Channing Peake at Casa del Herrero and Highlights from the Santa Barbara County Collection

Channing Peake Gallery Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Exhibition Highlighting Paintings at Casa del Herrero and Works from the Santa Barbara County Collection

Casa del Herrero and the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission are pleased to announce a new exhibition, Channing Peake at Casa del Herrero and Highlights from the Santa Barbara County Collection. The show will be on view at the Channing Peake Gallery located at 105 E. Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara from March 4 to September 2019. All are welcome to join the free opening reception taking place at the gallery on Thursday, March 7, 2019 from 5-7 p.m.

Channing Peake was a renowned California artist whose career was celebrated internationally. What few realize, however, is that Peake worked as an apprentice at Casa del Herrero, an 11-acre estate in Montecito, from 1933-34. While only at the estate for a year, he left an indelible mark on the aesthetic. Peake’s important artistic contribution will be celebrated in the upcoming exhibition Channing Peake at Casa del Herrero and Highlights from the Santa Barbara County Collection on view at the Channing Peake Gallery in Santa Barbara. Coinciding with the gallery’s 30 th anniversary, the exhibition will provide insight into the special nature of the apprenticeship and its influence on Peake throughout his artistic career.

“We are thrilled to collaborate on this exhibition and showcase Channing Peake’s work – it will be particularly meaningful as we commemorate the 30 th anniversary of the dedication of the gallery,” said Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture Curator and exhibition Co-Curator Julia Rutherford Daly.

Channing Peake is credited with painting many images on the interior of the Casa’s historic George Washington Smith house, and the exhibition will include photographs of the architectural paintings in addition to original drawings never before available for public viewing. Peake’s work from the Santa Barbara County’s permanent collection will also be displayed as an important component of the exhibition. Representing a span of 40 years, this oeuvre offers incredible insight into the range of materials the artist employed from the 1940s to the 1980s.

“As the viewer will see, the Casa images are whimsical – painted to reflect the artistic temperament of the original owner George Fox Steedman,” said Casa Executive Director and exhibition Co-Curator Jessica Tade. “This exhibition highlights the uniqueness of the Casa apprenticeship while showing its role on Channing Peake’s artistic aesthetic later in life.”