What counts as art in a town that has a saloon, a historic mission and a carriage house within a few blocks? The Santa Ynez Chamber of Commerce gave its answer in the roster for its first Santa Ynez Art Walk, which runs October 2 through 11, 2026, across the Santa Ynez township. The Chamber's announcement lists painting, sculpture, pottery, one-of-a-kind hat-making, leather art, handcrafted silver jewelry and "the art of creative cocktails."
The order of that list matters less than the names under it. Read shop by shop, much of the roster is the township's own trades: custom hats, hat bands, Western silver, leather goods made for horses as well as people, and a museum exhibit about saddles. The walk has painters too, and the program sets aside time for them. Still, the inaugural edition reads mostly as a catalog of what Sagunto Street and the surrounding blocks already make.
The Roster, Shop by Shop
The Chamber's landing page lists the participating businesses and what each is showing. These are the entries with the clearest ties to working craft:
| Shop | Featured makers | What they make |
|---|---|---|
| KJ Murphy's | Joaquin Hat Bands, Old Cowdogs Western Silver, Chris West Originals, Vaqueros De Las Olas, Joel Phillips Paintings, Andrew Leggett | Custom hats, hat bands, Western silver, paintings |
| Charlotte's | Lazy K Leather, Jock Favour | Purses, wallets, dog collars, horse headstalls |
| Valley Girl | Alana Trubitz, VenaVena, Troy Kelley, Nicole Odacachian Burnett | Pottery, handcrafted leather, art |
| Perch Lifestyle | Joanna DeGeneres, Karen Bezuidenhout | Pottery, art |
| SYV Historical Museum | Bill Reynolds | "Saddles of the West" |
| Pony Cocktails + Kitchen | No artist named | Creative cocktails |
The Charlotte's entry shows the pattern most clearly. The landing page describes Lazy K Leather's maker, Keddy, as a local leather craftswoman who makes purses, wallets, dog collars and horse headstalls. A headstall is everyday tack. In most towns it would never appear on an art walk program, and in Santa Ynez it is one of the headline entries on opening night.
The museum entry fits the same pattern. The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum is showing Bill Reynolds and "Saddles of the West," so the township's historical institution is taking part through saddlery.
Friday Starts at Four
The walk opens Friday, October 2, with kickoff parties across downtown Santa Ynez from 4 to 7 p.m. Each merchant hosts its own version of the evening:
- Artiste Winery & Gallery has a live DJ and a wine tasting with artist Cassandria Blackmore.
- Charlotte's is pouring Stolpman wine, with Lazy K Leather as guest artist.
- KJ Murphy's and Dennee's Interiors stay open until 8 p.m. with a Ranchero Whiskey tasting and live music by Christopher Bartolic. Dennee's also hosts a Pink Tomato cookbook signing with treats from the book, plus Michelle Juliet, Rachelle Witt Designs, Vive and the Golden Gait Collection.
- MER serves light refreshments and shows contemporary oil painter Hilary Brock.
- Valley Girl shows pottery by Alana Trubitz and work by Nicole Odacachian Burnett.
- Forage Floral runs art activities all day, with a self-led brass embossing workshop that needs no sign-up.
- SYV Pantry opens a pop-up by graphic artist Buen Dia.
A free horse-drawn carriage ride from Ramon Becerra will loop around town that evening, listed alongside the Charlotte's party. Opening night therefore has a hat-band maker, a silversmith, a leather craftswoman and a carriage driver all working the same few blocks at the same time.
The landing page spells the interiors shop "Dennee's." Noozhawk and the Santa Maria Times both use "Denee's." This post follows the Chamber's spelling.
The Painters Get Their Own Hours
The crafts lead on Friday, and the fine-art program fills in over the weekend and the following week. The Chamber schedule has John Iwerks painting a horse outdoors at 9 a.m. at the corner of Edison and Sagunto. The subject fits the rest of the roster.
