Bryce Belinski: Can you both tell us a little bit about how you found yourselves in the Funk Zone?

Michael Irwin: So my own studio used to be next to Santa barbara Scrap Iron and Metal, so I had a lot of airplane parts and freeway signs and I could just rummage around in there. I had a studio out at UCSB from 1976-1979 and finished my MFA out there and taught at UCSB. I taught ceramic sculpture. And then I found the studio space in McNall's Building Material on N. Salsipuedes so in 1979 I moved into the Funk Zone general area and belonged to several galleries. I had galleries in Palm Springs, San Diego and Newport Beach and Santa Barbara and most of the things that I was doing were these combines like back there in the corner or large shape canvases like that one. I also did video documentation and performance art and installation art.
But then a gallery approached me and said they'd like me to do five big paintings- I never painted before, I was a sculptor and a video artist. So I did five of those big shaped canvases and they all sold and I thought to myself I'm a painter! I can paint! 

So I moved into this space in 1989. A former student of mine, Janet Nancarrow, (see ​​https://www.independent.com/2010/10/07/big-kick-out/), who owned this block and sold it to the current Mesa Lane Properties that's developing it. I said: “Janet, I need a studio space” and she goes “well I’ve got this whole quonset hut” and I said… “yeah??”. And so, I moved in here in 1989 and there was nobody down here. I mean… There was one restaurant across the street that had music and other than that it was just a dive shop on the corner-  deep, hard hat diving stuff: “Oceaneering International”- that’s what it was. Donald Davis had a studio on Anacapa, and other than that there were no artists down here. But in the next 20 years, because this was an industrial area, people were able to afford moving into the funky little spaces like this that you could get down and dirty in. I've been fortunate to share the studio with a lot of really wonderful artists: Warren Schultheis (Up Close with Warren Schultheis, Before and Beside Town), Johnny Troyna (featured here), Chris Johnson (CJ Johnson Art). Just a whole Cadre of artists and now I'm sharing it with my son, Nate, and it's the best ever now and it's great! So we're just hoping we can stay here and keep the studio and keep being able to have a space like this where you can have shows as well as get funky. I mean, you can get down and dirty and paint and throw paint around and then repaint! So, it's a wonderful wonderful space and it’s been a blessing for all these 40 years I've been here.

BB: Wow, yeah so you must have seen a lot of shifts happen, can you speak a little bit to that, how the culture has shifted?

MI: Well in the early 2000s, people started moving into the warehouse space here that Karen Lehrer (Karen Lehrer) is in and Marlyn Daggett (IG: @marlyndaggett) used to be in and I forget who else is over there but Mason Street galleries, the that whole West End by Silo (Silo118 Gallery)... the space that Bonnie curates. So it started to evolve into a few studios here and there. Gray Space Gallery (IG: @grayspacegallery) came in and it's just evolved into being a really vital area where we can studio visit each other and have conversations. It's just been really a wonderful place to be as an artist in the last 20 years, particularly now. 

BB: How do you see it now versus different iterations of the Funk Zone?

MI: It's just every vacant space here, because it's the only place you can rent cheap, I mean everything else is $5 a square foot here it's 75 cents or 50 cents a square foot and we don't have any industrial space in Santa Barbara. This is the only kind of down and dirty space that we have and ironically, being as close to the ocean as it is, and desirable property (which is why they want to build five stories of Condominiums here and shops)- we don’t need any more shops and nobody can afford to live in the condominium. It's a wonderfully vital area right now with 4 or 5 different galleries and 24 different artists in studios here…It is the art center of Santa Barbara, and without it, we would have nothing. I mean, really- nobody could afford anything. So it's vital that we keep it- for me anyway!

BB: No! For everyone involved! I mean, we don’t want to see more tourism here…we don’t want to see more unaffordability…It’s such a shame to have this potentially on the horizon.

