A Place for Creative Exchange
At its core, Area Meeting is an open forum where the local creative community can gather to explore the meaning behind art and the processes driving it.

This monthly gathering features a keynote presentation from a career artist who will share images of their work, giving a place-in-time snapshot of their practice. This talk will explore the intricacies, struggles, and breakthroughs of a life devoted to art, setting the tone for an evening designed to spark new ideas, questions, and connections.​

​

Real-Time Feedback and Dialogue

Our October keynote speaker will be photographer and activist, Barbara Parmet. Parmet will lead a discussion that addresses power dynamics for all artists (including poetry, performance, music, and the visual arts), and the benefits of greater recognition in the arts community while creating a healthier, more productive and richer arts culture in Santa Barbara. 

With over years of experience as a photo journalist and artist, Barbara will candidly explore the struggles of gaining recognition in the arts community tracing the circuitous pathways of possibility that each artist develops over time in order to make a life as an artist in this place we call Santa Barbara.

​

Open Discussion

The second half of Area Meeting is an open discussion with selected artists presenting physical work—unfinished pieces, experimental projects, or newly completed works—inviting direct input from attendees. Led by facilitator Patrick Melroy, these candid, respectful critiques grant audiences a unique window into an artist’s thought process before the work has been sealed with a final opinion. It’s a rare opportunity for both artists and viewers to engage in meaningful, two-way dialogue not typically available in traditional gallery or museum settings.