That afternoon, from 1 to 4 p.m., Artiste Winery & Gallery hosts a Fall Vines acrylic workshop and an artist reception with Drew Davis. Artiste's Santa Ynez tasting salon at 1095-A Edison Street held its grand opening in October 2024, so this is its second fall in the township. Perch Lifestyle holds an open house during the walk with potter Joanna DeGeneres and artist Karen Bezuidenhout.
The second half of the walk adds two more names. Valley Girl brings in VenaVena's handcrafted leather and art by Troy Kelley, and Ranch and Back shows watercolor artist Lisa Baker. Even at Valley Girl, the leather goods are shown next to the paintings.
The Oldest Work on the Route
Some stops have nothing for sale, and those carry the longest history on the route. Old Mission Santa Inés offers two free docent-led tours, on October 6 and October 10, with emphasis on the mission's historic 18th-century artwork. The Chamber lists the tour at 11:30 a.m. It is free, and donations are appreciated.
The Chumash Cultural Center adds its Second Thursday at the Museum event on October 8 from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring Dr. Katya Adachi Serrano. The Chamber describes her as the founder of Serrano Natural Health, an integrative medicine specialist and a clinical herbalist. Forage Floral holds a figure-drawing workshop at 6 p.m. the same evening, and it requires a reservation.
The Santa Ynez Little Branch Library, which the Chamber's announcement calls the "historic little Branch Library," offers children's craft packets on Saturday, October 3, from 1 to 4 p.m. Dennee's Interiors puts out chalk in its courtyard the same day for a chalk art fair.
Across the program, the mission's 18th-century work, the Chumash Cultural Center, the historical museum's saddles and the craftspeople on the sidewalk together cover several centuries of the township's history. None of it is brought in from outside.
Music has a slot too. The Maverick Saloon hosts "Tales of the Tavern" with Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore at 7 p.m. on one of the midweek evenings. The Chamber's day tabs suggest Wednesday, October 7, but check the date on the landing page before you plan around it.
Ten Days on Regular Hours
Apart from the dated events, the walk runs during each shop's regular business hours for the full ten days. The Chamber notes that every participating store has artwork on view during normal hours. This makes the walk different from a single-evening art night. Most of the program can be seen on an ordinary errand.
The two weekends of the walk also fall in very different weeks on the valley calendar.
- October 1–4. Taste of the Santa Ynez Valley runs four days across Ballard, Buellton, Los Alamos, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and Solvang. Its main grand tasting is in Solvang on October 3, and it closes October 4 with a vineyard walk at Zaca Mesa and a brunch at The Tavern at Zaca Creek in Buellton.
- October 3–4. The 2026 Chumash Intertribal Pow Wow takes place at the Highway 246 and Meadowvale Road venue in Santa Ynez.
- October 5–11. The larger festivals have ended. The art walk's second week holds the mission tours, the Second Thursday event, the figure-drawing workshop and the Valley Girl and Ranch and Back showings.
- October 17. The Santa Barbara Vintners Festival Grand Tasting takes place at Firestone Estate, 4875 Foxen Canyon Road, with more than 70 wineries and more than 25 food purveyors advertised.
The valley-wide Scarecrow Fest runs through all of October in all six communities.
The opening weekend overlaps with the year's biggest food-and-wine weekend and with the Pow Wow down the road. The second week has the township mostly to itself, and much of the walk's quieter programming falls in those days. The Santa Maria Times paraphrased event contact Chris Bashforth as saying the walk is meant to show the breadth of creative talent in the Santa Ynez Valley. Noozhawk's preview on September 25 described the walk as covering a "full palette" of local creators.
The full list of businesses and daily events is on the Santa Ynez Chamber of Commerce Art Walk page. Questions go to [email protected] or (805) 350-8517.
Many valley properties are prized for the same ranch heritage this walk features, including working barns, riding trails and tack rooms. If you own one of those properties and want to understand its place in today's market, or you are looking for one, The Morehart Group advises on Santa Ynez Valley and equestrian homes with discretion and local knowledge. Request a private consultation with our specialists.
