Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) held its annual Royal Ball fundraiser on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara, CA. The sold out event with 500 distinguished guests, celebrities, and dignitaries attended the fundraiser gala, which supports Pacific Pride Foundation’s vital programs and services for the LGBTQ and HIV communities.

The Museum of Ventura County exhibited new acrylic paintings by Erik ReeL last Friday evening at The Tool Room @ Bell Arts Factory. The show feature works from his most recent series, Rebar. This exhibition continues ReeL's exploration of mark-making and its relationships to signification. The rebar motif is a loosely defined metaphor for the strength at the core of meaning, something inside and hidden within the concrete.

On Saturday September 20th, Studio Channel Islands Art Center presented Art à la Mode, a celebration of art with gourmet dinner by Chef Jason Collis of Plated Events. The evenings honorees were visionaries and founders J. Handel & Carol Evans with the 2014 Medici Award. The evening entertainment featured a musical performance by Canadian Guitarist Kevin Enstrom. This amazing event was held at the Blackboard Gallery at Studio Channel Islands Art Center.

Congratulations to the artists – Alphonso Acosta, Linda Garcia, Rima Muna, Devin Oatway, and Nash Rightmer; and to the curator, Erik ReeL, a vision well executed!

Ian Bankhead, a senior at Laguna Blanca School and a member of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, who had the honor of playing with the Santa Barbara Symphony for its May concerts.

Hospice of Santa Barbara recently held a recognition reception for members of their Heart of Hospice sustaining donor program. The event was held on the front lawn of Hospice of Santa Barbara on the Riviera.

It was a warm and lovely spring evening last Saturday night when The Working Artist Ventura presented two artists who have been instrumental in the recent West Side and Ventura Avenue arts revival, Erik ReeL and Nash Rightmer.  The opening had a steady flow of art lovers throughout the evening.