OXNARD — In coordination with the Mexican Consulate in Oxnard, the Oxnard Performing Arts Center Corporation (OPAC) is pleased to announce its next visual arts exhibition, Árbol de la Vida, as part of its Gallery Initiative at the Consulate. The…
Over the last 75 years, Artemisia Gentileschi has developed into an icon of female empowerment and the emotive drama of baroque painting. Identified with images of Judith decapitating the general Holofernes, she has come to be understood as a woman who succeeded in a man’s world, overcoming considerable obstacles to do so
SANTA BARBARA – UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Meow Meow on Thursday, March 7 at 8 p.m. at Lobero Theatre. Named one of the Top Performers of the Year by The New Yorker, Meow Meow’s award-winning solo works have been curated by David Bowie, Pina Bausch, Mikhail Baryshnikov and numerous international arts festivals. Her new show is a wildly enjoyable tip-of-the-top-hat to the Weimar Republic’s notable “wild women” – both fictional and real – that channels the era’s urgent blend of art, entertainment and winking social commentary.
SANTA BARBARA — ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! (Viva) is back with another exciting free community event. Enjoy three free exhilarating performances from Afro-Latin music group, Quitapenas.
Founded in 2011 and born under the warm California sun, Quitapenas share a love of dance rhythms from the tropical Afro-Latin diaspora.The group is made up of first generation sons of immigrant parents from Guatemala and Mexico. They borrow aesthetics from the radical 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Their songs are a remix of history, and invite one to engage in the liberating evenings of Angola, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and beyond. The name means “to remove worries.” Everybody has a “pena” and the mission of Quitapenas is simple: to make you dance and leave you without a worry.
VENTURA — Focus on the “Masters Popular Artist Spotlight Interviews Return with A Conversation with Perla Batalla” on Sunday, March 17, 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Namba Performing Art Center – 47 S. Oak St., Ventura.
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Perla Batalla earns critical acclaim for her distinctive voice, emotional honesty, and culture-merging compositions. Perla was born into a family immersed in music.
Join local unions, organizations and leaders to commemorate the 121st anniversary of the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association (JMLA) Strike. It was the first successful multiracial strike in U.S. history.
¡Raíces: First Year and Beyond! is hosting a Rally and Campus Unity March across the SBCC campus bridge to the Winslow Maxwell Overlook. This event will be held on Thursday, March 21, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. starting at the West Campus Center. Everyone is welcome!
This event is part of the ¡Sí Se Puede!: Student Advocacy Series during March 2024 to honor el Movimento and the liberation grassroots activism can manifest.The rally and march will begin with speeches by Mariam Martinez Gama and Fabián Pavón.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — SoCal Museums announces the 19th Annual Museums Free-for-All on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Over 30 museums—presenting art, cultural heritage, natural history, and science—will open their doors and invite visitors to attend free of charge.
Locally, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH), and the Museum of Ventura County, all members of SoCal Museums, will participate in offering free admission. In the case of SBMNH, booking advanced reservations by visiting sbnature.org is encouraged and free admission is for the museum only, not the Sea Center.
Celebrate Nowruz at the Museum of Ventura County! Immerse yourself in the joyous festivities:
Food Delights – Safir Catering offers delectable Persian cuisine for purchase.
Dance Performance – Sahlala Dancers will enchant you from 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm with traditional Persian dance.
Live Music Experience – Illunis will serenade you from 12:45 pm to 1:45 pm with covers of Persian pop music from Ebi and Googoosh.
Farsi Calligraphy – Get your name beautifully written in Farsi.
Cultural Displays – Explore traditional presentations, including the Haft Sin.
Fire Jumping Ritual – Don’t miss the exhilarating spectacle.
CAMARILLO — Moorpark College, Oxnard College, Ventura College and Ventura College East Campus are holding free Cash 4 College workshops to help students apply for funds to help with college costs. Funds can be used for tuition, books, housing, transportation, childcare, computers and more.