Nate Irwin: Well it’s interesting that the draw to this area is- I mean, they call it the Funk Zone because of the artists. Tourists will come here and they do come here and they want to come here which is great you know: they come and they support this area, they go to the wine bars they go to these other establishments here in Santa Barbara. With State Street being so dilapidated and people not really going there as much, this has been a driving force for people to want to come down and visit this area. So, it's an interesting two edged sword if they take away the thing that (brings that). Gentrification is a scary thing: you come in, and you change things that are working because you think you're gonna make more money. At the same time, it's kind of taking away the draw of that space.

MI: The other part of it is: if they tore this whole block down- which is what they want to do, the entire block- every business surrounding the block would be cut off from people coming to visit because it will be shut down because of heavy equipment and dust and noise. It would diminish their… it would destroy all the little restaurants around here like Topa Topa and Lama Dog and Shalhoob and all the spaces that are there.

ENTER DUG

Dug Uyesaka: Heyyyyy hola!

BB: How’s it going hola hola!

MI: Hey come in! We’re doing an interview

BB: It’s for artists in the Funk Zone! Hi, I’m Bryce I actually came across your work while researching them!

MI: Dug Uyesaka is our national treasurer of Santa Barbara (laughter)... He had a one-man retrospective show at Westmont and I just felt so lucky to have him as a studio mate. 

Dug Uyesaka: Well I was so lucky cause we first met when you (MI) were doing your grad work at UCSB and that's where I first met you, you know luckily we kept in touch and it was nice to visit your studio. We just kept in touch and seeing, you know, well, he’s a legacy here in town as an instructor, artist- you know, there’s so many other people that he has influenced their lives as artists and as students and stuff, it’s pretty amazing. It's really a mutual admiration kind of club.

BB: We’re doing a little (interview)- I’m working with an organization called Keep the Funk.

DU: Oh yes yeah! Great! 

BB: You know about it! Great so we’re talking about how the SOMOFunk development would….

MI: Pull up a chair!! Doug teaches at Laguna Blanca

BB: So, can we introduce you to the camera?

DU: Sure!

BB: What's your name?

DU: My name is Doug Uyesaka. I moved here in ‘75 to go to school at UCSB, that’s how I originally met Mike. I went to school at UCSB as an art major. I studied Painting with a bunch of great teachers: Howard Fenton, Phil Rhorbock, who is our mentor, and Gary Brown… Well, actually I didn’t study with him, I modeled for his classes! Oh, and then I was really fortunate to take a class from Bill Dole, when Bill- the famous watercolor and collage artist, and Mary Heebner was his TA at the time, so that’s how I was introduced to collage work which was really great, and one of my expressions now.

BB: And what is your history with the Funk Zone throughout your career as an artist?

DU: Well I knew that Mike had a studio here so I used to come visit every once in a while when Warren was here and I think Rex Marchbanks was here..and then also the Arts Fund: I was involved with the Arts Fund quite a bit across the street. I was involved with their mentorship programs as was Mike and yeah, just trying to support them in what they were doing, cause they were the only art gallery here. The only piece of culture here, except for people’s studios! I mean, there weren't any bars, restaurants…
This is just the blue collar area for welders, pipers, carpenters and everything like that.

MI: Boat shops for repairing engines- industrial. And then the Arts Fund moved in: that was a really vital gallery and part of the arts scene. From there it just grew and grew and grew. Grayspace… all the different places..

DU: Crista Dix place, Wall Space Gallery- it was big! And then, did you tell her about the building and Weber Bread and all that stuff here too.

MI: No! This whole block was the Weber’s Bread plant. Silo makes the grain and this was the storage area for finished products. And then the Nancarrows bought it, and rented it out. When I came to this space, there was no electricity, no lights, no walls, no nothing! I put in all the lights and walls and it was so worth it!

DU: Did you put in the second story too?

MI: No. This used to be open (behind us) so the forklifts could put the bread up here. So they would drive in, put the bread up here. There used to be a boomerang shop downstairs and Henry’s motorcycles was in this space. And then Rex Marchbanks had the studio below me. We would have keys to each other’s studios.

NI: He was the caretaker at the Santa Barbara Bowl forever. My first concert was with Rex at (the Bowl)- Diana Ross.

