Oct 25 Saturday
Based in Venice Beach, CA, an epicenter of nonconformist energy in the 1970s, Environmental Communications (EC) was a collective of architects, artists, and sociologists who championed an expanded understanding of architecture—one that encompassed not just individual buildings but the entire urban environment. To that end, the group documented defining traits of the then-booming consumerist society and the vibrant counterculture pushing back against it, primarily through photographic slides.
Challenging the architectural pedagogy of the time, which viewed architectural history as the evolution of styles through isolated buildings, EC distributed their slide sets to architecture schools and libraries across the country, offering a real-time and sweeping lens through which to teach the discipline.
Los Angeles—a crucible of market-driven ambition and anti-establishment spirit—became a central focus of EC’s visual inquiries. From smog-choked skies and sprawling suburbs to garish street art and Pop architecture, their slide sets captured the era’s cultural contradictions, evoking a sense of systemic unraveling while L.A. emerged as a beacon of radical freedom and creativity.
Including hundreds of slides, along with dozens of booklets and videos, the collective’s legacy stands as one of the most comprehensive and electrifying visual records of 1970s L.A. The presentation of EC’s materials from the Architecture and Design Collection here, following this year’s devastating fires in the Palisades and Altadena, serves not only as a poignant reminder of the city’s environmental fragility but also as a tribute to the extraordinary urban creativity that has fueled its resilience over the past five decades.
Big Bang Beat L.A. is organized by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara and is coordinated by Silvia Perea, curator of the Architecture and Design Collection. The exhibition is made possible thanks to the support of the AD&A Museum Council. Exhibition furniture has generously been provided by Fatboy.
Join us at the Gatehouse at Bien Nacido in Santa Maria for a pawsitively inspiring gathering! Enjoy wonderful wine, light hors d’oeuvres and live music by Jon Millsap while discovering the latest news about C.A.R.E.4Paws’ work to improve pet family welfare on the Central Coast—from the expansion of our mobile veterinary clinics to the launch of the region’s first confidential Pet Refuge for dogs and cats whose families are navigating life crises. Our friendraiser is free to attend, and well-behaved dogs on leash are welcome to join the fun!
Plus, Bien Nacido donates 10% of all weekend sales to C.A.R.E.4Paws! It’s the purrfect time to connect and be part of meaningful change for pets and their people.
Peek behind-the-scenes of our chocolate factory to get a high-level overview of the chocolate-making process, from bean to bar! This event is great for families, corporate groups, bachelorette weekends, and anyone new to chocolate or curious about where their food comes from. You’ll get to taste warm, flowing dark chocolate from our tempering machine, and you’ll get to sample our single origin 75% dark chocolate bars.
Join guest artist Karen Schroeder in the EE Makerspace to explore the magical, dimensional world of tunnel books. Also called “telescopic books.” a tunnel book creates a three dimensional depth illusion when viewed from a single point, like looking through a peephole. When the book is pulled open, a miniature scene or landscape is revealed.
For ages 13+. All materials and tools are included.
Pricing:General: $40Student/Educator: $35
Spots are limited. Reserve your seat today!
New Beginnings of Santa Barbara County presents two benefit performances of: Every Brilliant Thing
Every Brilliant Thing returns to Santa Barbara for the second time with the show’s original co-creator and star, Jonny Donahoe.
This unique and critically acclaimed play has become a global stage phenomenon, playing more than six hundred times over four continents, including five months off-Broadway and currently being performed in London’s West End.
Donahoe, a Drama Desk Award-nominated writer and performer will bring back his wildly popular and magnificent one-man show, previously showcased by New Beginnings in 2022.
Every Brilliant Thing follows a child who, to lift his mother’s spirits, begins a heartfelt list of life’s small joys—a list that grows over the years and comes to shape their own journey.
Both poignant and funny, the play explores the extraordinary ways we care for the people we love.
Donahoe will reprise his role in a performance that will be featured on Friday, October 24th, and a matinee show on Sunday, October 26th.
The show was filmed by World of Wonder and screened as a special on HBO.
The Santa Barbara Chamber Players will be performing on Saturday, October 25th at 7:30pm at First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu. It will feature the Beethoven Coriolan Overture, Kodály Summer Evening, and Prokofiev Classical Symphony. They will be joined by the Westmont College Choir for Mendelssohn Verleih uns Frieden and Haydn’s Te Deum. Tickets are $20 and are available at https://sbchamberplayers.org/. Don’t miss it!
You can’t stop the beat! 🎶
The smash-hit musical Hairspray is coming to Thousand Oaks this fall — packed with show-stopping numbers, laugh-out-loud moments, and a heart as big as its hair!
Join us October 10–26 at the Scherr Forum Theatre, Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Thousand Oaks.
🎟 Reserve your seats today at 5StarTheatricals.com
In a decaying Victorian hat shop, a reclusive milliner begins to unravel into madness after a series of strange visits—driven by grief, obsession, and the poisoned whispers of his father’s legacy.
The Last Hat is a one-act ensemble horror play written by Chris Levine, who is also featured as The Mad Hatter. Set in a once-thriving Victorian hat shop, the story follows a quiet and eccentric hatter whose life begins to spiral following visits from a grieving old client, a mischievous boy, and a curious young woman named Eliza.
What begins as a strange but tender connection with her quickly fractures as hallucinations, mercury-induced madness, and the weight of his father’s gruesome legacy consume him. With haunting imagery, dark humor, and stylized horror, the play weaves obsession, craftsmanship, and unrequited love into a final act of beauty and brutality that no one will forget.
The Last Hat is directed by Megan Ripchik, produced by Erica Tenaglia. Proceeds support the Santa Monica Playhouse Save the Main Stage Benefit Campaign. Rated 18+
The beautiful Main Stage was destroyed in a water damage disaster in July 2024. Wonderful support is helping us make major inroads towards the rebuild - but we need your help! Please join Chris Levine, Megan Ripchik, Erica Tenaglia and their wonderful company of artists in bringing this iconic theatre back to life. Add a donation to your admission ticket or donate online at SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com.
Santa Monica Playhouse programs are supported in part by generous contributions 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, and Playhouse PALS.
Saturday, October 25 at 8pmSunday, October 26 at 4pm
Oct 26 Sunday
October 1- 31 - Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Santa Barbara!
For the second year in a row, businesses across the region will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.
How It Works:
1- Visit participating restaurants across Santa Barbara.2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.3- Share your experience—rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @veganchefchallengeWest.
This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our region's chefs.
Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC
Join us in making Santa Barbara an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community.
For details on participating businesses, menus, sponsorship opportunities, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/SantaBarbara.
"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.
