while the band pays tribute to the stage theatrics, showmanship, and music of Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees: Queen.

In 2000, Gary Mullen won the Granada TV programme “Stars in Their Eyes” with his performance as Queen’s lead singer: Freddie Mercury. Mullen’s embodiment of Freddie Mercury resulted in him gaining 864,838 votes in the show’s Live Grand Final. The number of fans who voted for Mullen was more than double that of the runner-up, thus setting an all-time record for votes in the history of the programme.

For over two decades, Gary Mullen & The Works have performed to sold-out audiences around the world, playing more than 2,500 live shows to audiences in over 20 countries around the globe.

Gary Mullen & The Works’ One Night Of Queen show has played at London’s Hyde Park (twice) as a featured attraction during the prestigious BBC Proms concert series in front of enthusiastic crowds of over 40,000 people! Additionally, Gary Mullen & The Works have performed at many of the same venues that Queen has performed at around the world.

So, if you're ready to rock ‘n’ roll, don't miss your chance to celebrate One Night Of Queen with Gary Mullen & The Works!

The show DOES go on and this show WILL rock you!

The Ojai Film Society’s beloved outdoor film series is back at Libbey Bowl, running on select Fridays from July 25–October 3. This year’s theme, Imagine A World, invites audiences to gather under the stars for films that spark creativity, connection, and conversation.

All screenings are free and begin at 7:30 PM.
Walk-ups welcome; RSVPs encouraged.

Here's the line-up:

July 25: Sally

August 8: The NeverEnding Story

August 22: The Greatest Night in Pop (with director Bao Nguyen in attendance)

September 5: 9 to 5

September 18: Speak. (with director Jennifer Tiexiera in attendance)

October 3: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

👉 Learn more & RSVP: ojaifilmsociety.org

Join us for the 10th Annual Santa Monica Playhouse BFF Binge Fringe Festival of FREE Theatre, Oct 14 – Nov 16, the only FREE Fringe Festival in the nation, offering over 36 plays, workshops and family-oriented events. What’s happening on BFF FRIDAYS?

Oct 17: PUBLIC WORKSHOP – Secrets & Safety: A Creative Sharing Guide for Writer-Performers. Do you carry a secret? A secret you might want to share in a solo show, a book, or a play? A secret that, if shared, could harm someone or violate their privacy? I’m a professional secret keeper. My day job ( shall remain anonymous). We will explore SAFE, LOVING ways to share secrets on stage and beyond. Rated 21+ Presented by Pina, Writer/Performer of Mafia Anonymous: The Women Speak (this Saturday at 4pm).

Oct 24: A BFF MUSICAL SELECTION - Lindsay Lucas-Bartlett’s Trust Me, I’m From Essex. “Lindsay is superb” Theatre and Arts Review. You can take the girl out of Essex – but can you take Essex out of the girl? A new, hard-hitting yet hopeful solo musical about following your dreams – no matter how unlikely they may seem. Directed by Lindsay Perry; Music by Aaron Wilson. 14+

Nov 14: Black Don’t Crack – a hilarious comic coalition. These uniquely talented comedians bring this witty, funny, charismatic and thoughtfully entertaining comedic innovation to life. A hilarious night of Clever Comedy! Host Miles Otway; Featuring Alia Atkins & Darrell Goss; Headliner Jeff Keller; Producer/Performer Mz. REKA. Co-Producer/Performer Zuleika Moreno. Special Pop-In Guest Andrew Searles. Rated 15+ Includes post show refreshments reception with the cast.

Binge on Theatre this Fall – give your couch a rest!

Santa Monica Playhouse programs are supported in part by generous grants from the We Are Santa Monica Fund, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, the Ahmanson Foundation and Playhouse PALS.

UCSB Library presents an art installation by artist Elena Yu, exploring histories of the Ethnic and Gender Studies Collection (EGSC) and space in celebration of its 30th anniversary.