In-person workshops are scheduled for February and March. The workshops are free and open to the community; anyone may attend a workshop at any location and can drop in at any time during the events.
Attend and get a HUD Certificate to help you access first-time homebuyer loans and down payment assistance programs
VENTURA COUNTY — in partnership with the City of Ventura and the Ventura Chamber of Commerce, SCORE will launch a series of in-person no cost workshops that will help local entrepreneurs and business owners gain valuable and practical knowledge from subject matter experts on a wide range of business-related topics.
The workshop series will kick off on March 27 with the topic “Four Key Marketing Strategies to Attract More Customers”. The event will be held at the Ventura City Hall Community Meeting Room at 8:30AM. The workshop will be led by Steve James who is a Digital Marketing Consultant with the firm RevLocal. Topics covered will include how to enhance your Google ranking, how to harness the power of reviews and how to master paid advertising.
SANTA BARBARA — For women working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, the world can be a lonely place. Only 30 percent of STEM professionals in this vital, high-paying field are women, and many report facing discrimination, unconscious bias and a general lack of role models and support.
A free, online summit in April organized by Santa Barbara-based leadership coach Mary Jean Vignone, Ph.D., aims to change that. The “Fearless Femme Summit: Propel Your Career in STEM Fields”, to be held from April 1 to 4, is designed to help women in STEM reach new heights in their careers and become authentic leaders.
Join us to celebrate life with Easter and spring season by painting at Paint at Paseo with Ita-Ink, a Santa Maria-based artist who loves to spread art in his community. By inspiring others to express themselves creatively, Ita-Ink will lead you through a 90-minute acrylic painting session designed for all ages and skill levels. All materials, including canvases, paints, aprons and brushes, are provided. Best of all, this monthly event is free!
Over the course of his fifty-year career, Pierre Bonnard painted the spaces of his personal experience again and again. In complex compositions employing luminous color and sensitive brushwork, Bonnard explored the realms of his visual and sensory experience–from landscape to garden to terrace to house, looking along a path, through an open window, down at a tabletop or a bathtub, or into a mirror. George Shackelford will explore these worlds across time and place, through images drawn from the exhibition he organized for the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and The Phillips Collection, Washington. D.C.
Explore your creative expression at our third Play Date in the Garden! In partnership with Filipina/x cultural organization, Pinaysphere, we will have eco-friendly arts and crafts to help you reconnect your heart and soul with the wonders of nature. Join us in this unique blend of creativity and nature appreciation, forging lasting memories and rekindling the joy of imaginative play. Adult supervision required. Free with registration.
SANTA BARBARA — Melissa Mose, President of OCD Southern California, is organizing “Building a Compassionate OCD Community,” a full day of talks for people with OCD and those who support them on Sunday, April 7 from 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Santa Barbara City College BC Forum.
The event is open to individuals with OCD, their family members and loved ones, mental health providers, students, and the general public. Participants are welcome to attend all talks throughout the day.
The morning lineup focuses on ways to enhance evidence-based treatment for OCD, offering up to three continuing education (CE) units for therapists (specialists and non-specialists alike). The afternoon emphasizes approaches to living with OCD.
VENTURA — As California bids farewell to winter and welcomes plenty of sunshine and vitamin SEA, Ventura Harbor Village beckons travelers from near and far to kick off Spring with warmer months ahead and celebrate Spring Break and Easter by the sea.
From March to April 2024, a myriad of popular seaside events and happenings await! Experience The Channel Island National Park & Visitors
Center, unique coastal shops, casual waterfront dining, and a newly-open waterfront patio where visitors can eat, view picturesque ocean views, sea lions, and listen to live entertainment.
“Whether visitors are seeking unique waterfront dining, shopping or adventure, Ventura Harbor Village invites travelers to discover the beauty of this coastal destination while making Spring Break memories that will last a lifetime,” said Jennifer Talt Lundin, Marketing Manager Ventura Harbor/Ventura Harbor Village.
