The Arts Fund is spotlighting exciting contemporary artwork produced by many of the area's most talented artists in their twenties and thirties. "Bright Young Things!" at The Arts Fund Gallery presents nearly fifty artworks from sixteen Santa Barbara artists. The exhibition is full of intriguing visual juxtapositions. In selecting artwork to include, the emphasis was on imagery that was unconventional, beautiful, and thought provoking. The featured works are widely varied in medium, including oil paintings, prints, sculpture, mixed-media drawings, and video art. The exhibition itself and a public closing celebration on Friday, September 15, from 5:00 - 9:00, are featured components of Off-Axis, a month-long celebration of contemporary art in Santa Barbara being organized by a consortium of arts organizations, galleries and artists.

In selecting artists to invite, curator and Arts Fund Executive Director Cody Hartley sought work that challenges assumptions about Santa Barbara's art scene and encourages viewers to appreciate the diversity of styles, subjects, techniques, and mediums being explored by bright, young, talented artists. According to Hartley, he was curious to explore the work of younger artists in response to the diversity and novelty of their work. "There is this fascinating group of younger artists-almost an underground scene obscured by Santa Barbara's strong tradition of landscape painting-producing the most interesting and varied work. Drawing influence from widely disparate sources, both traditional and contemporary fine art, they are also tapped into the urban culture of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Many of the works demonstrate a fascination with modern design, typography and even the visual detritus of advertising and mass marketing. Others are more purely aesthetic explorations of paint, light, and surface."

Artists featured in "Bright Young Things!" include Scott Anderson, Calico Brown, Paul Cumes and Cimmi Mills, Christine Gray, Marcelino Jemenez, Toby Keller, David Kilpatrick, Zack Paul, Tania Richter, Danielle Rubi, Warren Schultheis, Dante Sigismondi, Steven Soria, Ethan Turpin, and Leela Ross. The majority of the artwork will be for sale, including numerous smaller pieces that are affordable for younger collectors.