CJM::LA

DROUGHT RESISTANT: SUMMER ART SERIES FEATURING CATHY ELLIS

Shots From the Sky by Cathy Ellis, 2014

CJM::LA presents the first show in our series DROUGHT RESISTANT, featuring the works of Cathy Ellis.
Curated by Patrick Melroy, the show runs June 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015.

Cathy Ellis is known for her exceptionally competent compositions and dramatic color combinations. Her development of subject matter reveals a thoughtful mind at work in the sloppy sticky edges of memory and mistake. The work lures viewers into it, leaving room for them to fill in the back-story and to build the associations of meaning around the elegant and yet clumpy figures and landscapes. Her work makes big noises about quiet subtle reflections.

Cathy Ellis received her BFA from Sonoma State University and her MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014. She has exhibited nationally, including exhibitions at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Santa Barbara, the Minan Gallery in Los Angeles, Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo, 186 Carpenter in Providence, RI, the Sonoma Valley Museum in Sonoma, SFMOMA Artist’s Gallery, Trillium Press and Southern Exposure in San Francisco. She is currently a Teaching Fellow at the College of Creative Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara, and the 2014 winner of the Howard Fenton Award for Painting.

The three artists in Drought Resistant, Cathy Ellis, Megan Mueller, and Jenalee Harmon, are contemporary experts within their individual disciplines and regularly show their work nationally. The series is curated by Patrick Melroy. The idea for DROUGHT RESISTANT came from a creative conversation between CJM::LA principal Courtney Miller and several artists within the community. The substance of the discussion surrounded the desperate need for more quality venues for contemporary art within the very rich cultural center of Santa Barbara. Miller engaged curator Patrick Melroy who in turn invited three artists who have persevered through the shortage of show space and continued to advance their artistic practice despite not having a lot of room to spread out. The title of the series was entirely the idea of artist Megan Mueller.

The opening will be on Thursday, June 4 at 5 pm in collaboration with the Downtown Organization’s 1st Thursday event.

CJM::LA is located in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, visit our Contacts page for more info.

DROUGHT RESISTANT: Summer Art Series

Courtney Jane Miller Landscape Architecture is sponsoring a summer art series at their Canon Perdido design studio. DROUGHT RESISTANT will feature the works of three women artists who maintain studio practices in Santa Barbara. Each artist will present their work via a solo show for one month during the summer from June to August. All three are contemporary experts within their individual disciplines and regularly show their work nationally. The series is curated by Patrick Melroy. The idea for DROUGHT RESISTANT came from a creative conversation between CJM::LA principal Courtney Miller and several artists within the community. The substance of the discussion surrounded the desperate need for more quality venues for contemporary art within the very rich cultural center of Santa Barbara. Miller engaged curator Patrick Melroy who in turn invited three artists who have persevered through the shortage of show space and continued to advance their artistic practice despite not having a lot of room to spread out. The title of the series was entirely the idea of artist Megan Mueller.

CATHY ELLIS, MEGAN MUELLER, and JENALEE HARMON will each present a solo show at CJM::LA this summer. Each show will open with a celebration in partnership with the downtown association’s 1^st Thursday Art Walk. CJM::LA will have food and drink on hand at each reception and the artists and curator will be in attendance to discuss the work and the current state of the art scene in Santa Barbara. All art will be for sale.

THURSDAY JUNE 4TH, 5-8PM CATHY ELLIS

THURSDAY JULY 2ND, 5-8PM MEGAN MUELLER

THURSDAY AUGUST 6TH, 5-8PM JENALEE HARMON

CJM::LA is located in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, visit our Contacts page for more info.

Native Gardens Tour | SB Botanic Garden

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden will be hosting a tour of local gardens and communities that exemplify sustainable landscape practices. The bus tour takes place on Sunday, April 9 and will explore the Santa Ynez valley and it’s environs. For more info or to register, click here.

Kids Draw | Architectural Foundation

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is hosting it’s annual Kids Draw event over the next few weeks in April. This fantastic event provides children with the opportunity to sketch buildings in our community, aided by local artists and architects. Each year a calendar is produced with their drawings which provide a refreshing perspective on the built environment in Santa Barbara. For more info, click here.

Ice in Paradise | Under Construction

: Lara Cooper / Noozhawk photo

Construction has recently begun at our Ice in Paradise project in Goleta, CA. This ice rink project has been in the works since 1997, and will provide a beneficial amenity to the Goleta community as well as the Central Coast region. We worked closely with HTG Architects, who specialize in ice rink design, in order to provide outdoor plaza space with opportunities for naming rights as well as a small garden area. Our local news publication Noozhawk recently published an article with updates on the construction. To read more, click here.

SANTA BARBARA | STATE OF THE CITY

The Chamber of the Santa Barbara Region will be hosting the annual State of the City Presentation this Friday, March 20, 2015. Join us in reviewing last year’s milestones as well as plans for 2015. The Mayor’s presentation is free and open to the public. For more info, click here.

CLIMBING IN PLAYGROUNDS

Andris Zobs & Ian Glas

Read full Article:
Climbing in Playgrounds
March 3, 2015
THE FIELD

: image: IDS

Playground designers and manufacturers have recognized that traditional post and deck structures and climbing events don’t fully satisfy the urge to climb that we all feel. In recent years, the industry has stepped forward to meet the challenge with climbing sculptures that have added a new dimension to playground activity, with more realistic surfaces, more challenging athleticism, and creativity in forms. New technology has enabled complete creative freedom; climbers are no longer limited to walls and boulders. Playground designers can now create expressive sculptures that combine the health benefits of climbing while also providing a venue for imaginative play.