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Fatoumata Diawara on Wednesday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Campbell Hall. Combining thrilling vocals with deft guitar work and a flair for fashion, Fatoumata Diawara is a musical sensation out of West Africa. Singing in Bambara, the language of her native Mali, along with French and English, Diawara delivers biting social commentary and plays stinging electric guitar solos that ride on her band’s sinuous funk-influenced beats. Her latest album, London Ko, was produced by Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and reflects a boldly eclectic approach that remains firmly rooted in her heritage.
This month, presenters from the Braille Institute will discuss common vision loss conditions and free resources available through the Braille Institute for anyone with low vision or blindness. Resources include low-vision evaluations for optical devices, technology training, orientation and mobility, library services, classes, support groups and more. Learn how you can access services for yourself or a loved one.
“The Final Fore Golf Tournament is a great opportunity to celebrate the success of our athletic programs here at Allan Hancock,” said Hancock Athletic Director Kim Ensing. “We were thrilled about the support we received at the event over the last two years and are excited to continue building on that this year. We’re looking forward to providing an environment that will allow people to take a break from their daily grind, enjoy the outdoors, and rally around the goal of supporting our efforts to provide a meaningful experience for these athletes.”
The two-hour session will be held in person from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Workzones coworking space at the Paseo Nuevo mall. Caputo will talk briefly about best practices for increasing productivity and then lead a group work session to help participants pursue deep and cognitively demanding work or complete projects they’ve procrastinated on. The in-person workshop is designed to add an extra layer of accountability, while the process of working alongside other professionals offers support and camaraderie.
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Lauren Groff in conversation with Pico Iyer on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Campbell Hall. A three-time National Book Award finalist, bestselling novelist and short story writer, Lauren Groff spins highly imaginative fiction out of an acute awareness of the historical forces that shape human behavior. In a six-book oeuvre that spans centuries and embraces a variety of diverse settings, Groff elevates gripping storylines with electrifying prose and startling, unforgettable descriptions. Known for literary masterpieces such as Fates and Furies and Matrix, her latest novel is The Vaster Wilds, a thrilling adventure story set in the wilderness of colonial America. Both Groff and moderator Pico Iyer will be available following the presentation to sign books.
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents the Danish String Quartet on Wednesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. at Campbell Hall. The Danish String Quartet is joined by Finnish cellist Johannes Rostamo for the eagerly-anticipated capstone to their international Doppelgänger Project. In part IV, the Danish pairs Schubert’s String Quintet, frequently cited among the greatest of all works of chamber music, with a new piece titled Wreath – For Franz Schubert by renowned British composer Thomas Adès. Part III of the project was heralded by The New York Times as “ensemble music at its purest – a consensus interpretation, rendered selflessly in service of the group as instrument.”
With millions of Californians falling prey to financial frauds and scams, it’s important more than ever to learn how to protect your
personal and financial information.
BioScience Alliance (BSA) organizes networking events to foster relationships among industry scientists, executives, professionals and key vendors, facilitating idea exchange and growth. Next week, join their team to tour Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ newest manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks!
Takeda is a patient-focused, values-based, R&D-driven global biopharmaceutical company committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to people worldwide
VENTURA — Ventura College is delighted to announce the 2024 Diversity in Culture Festival April 10-11. This year’s theme is returning to our roots with nature and highlighting Indigenous Culture worldwide. Ventura College invites everyone to rediscover the profound connections between nature, indigenous wisdom, and our identities.
SANTA MARIA — Students in Allan Hancock College’s dance program are ready to entertain audiences of all ages during their annual Dance Spectrum performances this April.
The 2024 Dance Spectrum is a dynamic, high-energy showcase of the college’s talented dance program students, who are both performing and choreographing many of the show’s performances. The show will feature a wide range of music and dance styles, as well as cameo performances from Hancock’s full-time and part-time dance program faculty.
