Dave Machin’s hobby collecting View-Master 3D toys started by chance when he picked one up at an antique shop in San Luis Obispo. He clicked through travel reels of destinations like Yosemite, Chicago, and Miami. “What occurred to me was that these are now antiques, so all these pictures of these places were like 70 […]
Arts
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria calls for artists to design a bench at Jim May Park
The theme “living waters” should inspire local artists interested in creating a new public art installation at a Santa Maria park. Digital submissions related to plants, wildlife, and the lake at Jim May Park are due by 5 p.m. on Nov. 13. “The selected artist or team will receive a $1,000 award, and the winning […]
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Esther Jacobsen Bates wins the county’s 2026 arts leadership award
Solvang native Esther Jacobsen Bates has spent 30 years dedicated to supporting arts education and cultural organizations in Santa Barbara County. For her dedication, she received the county’s Leadership in the Arts Award at the Oct. 6 Board of Supervisors meeting. “Over time, I discovered that my strength was not making art but helping others […]
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A little magic: LARPing creates community, fun, and fantasy in Santa Maria
For everybodyAll are welcome to watch from the sidelines or spring into battle with Watchers Keep on the first and third Sundays of the month at Rotary Centennial Park. Get your live-action role-playing on from noon to 4 p.m. at 2625 S. College Drive in Santa Maria. See @watcherskeepamtgard on Instagram for behind-the-scenes clips and brush […]
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Tribute act pays homage to The Rolling Stones in Santa Ynez
Jumping Jack Flash, a tribute to The Rolling Stones, will perform at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez on Friday, Oct. 16. The show starts at 8 p.m., inside the casino’s Samala Showroom. Admission to the concert is $25. According to the casino, attendees can look forward to hearing some of The Rolling Stones’ […]
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Crumbles Café champions weekly jazz in Santa Maria
A weekly series at Crumbles Café & Bake Shop in Santa Maria promises patrons a couple of hours of live music every week to enjoy with their late lunch, early dinner, dessert, or coffee. Every Saturday, between 2 and 4 p.m., the café hosts a live jazz act. Upcoming acts in the series include the […]
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NatureTrack screens polar bear doc in Los Olivos
The eighth annual NatureTrack Film Festival presents a screening of Frost Without Snow and Ice on Friday, Nov. 6, at the Santa Ynez Valley Grange Hall. Doors open at 6 p.m. The documentary follows a polar bear struggling to raise her cubs in Svalbard, regarded as the fastest-warming place on earth due to climate change. […]
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One of Fossemalle Dance Studio’s first students returns as a teacher
The Fossemalle familyTap right into Fossemalle Dance Studio, located at 3595 Numancia St. in Santa Ynez. Call (805) 688-8494 for information about dance classes or visit fossemalledancestudio.com. Sarah Longoria has spent much of her life in a dance studio. Growing up in Solvang, she remembers putting on a pink petal-sleeved leotard for the first time […]
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Santa Maria Civic Theatre delivers spooky season vibes with a new musical
A half-boy, half-bat creature is the star of the latest community theater production in Santa Maria. Bat Boy: The Musical hits the Santa Maria Civic Theatre stage on Oct. 9. The cult classic follows Bat Boy, who was found in a cave and taken in by a family in small-town West Virginia. “As he struggles […]
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Get a bird’s-eye view of the Channel Islands with a Santa Ynez author
Paul Collins, the primary author of a guide to Channel Island birds, is giving a lecture and signing copies of his book in Los Olivos on Oct. 14. Join the researcher at St. Mark’s in the Valley Episcopal Church from 7 to 8:30 p.m. for an evening of lively conversation about the avifauna Collins covered […]
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The Creation Station in Buellton celebrates 25 years
Cozy slippers shuffling across tile flooring. Pillows cushioning the seats of chairs. A T-shirt reading: Sorry. Can’t. Quilting. Bye. It’s the sight that Linda Papenfus rolled up to at The Creation Station Fabric and Quilt Shop after a tiresome, traffic-riddled drive from Folsom. She carried a suitcase behind her filled to the brim with fabrics […]
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Meet the Solvang seamstress who makes dresses for Danish Days maids year after year
Witnesses to Roberta Skidmore’s creativity have learned to trust her process. Even the dressmaker’s husband, Kevin. “You see this pile of material, and you go, ‘How are they going to do anything with this?’” Kevin told the Sun. “And then she finishes it, and you go, ‘Oh my God!’” Many of those who wear Roberta’s […]