Founded in 2005, Integrated Design Solutions (IDS) designs and fabricates custom sculptural landscapes and play features using a specially formulated polymer concrete shell that provides a durable, realistic surface suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Driven to increase the play and climbing value of artificial rock, IDS has pioneered new material and sculptural techniques that bring an unprecedented level of realism to the market.

Coastal Housing Coalition | Annual Conference

The Santa Barbara Coastal Housing Coalition is hosting it’s annual conference at the Carrillo Recreation Center on Friday, March 20, 2015. The theme for this year’s conference is “Housing Needs and Opportunities Revealed.”

The Coastal Housing Coalition is a non-profit dedicated to educating the public about the impacts of the lack of available housing that is within financial reach of our local workforce. To read more about this organization, click here.

MCA Santa Barbara | Magic Mountain Opening

The Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara is hosting an opening reception for a new show entitled Magic Mountain at their satellite space at Hotel Indigo. Magic Mountain is a group show including the works of Zachary Cahill, Alyse Emdur, Chris Johanson, Boris Mikhailov, Yunhee Min, Shana Moulton, John Newling, Johan Rosenmunthe, Truong Cong Tung, and Hannah Vainstein. For more info, click here.

: Hannah Vainstein, Urn, 2013, Watercolor on paper, 20 x 14 ⅛ in., Courtesy the Artist

From the museum’s website:
For centuries, travelers to remote mountain villages, seaside escapes, desert oases, and elsewhere, have sought out nature’s curative properties. Whether it’s to find the elixir of life, or to practice sungazing; to harvest mud for beauty masks or to dig for healing rocks, the searches are motivated by a belief in nature’s bewitching attributes that often transcends scientific explanation. This exhibition investigates the inspiration for some of these quests and obsessions, and the truths, mysteries, antidotes, and rabbit holes that arise along the way. The artists’ works bring to light the mythologies and marketplace of natural cures—spiritual, physical, and psychological—at a time when humankind’s relationship to the environment is rapidly changing.

The opening reception is on Saturday, March 7 at 6 pm.
The show is on view from March 8, 2015 to January 31, 2016.

AIA Santa Barbara | Design Awards 2015

The Santa Barbara chapter of AIA has opened registration for the 2015 Design Awards. Registration is open now through April 3, 2015. Submissions are due by May 8, 2015. Categories include Residential, Non-Residential, Interior Architecture & Design, Small Projects, the Un-built Award and the 2015 Cycling Category – Sustainability Award. Do your part to contribute to the conversation around the built environment in our community, and showcase your firm’s excellent work! For more info, click here.

CITY OF GOLETA | 10 YR. ANNIVERSARY OF SPERLING PRESERVE

The City of Goleta is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the acquisition of the Sperling Preserve on the Ellwood Mesa. The community is invited to join in the celebration on Wednesday March 4, 2015 from 4-5 pm. Enjoy light goodies while the sun sets, and take in the view from this incredible scenic resource. For more info, click here.

If you haven’t visited the Sperling Preserve, this is a great time of year to do it. The preserve is adjacent to the Monarch Butterfly Grove, which is host to thousands of migrating butterflies every year from November through February. For more info, click here.

Triple-Duty Streets: Expanding the Definition of What Our Streets Can Offer

Nora Daley-Peng

Read Full Article:
From Issue 32.3
Tuesday 27th Jan 2015
ARCADE 32.3
Winter 2014

From the issue feature, “Living by Design in the Pacific Northwest.”

It’s no secret. The veil of rainy weather doesn’t hide the fact that the Pacific Northwest is a great place to live. For the same reasons you and I love living here—the temperate climate, easy access to mountains and water, big-city life—people are moving to the Northwest at a rapid pace. As reported by Jon Talton for The Seattle Times, according to a US Metro Economies report created by Global Insight for The United States Conference of Mayors, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area is expected to grow more than 39 percent in the next 30 years. How can we grow and, at the same time, keep our cities not just livable but also lovable?

The answer lies in streets. Typically representing about 30 percent of a city’s open space, streets have huge potential for uses other than just moving traffic: streets should perform the triple duties of multimodal transportation, placemaking and ecological function.

Bit by bit, cities are dismantling an auto-centric landscape in exchange for an enriching network of public spaces. We are learning that transportation and recreation don’t have to take place separately. Fitness becomes a positive side effect of a fun and active commute, and environmental health results from designing with nature. Our cities can grow while increasing our quality of life when we expand our definition of what our streets can offer.

Nora Daley-Peng is a landscape architect who champions a place-based approach to create resilient communities that not only support active lifestyles, lively commerce and healthy ecosystems, but also reveal the rich story of a place. Nora leads Alta Planning + Design’s Complete Streets practice.

She thanks Nate Cormier, principal landscape architect at SvR Design Company—the prime consultant for Bell Street Park—and Debra Guenther, FASLA, principal at Mithun—the prime consultant for 14th Avenue NW Park Boulevard—for sharing information about these maverick projects!

A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, ARCADE’s mission is to reinforce the principle that thoughtful design at every scale of human endeavor improves our quality of life. Support ARCADE today.