More than 10 years since their last collective art show, members of the UCSB Art Department Faculty exhibited selections from their oeuvres this past weekend at Uppur Bunk Collaborative Art Space in Goleta. The show, featuring 15 artists, included work from Kip Fulbeck, Richard Ross, Jane Mulfinger, Laurel Beckman and Harry Reese.

The show ran from Feb. 24-26 with a festive reception on Saturday evening. Many of the artists in the show were in attendance. Towards the end of the evening, Goleta Mayor Ed Eastman made an appearance at the show. Gallery-goers chatted around a cart of ceramic red party cups by Kim Yasuda and the Friday Academy, and used their iPhones to scan the QR code in Elizabeth Folk’s, “This is how I made this drawing.”

“When we were publicizing the show, people were very surprised to hear the amount of faculty participation we had garnered.” Samantha Fretwell, UCSB grad and Uppur Bunk member said. “We have a very supportive and involved department.”

The work shown was varied and disparate, but the show was cohesive and displayed a range of work demonstrative of the many mediums active in the department. A raw, plywood wall in the back of the space juxtaposed a duo of portraits by Kip Fulbeck from his series “Permanence,” with an HD monitor looping enigmatic and beautiful animations by Laurel Beckman.

Founded by UCSB alumni, a collection of artists and builders, Uppur Bunk operates as both a workspace and exhibition space. Cassidy Anton, Uppur Bunk member, said, “Our aim is to have a space where we can make work our own work and share the work of others with the community.”

“We wanted to be connected to UCSB but also available as an art and education venue to the wider Goleta and Santa Barbara communities,” Patrick Melroy said, who received his Master of Fine Arts from UCSB and now teaches sculpture at the University.

“There is a gap between the University and the public in terms of art and we hope to be the bridge between the two,” Melroy said. “Tonight is a perfect example — we have members of the community here as well as UCSB students and faculty, all chatting and connecting over this amazing work.”

 

Katy McCarthy is a graduate from the UCSB Art Department. She is currently in Goleta, helping to cultivate the university’s artistic community with Uppur Bunk.

For more information on Uppur Bunk or any of the contributing artists, please visit www.uppurbunk.com.

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