NI: MichaelKate was over there too- it's a furniture store, really modern. Michael and his daughter were there. They have some pretty great home furnishing. Who did they have curating the shows over there? Jan!

MI: Jan Ziegler has 10 West and she curated the shows for MichaelKate over there. She had Funk Zone shows and then Brad Nack took it over and curated shows there. Right now it’s got a lot of Doug Dafoe’s work in it, and Brad Nack, and I've had a lot of work over there from time to time. Some of my big wave paintings like this or wavescapes. So it’s really a nice (space): you can see the artwork there in a home setting and it makes it kind of a nice, different type of gallery.

BB: That’s super unique. Probably a lot of you have had an art presence in other places with an art scene. In comparison to that, how would you describe Santa Barbara’s art scene and being an artist in Santa Barbara?

MI: Well the nice thing is that it’s always been… I mean, there have been galleries like Sullivan Goss and different galleries that are in town. Having a studio here- a lot of the time we would just do shows in our studios and invite artists in and have a guest artist. Like Chris Johnson or Trevor Norris. I had a galley in Santa Monica and then I had another gallery in Newport and also in Palm Springs…So your work would be seen in lots of places and a lot of times people would like to come to see the studio. It (Santa Barbara) wasn't quite as intense a gallery scene as LA, but you can show there and have your galleries here. 

BB: Yeah, and I think just what you were saying is giving me an image of just an insular community almost- having that interaction of being in proximity to your gallery, a studio space, to bars that will show your stuff, it gets a really nice community interaction.

DU: I think everybody here in the art community, not just visual artists, but I think it’s a really supportive atmosphere. Everyone tries to support each other whether it’s going to a performance or going to a gallery opening or whatever just telling somebody: “Hey, my friend Mike is a painter!” or whatever. We’re really fortunate. There's been so many internationally known artists that have been through Southern California and Santa Barbara area at one time or another, or had a gallery in Santa Barbara area and reaped the benefits. It’s a special place. You know, Mike has been here forever…

MI: (joking in a very old man voice) yeah! Long time! I’ve been watching it all evolve, I mean to see the people move in, and get to know them, it’s been wonderful. I’ve been so fortunate to maintain a nice, big, studio working space for over 40 years. Now, to be able to focus on our project “Illuminate Conservation” with Nate doing work on endangered species and inviting artists in to do work and share work of that concept.
When I was teaching ceramic sculpture at UCSB, it became really vital to me to deal with the endangered species and so as early as '80s and 90s I was doing work that had to do with indigenous people, I was doing work that had to do with steelhead trout: I did sculptures of steelhead trout. So, to have Nate come and reinvigorate me in terms of the endangered species work that I had done 30 years ago, it was really exciting. 

BB: Yeah maybe you could speak to that project and how your workflow would be impacted by something like this?

NI: I grew up in Santa Barbara and then went to college in San Luis Obispo and then moved to LA- basically I was roundabout for 20 years. I moved back to Santa Barbara, went back to college at Antioch. I was an Environmental Studies major and was working on a final project surrounding the Southern California Steelhead and looking for ways to advocate for the species and I felt, you know- through osmosis, almost, looking at my dad's work over time and how wonderful of an artist he is and how he can take an idea and turn it into something that is up on a wall- this was something that I needed.
I also had started painting during that period, when I first moved back. I had never really painted, but having him (Michael) here as a resource was vital- this space was vital. Without this space we wouldn’t be able to do it. 
So we took this idea of the Steelhead and looking at his past work- he did these amazing squeegee paintings that are kind of chaotic and beg a question for the viewer where it's like “what is going on in this piece?” and “what’s the rationale behind it” and that chaos really mirrored what I was seeing with the Southern California Steelhead having man’s anthropogenic impact on that species really be something that isn’t in balance. It’s a local species and it's not on the radar. A lot of people don't know about it and I felt like art would be a great delivery system for people to learn more about it. So, I sent him over an idea and said: 

