COMMUNITY

Artisan Exhibits

Santa Monica Bead & Design Show showcased makers and designers

By Kamala Kirk

From April 22 to 24, the Santa Monica Bead & Design Show took place at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel. The three-day show presented 150 exhibits of artisan jewelry, beads, gemstones, clothing, handcrafted textiles and accessories. Attendees met artists, artisans and tradespeople showcasing vast and eclectic displays of new and old, traditional and contemporary, finished pieces and components. From handcrafted beads and jewelry to hand sewn clothing, fine gems, antique beads and finds, showgoers enjoyed shopping the wide array of unique items and one-of-a-kind pieces. Since 1992, under the tutelage of Anna Johnson, Bead & Design shows have promoted a wide diversity of exhibitors to come together and exhibit their work. Having worked and lived as an artisan and tradesperson, Johnson wanted to promote what she loved most and proceeded to create and promote the first bead shows in the U.S. She produced the first Bead & Design Show in Tucson called To Bead True Blue, which was a great success and within a few years, grew to 1,000 exhibitors with attendees coming from around the world to buy direct from the source and to take workshops, classes and seminars. “It was an amazing event with many happy customers who enjoyed visiting and shopping,” said show manager Casey Kennerson. “We can’t wait to see everyone again. We will be back October 21 to 23 at the Culver City Hilton and then at the Fairmont again next April, both of these events will be even larger with more exhibits. Check out our website for updates and show details.”

Santa Monica Bead & Design Show

beadanddesign.com Nazih Youssef in his booth Silver Egypt at the Santa Monica Bead & Design Show.

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Attendees browse the enormous bead collection from Bead Resource Corp.

Joy Klein works on some handmade pieces at her booth Wristy Business Melod Oksa and Heidi Knight browse the clothing from JQ Couture.

Emily King and Benny Singh pose for a portrait at their Gemini Gem booth.

Looking to the Stars

Westside filmmaker funds monuments for underrepresented astronauts

By Bridgette M. Redman

It doesn’t matter what age you are, there is still time to be inspired. For Santa Monica resident Steven Barber, a documentary filmmaker and CEO of Venicebased Vanilla Fire productions, that meant an opportunity to pay tribute to his childhood heroes. What he sees as his most inspired success also came out of a disappointment. During his youth, Barber’s father worked on the “moon buggy” as a General Motors employee and during his pre-teen years, he got to meet many astronauts, all of whom became his heroes. One of the reasons he admires them so much is because he understands the danger involved in what they do and has never wanted to do it himself. “I like the earth, I like oxygen,” Barber said. When the 50th anniversary of the moon landing neared, he Santa Monica resident Steven Barber, a documentary filmmaker and CEO of Venicebased Vanilla Fire productions, has funded the creation of several monuments to honor underrepresented astronauts.

PHOTOS CREDIT: CHRIS MORTENSON wanted to do a documentary on one of his close friends—Buzz Aldrin, one of the two men who first walked on the moon. However, they ran into too many legal barriers and the project had to be canceled. Barber took a ride on his bike and that was when inspiration struck. He would build monuments to the Apollo crews. After a few phone calls, he hooked up with a marine at the Kennedy Space Center who was familiar with his documentary work, particularly “Return to Tarawa,” about MIAs in World War II. It was something Barber found serendipitous—that he would find someone who actually knew of his documentary work and was a fan of several of his movies. It was something that would open doors for him that might not have otherwise been opened. “Everything in my life has led to what I’m doing now,” Barber said.

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He was told if he could raise the money, the sculptures could go up in a Space Garden. Barber began fundraising and was able to get the finances to hire Mark and George Lundeen and Joey Bainer to work on sculptures of the Apollo 11 mission and the Apollo 13 project. Lundeen Sculptures is based in Colorado. Both are now open to the public. The Apollo 11 monument is at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and the Apollo 13 monument is at the Houston Space Center. But Barber didn’t stop with the Apollo crew monuments. One of the things he learned was how very few monuments there are of women. Only 2% of all monuments are of women— fewer than dogs and cats, which make up 5% of monuments. So, Barber set his sights on Sally Ride and Mae Jemison, both female astronauts. Ride was the first American woman in space, taking trips in 1983 and 1984. She was the third woman in space, as the Soviet Union sent Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982. Born in Encino in 1951, Ride died in 2012 in La Jolla. While Ride wasn’t from Santa Monica, Barber discovered that she was buried in the Santa Monica Woodlawn Cemetery, mere blocks from his home. He said he often visits her and talks to her, keeping her up to date on his project. The project? A sculpture of Sally Ride that will be placed at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island in New York. The dedication will be June 17 of this year. Made by the Lundeens and Bainer, Barber raised the money to fund the creation of a gold and bronze statue of Ride that stands at 7 feet tall. It wasn’t easy to find funding—especially since shortly after he launched this project, the pandemic started. Barber said he reached out to every billionaire he could. He was especially disappointed that he couldn’t get female CEOs and billionaires interested in the project. But he managed to get the funding and while the sculpture was built, he filmed every step of the way in preparation for a future documentary focused on Ride. Once the Ride statue is installed, Barber plans to focus his efforts on more people underrepresented in the United States’ current sculpture memorials. Next up is Jemison, who was the first Black woman to be accepted into NASA’s astronaut training program and the first Black woman to enter space on Sept. 12, 1992. Born in 1956, she is also an engineer and physician. Jemison and Barber have been talking about the monument and she has given her approval to have it done. While raising money for the Jemison monument, Barber is also raising money to honor Ellen Ochoa, the LA astronaut who was the first Hispanic woman in space. She flew four shuttle missions—something Barber said qualifies her as an “official bad ass” because of how dangerous shuttle missions are. She spent nearly 1,000 hours in space in 1993, 1994, 1999 and 2002. She then went on to become the first Hispanic director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He’ll continue to raise money to see more underrepresented astronauts recognized in the country’s monuments—and making documentaries about their lives. It is his hope, though, that having found his inspiration that his best ideas are yet to come. “The Apollo sculptures aren’t going to be my best idea,” Barber said. “Sally Ride isn’t going to be my best idea. My best ideas are still ahead of me.”

Argonaut 4.81x5.85

One of Barber’s most recent projects is a sculpture of female astronaut Sally Ride that will be placed at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island in New York.

Vanilla Fire Productions

vanillafire.com Instagram: @stevenbarber8138

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