It’s our anniversary

The Thomas Reynolds Gallery, which relocated to 1331 State Street in Santa Barbara last year after 25 years in San Francisco, is celebrating its first anniversary with a pair of exhibitions.

1 Yr in SB, opening on First Thursday, March 3, and continuing to March 30, is a group exhibition of artists whose work the gallery has introduced in Santa Barbara during its first year.

Paradise Revisited, from April 2 to May 28, is a solo exhibition of paintings by UC Santa Barbara graduate Sandy Ostrau, who returns as one of California’s most admired and sought-after contemporary artists. While she was a student at UCSB, Ostrau also played on the fabled women’s soccer team and waitressed her way up and down State Street. Now working primarily from her studio at Sea Ranch, she captures the strong shapes and bold colors of the California coast and the denizens who live here. A first anniversary reception with Sandy Ostrau will be held on Saturday, April 2, from 3 to 5 p.m.

“We’re delighted to be in Santa Barbara,” says Thomas Reynolds. “Leaving San Francisco and our beloved Fillmore Street neighborhood, where we were so deeply engaged, has been tough. But we’ve felt fortunate to be a part of the excitement the new pedestrian promenade has brought to State Street. Santa Barbara is surely one of the few cities whose downtown has become much more vibrant and alive during the pandemic.”

Reynolds has been an active member of the steering committee working to establish Santa Barbara’s Arts District in the area centered on the 1200 and 1300 blocks of State Street. He says: “The new Arts District is binding together a remarkable concentration of cultural treasures: the museum, symphony, ballet and opera; the historic Arlington, Granada and New Vic theaters; the film festival; plus a great group of galleries, restaurants and shops. It’s the Funk Zone for grown-ups and locals.”

The Thomas Reynolds Gallery was founded in 1994 in San Francisco and became a fixture on Fillmore Street, presenting historic and contemporary California art and artists. Reynolds, a recovering lawyer, was also president of the neighborhood business association, chair of the annual Fillmore Jazz Festival, and editor and publisher of the local newspaper.