“hey what if we get a squeegee painting with a steelhead… and have it kind of there and kind of not” he sends me over an image of a finished product that you can't see on screen but it's this large scale 90 by 60 steelhead squeegee. It was just incredible, you know, taking this idea that I had and making it a reality. That’s what he’s able to do, because the skill level over 40 years and this talent that he has. Then we were able to create a series- we've created, so far, 5 of these paintings and we’re actually making more. 
We've been able to raise $10,000 for this non-profit here in California that rehabilitates habitat through this idea that I had that I turned over to him and now we’ve created this platform, which is called “Illuminate Conservation”, raising awareness about endangered species and funding for nonprofits that are fighting to save them through art and advocacy and we're looking to branch out into other species: you can see, there's a Black-capped Petrel- I think you can see that behind my dad- but that is for this organization called Bird’s Caribbean using the same platform and idea. 
So, without this creative space, without the resource that I have with my dad being here for 40 years, it wouldn’t have been able to really happen. We don’t really have that space to do something that large-scale and that messy. Because we were literally with paint all over us, paint cans in our hands, and putting it back up on the wall- messy! Finding that image and finding something that’s beautiful and thought-provoking: that was all because that space exists. 
It’s definitely given me this whole new perspective to see the world through, you know, through an artist's eyes. I've been able to actually get a new job as the art teacher at Hope School. I'm the arts teacher for K through 6 there and and I'm able to pass that on to future generations and to incorporate environmental arts and be able to talk about the Steelhead and talk about the monarch butterflies like our other studio mate- David Diamant- does these amazing monarchs and talks about the endangered species that he grew up seeing in massive numbers and now we’re seeing that species drop off.
So, art is a great delivery, it’s a vehicle for people to look at something in a non-controversial way and see a beautiful image and say “oh wow, I wonder what's going on with that” and then you can further that dialogue it's a conversation starter. This space has been that incubator for these ideas and has allowed for us to be creative and, like Dad says, “be messy” and let the creative juices flow.

MI: But the other part of it is: it’s a nice big space with high ceilings and it shows art well. Even though it’s funky, cause it is, it cleans up. Dug is always inviting guest artists in to show their work and we’ll give artists down from San Francisco a wall to show and advertise their show. It's just so wonderful to have a space that can whimsically change on a dime and say “oh you need a show? Okay, let's do it” and then we do it and there's a vitality to that that is missing in a formal gallery. You just can’t invite people in and go “yeah, you can take that wall”and we’ll have you be part of the show”. This space has just been a dream. I don’t want it to end!

NI: Yeah, with the pandemic and this whole zone shutting down, it was a way to see what it would look like without that (culture) in a way because we weren't able to have shows and anything like that. It's been really nice to be able to have open studios and have people up here and invite them back up.

BB: So from your perspective, and what you’ve heard from the grapevine of the community, what do you think this development would do to the art scene and the neighborhood of the Funk Zone? 

DU: Crush the block. I mean.. On paper it looks fair but it's just a little too large. It doesn't really have the heart and soul of the neighborhood in its bosom, it's not taking that consideration at all. I think they're trying to do too much in just one single spot: you know, we're going to help solve the housing problem with this massive development, which is not only going to displace so many of the people working in creative endeavors but I think it’s just not really tailored to the area at all. It doesn’t really take into consideration as much of the spirit of the Funk Zone and it would extinguish a lot of the vitality and creative spirit here.

MI: You know that they’ve approved that hotel right here… from Yanonali all the way to…

BB: Would it be right behind Lama Dog then?

MI: Yeah and that’s where Wally has his studio, right there- “Wallace’s Art”.

BB: So he would be displaced?

MI: Yeah so he would be gone. And that’s already been approved, it’s going to happen. It’s already gone through the work so that whole container area that’s behind Lama Dog is going to be a gigantic hotel.

BB: How many stories?

