sbrobert
Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the Summer Solstice Parade. The theme will be “Flights of Fancy”. A party was held November 18 at Legacy Arts to kick off the year of festivities. Here are my photos.
We were greeted upon arrival by these friendly women:
There was plenty of food, of course.
Solstice Executive Director Penny Little posed with Santa Barbara City Council members Mike Jordan and Oscar Gutierrez. I love the iguana painting behind them!
Jim Sun Bear is one of the powerhouse people behind the scenes at Solstice who helps run the Workshop and helps construct the big infrastructure for the floats.
Of course people gathered to listen to music. Here Laela Duncan sang and Crispin Barrymore was on keyboard as the crowd listened.
The woman in the black outfit at right in the above photo is Dacia Harwood, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. She is asking the community to send her photos and videos of past Solstices for an exhibit they are planning.
Below, Penny Little posed with a saxophone player from the Santa Barbara Symphony. He was going to run next door to play in the Symphony and return to the event! Please notice the pink illuminated heart to the right. That was created by Kimi Vandyk for her Pink Party ensemble.
There was a recent article in the Independent that represented her as having done something illegal and that she was doing crazy things to avoid prosecution. I have known Kimi for years and I know that the story they told is not accurate.
Justin Gunn is famed for his illuminated mini art cars and he is the new President of the Solstice Board.
Of course I had to pose with my friend Pali, along with Oscar Gutierrez.
Pali also posed with former Executive Director Claudia Bratton (in black), Elvi Morris and mask maker Hathor Hammett (right).
Diane Arnold (left) has been an Artist in Residence many times and Christine (right) has created art and costumes for years, as well as serving as technical director.
Here are a few more group shots.
Solstice performer Bryan Snyder played tin whistle.
And Laela Duncan returned to perform a belly dance for the crowd.
Many of us rushed from this event over to the Community Arts Workshop (the Solstice Workshop) for the Ready to Hang Art Show. Hundreds of affordable works of art and a huge crowd of admirers and buyers. Here are a few photos I took there of just a small fraction of what was on display.
https://swt.org/events/readytohang2023/
A big hit was this timely piece on Peace Within Reach by Simon Kiefer. He sold it for an absurdly low price. I hope it has a good home!
One thing everyone loves about Santa Barbara: Everyone has a day job as well as a creative life and these events are a chance to see the other side. I knew Jacqueline Counter for years as a sales rep for Arrow Electronics. She helped me get the parts I needed to build atomic force microscopes and other cool instruments. Here she posed with one of her art works.
Nise Baker is another Solstice artist and performer and she posed with one of her art works.
Speaking of creative work vs day job, here is our former Mayor Helene Schneider with a most interesting photo she took recently in a women’s room in Boston. The mirrors created a magical effect.
– Robert Bernstein
