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Clay Studio set to reopen Art and ceramics studio to resume indoor sessions
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Clay Studio, a community arts center directed by Patrick Hall, is beginning its reopening with spring studio hours. The studio, located at 1351 Holiday Hill Road in Goleta, first opened its doors in January 2020. The opening reception gathered 500 community members and artists, but the pandemic soon scaled back operations. “We’ve had to pivot, like most businesses,” Erica Ales, program and creative director, told the News-Press. “But it’s been a good opportunity to weigh our foundation and welcome community members.” As of December, Clay Studio has been holding outdoor classes for beginners and intermediatelevel potters. Monday, the indoor space opens for the first time in over a year — for those who register for a time slot. Artists can register for a 9 a.m to 12 p.m. or 1-4 p.m. session for one of the days of the week, and they’ll have that slot for eight weeks. A limit of eight people can register for the same time. Artists can come spin pottery and use the 2,500 square feet of studio space. Clay Studio staff will not be providing instruction, as to keep with social distancing protocols. If COVID-19 cases decrease in the community, Clay Studio will hold classes on the potter’s wheels indoors in coming months. In the meantime, there are outdoor workshops and virtual classes. During virtual sessions, participants pick up clay from the studio prior to class and return to glaze their creations one by one. Recently, Clay Studio held virtual classes on its 3D ceramic printer. Participants designed their pieces using the software; then studio staff printed it and have even shipped the creations to the students. The 3D printing technology is new to ceramics, so students as far as New York and even Canada tuned into Clay Studio’s virtual classes — which is exactly what the studio’s creators had in mind. “Our goal is not just to be a community studio but be an international destination for artists,” Ms. Ales said. Please see CLAY on A8
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Good Samaritan Shelters in both Lompoc and Santa Maria are gradually upping their shelter capacity after congregants received COVID-19 vaccines late last week. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department distributed vaccines to shelter clients at Good Samaritan Shelters in Lompoc and Isla Vista last Thursday and vaccinated clients in Santa Maria on Friday. Each congregant received the singledose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, giving them immunity against the coronavirus in just one dose.
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COURTESY PHOTOS
Two friends build clay pots during one of Clay Studio’s outdoor workshops, one of the programs offered during the pandemic.
Please see VACCINE on A8
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
At left, studio manager Ruby Mandell, who graduated with an art degree from UCSB, unloads the kiln at Clay Studio. At right, a 3D clay printer allows potters to create sculptural, geometric pieces.
“We had clients that were very eager to get (the vaccine),” Sylvia Barnard, executive director for Good Samaritan Shelter, told the News-Press. “I think just like the rest of the world, our clients are really eager to have more flexibility and freedom.” With vaccines successfully distributed, the Good Samaritan Shelters began increasing their shelter capacity from 50% to 75% over the weekend. Already, Santa Maria’s shelter is close to 75% capacity, while the Lompoc shelter is still hovering around 50%. Over the course of the pandemic, congregate homeless shelters have been heavily impacted by restrictions and community spread.
As gatherings were banned across the state, shelters were forced to limit their shelter capacity for the sake of social distancing. Still, this did not fully protect shelter congregants from contracting COVID-19. At Good Samaritan’s shelter in Santa Maria, what started as an individual case of COVID turned into a month-long isolation period for 120 shelter residents. Though the shelter never experienced a large-scale outbreak, each individual positive case resulted in sending congregants into another 14-day quarantine period. “What would happen is that just one positive test would shut down the entire shelter system,” Ms.
Barnard said. To avoid quarantine mishaps in the future, the shelter system now has rapid testing in place, which allows shelter staff to test individuals when they initially come to the shelter to track active cases before the virus spreads in the congregant facility. Despite limited capacity during the pandemic, Ms. Barnard said Good Samaritan Shelters have seen positive turnover in the past year as most of the people who left congregate shelters moved into some form of permanent living situation. email: mhirneisen@newspress.com
Of the 37 cannabis sites in Carpinteria, 13 sites have been approved to operate, and only five of those have received permits. This permitting process could be the reason some Carpinterians have been complaining about the odor wafting from greenhouses. Das Williams, 1st District supervisor, has been a name mentioned by the concerned residents, who believe he’s not doing enough to address the odor. However, he told the NewsPress that there are three key things that must happen in order for the smell to go away: finding technology that works, enforcing it and implementing permits. “It’s just hard in some of these places — there’s definitely folks who have a legitimate odor issue and some people that just hate cannabis that are using odor as the issue,” Mr. Williams said. “It’s hard for me as a regulator to know the difference.” He said the odor has, in fact, improved recently, citing the decreasing number of complaints. However, he added that the county is aware that some odor control technology
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS
“If we were to resolve the issue, it would actually have to be a joint effort where the residents are heard by the growers and the growers let the residents know what they’ve done as far as trying to mitigate the odors and problems,” Carpinteria Mayor Wade Nomura said regarding cannabis odor complaints in the city.
is not sufficient. The supervisor referenced a “number of compromises” between neighbors or “anticannabis folks” appealing a project and the growers themselves. One compromise Mr. Williams mentioned was Please see ODOR on A3
L O T T E RY RESULTS
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Pfizer announced Wednesday its COVID-19 vaccine is 100% effective in kids ages 12 to 15. That’s according to results from the pharmaceutical’s latest study, a report that local health officials say is a reassuring development in the fight for nationwide immunity. The Pfizer vaccine, which was created in partnership with German drugmaker BioNTech, was found to produce “robust” antibody responses in a clinical trial of more than 2,200 American youths aged 12 to 15 that began back in October 2020. The study detected 18 COVID-19 infections among the placebo group, while no one in the vaccinated group contracted the virus. These results translate to 100% efficacy and even exceed results recorded in a previous study of 16 to 25-year-olds, Pfizer said in a news release. Pfizer and BioNTech said they are sending data to the FDA for review, hoping the vaccine receives emergency clearance for use among people ages 12 to 15 as soon as possible. Pfizer is hopeful it can inoculate this sector of the population by the end of the summer, providing immunity for
adolescents by the start of the fall school term. Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious disease specialist at Cottage Health, called the report “reassuring” and noted that it is an important step in achieving herd immunity in Santa Barbara County. Thus far, the county’s vaccine effort has targeted adults, but Dr. Fitzgibbons said vaccinating adolescents will be an important step in amping up population protection moving forward. “Whenever we start to talk about herd immunity, I think the elephant in the room is providing protection to children,” Dr. Fitzgibbons told the NewsPress. “Just thinking of the huge proportion of our population that is under 18 or even under the age of 16 is an important part of our herd immunity conversation.” The specifics of how many adults must get vaccinated to reach herd immunity has been a topic of debate among health officials, but Dr. Fitzgibbons said it is likely somewhere between 70 to 85% of the population. As of Wednesday, 14.5% of Santa Barbara County’s population has been vaccinated, according to Dr. Fitzgibbons.
Officials respond to cannabis odor complaints
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Study: Pfizer vaccine effective for teens By MADISON HIRNEISEN
Good Samaritan Shelters increase capacity
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