MI: I don't know, I didn't see the scale of it but it’s going to be like the Red Lion (renamed to Fess Parker DoubleTree Hotel then Santa Barbara Beachfront Hilton Resort (https://www.noozhawk.com/250_room_hotel_proposed_santa_barbara_funk_zone_waterfront/)(https://www.sitelinesb.com/the-250-room-funk-zone-hotel-is-taking-shape/) ; spans 24 acres and includes 335 guest rooms and 25 suites Resort Plans), or Fess Parker’s thing he did there…it’s going to be a big one.

DU: **whistling in awe**

MI: So that’s already going in. If they did that here, it’d be gone. There would be no studios or place to work. The only place left to go is the airport and who wants to work there?

NI: It’s still hard to find a space out there, and a comparable space for you would-

MI:-yeah it would be impossible! It would be lovely if we could keep it, I'm not opposed to people developing and being creative and trying to find ways to make more money and that kind of thing. That has to happen. It’s just a shame that it happens to be where every artist in Santa Barbara has their studio!

BB: Yes, that is a shame. All for housing, all for giving more people roofs over their heads here it’s difficult, but- yeah just doesn't seem like the affordable plan is realistic here.

DU: And how affordable is it for the people that are gonna be moving in there?

BB: That’s the thing!

DU: If they won the lottery-? Oh yeah! I’ll buy it.

MI: Yeah, right, it’d be a million and a half, two million for a condo. By the beach! Walk to the beach!

DU: And own half a parking spot.

BB: And so what do you think the neighborhood can do to rally behind the Arts at this moment?

MI: I think just show up at the planning commission meetings and represent the area and say- “what about us?” “what are we gonna do?” And like we’ve said- I've been down here for over 40 years, since 1980, and it’s just been so wonderful to have a place that you can get down in! And there won’t be any more places like that.

DU: It’s also a shame too, like all the different spots of all the artists here on this block, especially Erika Carter and the ladies out there in the Greenhouse, are getting a lot of the media attention of the plight here of the Funk Zone. There was a big, big showing at the architectural design board when this 121 Mason Street project was up for approval or review- they had gotten the most inputs and emails from the community that they have ever gotten. And then the meetings: there was one of the largest showings that they’ve ever had, people coming in to voice their opinions or state what they want to do. So it went through there and now it’s going on to the City Planning Commission so we’ll see what happens when that gets scheduled. Just being there and supporting “Keep the Funk Zone” you know, and voicing your opinions is a good way for people to maybe just reconsider or maybe we can come to a compromise, or I don’t know, just keep the arts here in the Funk Zone a little bit more, for longer!

MI: It’s what draws people in for all these restaurants and wine bars and clothing stores and surf shops and it has that ambiance that no place anywhere has that I know of, except maybe Soho back in the 60s. So it's really an unusual conglomeration of creatives and it will go away if they build this. 

NI: Well, the draw will be gone.

MI: Exactly, the reason the people really come here is because it’s “funky”. It’s not because it’s condos and shops. It’s hard to diminish somebody's endeavors to do things, but then again, you're going to change the whole complexion of this area, and that would be difficult for everybody here.

DU: Well I just flashed on this too, (talking about) your guyses painting on endangered species, it’s kind of like the same thing you know, we’re swiping out this habitat and it’s just a metaphor. It’s a change of habitat for local creatives who use this space and love this space and it helps enrich the community at large here, too. And then to, like Michael said, you want other people to do their best and help this community grow and enrich it. But I think it’s just tough the way it’s going to come down for just wiping up the block, basically. 
Gentrification is a natural process for so many cities, not necessarily good in all ways but it’s just kind of sad the way it goes down and how it affects so many people who have helped create the depth and the soul of an area perhaps, and for so long (gesturing to Michael)- it’s been 40 years plus.

NI: Yeah and you see the trajectory that he was talking about, from an industrial space and you see it slowly growing through this creative process and these artists coming together and you see the trajectory and it's like, the art scene is almost on the upward trajectory, in a way. I mean, all these artists collaborating and that kind of thing, and then you see something come in and just wipe it all out but it’s on this solid trajectory and it’s doing so much good for the community so it would be really sad.

MI: Thank you for coming in.

BB: Yeah- thank you! I’m going to be coming in more often, I like it here!