In Fall 2023, Yu was invited to create artworks in response to the history of the EGSC. The artist was drawn to two untouched back rooms - former staff offices left exactly as they were when vacated in 2022. Inside, decades of belongings sat frozen in time. In February 2024, the Library was preparing to renovate the rooms. Librarians had sorted and removed items to be sent to the University Archives and gave Yu access to use the remaining materials in her artworks. She was inspired by encountering ephemera related to the history of Ethnic Studies at UCSB and the day-to-day occupations of the library staff, including file cabinets full of book dust jackets and printed correspondences, and bulletin boards whose contents speak to the specific interests of former staff, who were charged with the upkeep of the collections and space.

This exhibition is part of a campus-wide arts partnership with the UCSB Arts Equity Commons (AEC) to support opportunities for engagement of faculty, students, and staff through the presence and practices of contemporary artists. AEC was established in 2022 as a consortium of the Department of Art, Department of History of Art and Architecture, and the Art Design & Architecture Museum through a systemwide grant from the UC Office of the President. The artist would like to thank Gary Colmenar, Angel Diaz, Alyce Harris, Sara Kelly, Marisol Ramos, Jonathan Rissmeyer, and Kim Yasuda for their support of this project.

This exhibition showcases historic Broadway posters from collector Richard C. Norton, a comprehensive selection of musical theater posters 1972 to the present ranging from the famous to the obscure, from the celebrated to the damned. These posters offer insight into the evolution of American musical theater, graphic design, marketing, image branding and audience engagement. Far more than advertisements, they reflect the artistic, social and commercial contexts of their time—revealing how productions were first introduced, how stars were celebrated, and how visual trends paralleled theatrical innovation. As ephemeral objects, their preservation provides rare evidence of the material culture surrounding performance. By examining these posters through an academic lens, we can better understand Broadway’s influence on American theater, music and popular culture. The exhibition invites viewers to explore how theater has been represented and remembered, and how visual media contributes to the construction of cultural memory.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a lecture featuring Nicholas van Hoogstraten, author of Broadway Poster Art: 1945–1969 (Schiffer Publishing, 2024).

About the Richard C. Norton Musical Theater History Collection:
The Richard C. Norton Musical Theater History Collection consists of materials documenting musical theater including 25,000 playbills, 800 typescripts, and 1,500 published libretti, as well as sheet music and 78rpm records. Norton is the author of A Chronology of American Musical Theater (Oxford UP, 2002) a landmark work with details on thousands of Broadway productions. The collection was assembled to support the research for his book.

"Through most of our lives and work, Cedric and I have had deep commitments to collaboration, internationalism, and solidarity movements."
–Elizabeth Robinson, 2024

This exhibition documents the life’s work of Cedric J. Robinson and Elizabeth Peters Robinson, placing it in the global context of the Black radical tradition. The Robinsons were renowned for their seminal scholarship and activism that had wide-ranging influence at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), in academia, and across many public arenas. The exhibition is drawn from the Cedric J. and Elizabeth P. Robinson Archive (“Robinson Archive”) and supplemented by a variety of materials from other collections in UCSB Library’s Special Research Collections, as well as personal contributions from Elizabeth Robinson.

A deeply influential educator, Cedric Robinson (1940-2016) was a well-known scholar of racial capitalism and the Black radical tradition, and an active participant in political movements, both at home and internationally. For more than 30 years, Elizabeth Robinson has been an educator, social worker, former associate director for media at KCSB-FM radio, activist, and community media producer.

This exhibition was curated by Yolanda Blue, the Library’s Curator of American and International History, Politics, and Cultures Collections, in collaboration with New York University and UCSB Library staff.

Join us for Saturday morning art adventures in the EE Makerspace above Art from Scrap.

All materials provided - just bring your imagination!

Kids 5+ (adults must stay in the Makerspace with their child).

Projects may use hot glue guns - safety first!