SOLVANG — Join us for an inspirational and educational lecture and book signing with George Rose at the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum) in the Second Floor Valley Oak Gallery.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE — The two branches of the Southeast Ventura County YMCA are holding “Healthy Kids’ Day,” a free community event to inspire kids to keep their minds and bodies active during the summer. The Simi Valley Family YMCA Healthy Kids’ Day is Saturday, April 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and the Yarrow Family YMCA Healthy Kids’ Day in Westlake Village is Saturday, April 20 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
OXNARD — The Oxnard Public Library announces the return of their Annual Local Authors Showcase on April 13th, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Downtown Main Branch (251 S. A St., Oxnard).
This year’s event will fill the Main Library’s second floor with authors selling and signing their books. Aspiring authors of all ages can also participate in the Library’s new panel discussions with authors who write within the three major age demographics (Adult, Young Adult, and Children). Engage with published authors and learn about the writing process and how one gets published.
Denmark’s Submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Film.
In 18th century Denmark, Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) – a proud, ambitious, but impoverished war hero — sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land on which seemingly nothing can grow. He seeks to start farming crops, build a colony in the name of the King, and gain a noble title for himself. This beautiful but forbidding area also happens to be under the rule of the merciless Frederik De Schinkel, a preening nobleman who realizes the threat Kahlen represents to his power. Struggling against the elements and local brigands, Kahlen is joined by a couple who have fled the clutches of the rapacious De Schinkel. As this group of misfits begins to build a small community in this inhospitable place, De Schinkel swears vengeance, and the confrontation between him and Kahlen promises to be as violent and intense as these two men.
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Herbie Hancock on Wednesday, April 17 at 8 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre. Experience a night under the spell of Herbie Hancock, jazz’s most versatile and influential keyboard player. As pianist for Miles Davis in the mid-1960s, Hancock helped pioneer a groundbreaking new sound in jazz. A trained engineer, he was among the first bop players to explore the potential of electric instruments and combine jazz with funk and rock. Hancock has garnered a Kennedy Center Honor, an Academy Award for his Round Midnight film score and 14 Grammys, including a prestigious Album of the Year for his 2007 tribute River: The Joni Letters.
Join us for an in-depth discussion about the business of sports with executives from Angel City Football Club of the National Women’s Soccer League and Cal Lutheran’s Sports Management Program Director Mark Orlando.
Angel City FC players will participate in a question-and-answer session. After the event, they will be on-hand for photos and an autograph signing.
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents RuPaul on Thursday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. at The Arlington Theatre. If we’re all born naked and the rest is drag, this is RuPaul stripped bare. Pop culture icon and international drag superstar RuPaul invites you to a spiritual awakening to celebrate the release of his new memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings. Allow your mind, body and soul to be enveloped in RuPaul’s lyrically poignant stories on life, love and finding your voice. During this special event, RuPaul offers fans a manual for living – a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear RuPaul’s extraordinary story as told by RuPaul.
Noted photography scholar Beth Gates Warren will present a fascinating lecture on Julien Levy (1906–81), who is best remembered today as the art dealer who brought Surrealism to the United States. His eponymous New York City Gallery (1931–49) was generally regarded as the best place to view cutting-edge work by such artists as Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Arshile Gorky, Frida Kahlo, and Man Ray.
CAMARILLO — Plans for a new conservation center at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) – to be built in partnership with the Santa Barbara Zoo — are progressing quickly with the conceptual design already complete.
Construction progress also continues for Gateway Hall, along with several other new initiatives, programs, and partnerships that CSUCI President Richard Yao will review on Friday, April 19 during the annual State of the University address, sponsored by the West Ventura County Business Alliance (WVCBA).
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Antonio Sánchez Birdman Live on Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m. at The Arlington Theatre. After the success of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture, drummer/composer Antonio Sánchez performed his dramatic Grammy Award-winning score live around the world.
Don’t miss the Santa Paula Art Museum’s Fourteenth Anniversary Gala and Fundraiser this Saturday, April 20, 2024! In honor of the Museum’s Limoneira Building turning 100 this year, we’re going to party like it’s 1924! Join us inside the Museum for a Roaring ’20s evening of art, live music by Sophie Holt and Studio C, dancing, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, a special painting demonstration, and more.
