The Santa Ynez Chamber of Commerce held its first Art Walk from October 2 to 11, 2026. The event page counted 24 shops and landmarks, 12 special events and ten days of free browsing along Sagunto Street and the blocks around it. Much of what the Art Walk featured was already here: custom hats, hatbands, leather headstalls, Western silver, a saddle feature and a carriage house. Those trades and collections were in the township before the Art Walk, and most are still open this week.
Ten Days, Two Dozen Doors
The Chamber's Art Walk page set a simple format. Every participating business stayed open its regular hours for all ten days with artwork on view, and some added a special event on particular dates. In its September preview, Noozhawk put the count at more than 25 businesses, each showing an artist of its choosing. The outlet described the range this way:
"The variety of art will range from painting by notable local creators, sculpture, pottery, one-of-a-kind hat-making, leather art, hand-crafted silver jewelry, and even the art of creative cocktails."
Hat-making, leather and silver were listed right next to painting and sculpture as equals. The guest list shows why.
Much of the Art Could Be Worn, Ridden or Hung in a Tack Room
Sort the participants by medium and the working Western trades make up a large share of the program:
- KJ Murphy's hosted Joaquin Hat Bands, Vaqueros de las Olas, Chris West Originals, Old Cowdogs Western Silver and Andrew Leggett, alongside paintings by Joel Phillips.
- Charlotte's featured Lazy K Leather. Its maker, Keddy, is a local leather craftswoman who makes purses, wallets, dog collars and horse headstalls.
- The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum was listed with Bill Reynolds and Saddles of the West.
- Valley Girl showed VenaVena handcrafted leather next to pottery by Alana Trubitz and work by Troy Kelley and Nicole Odacachian Burnett.
- John Iwerks spent a morning painting a horse outdoors at the corner of Edison and Sagunto.
- On kickoff night, Ramon Becerra gave free horse-drawn carriage rides around town.
The more familiar gallery work had a place too. Contemporary oil painter Hilary Brock showed at MER, watercolorist Lisa Baker at Ranch and Back, Natalie's Folk Art at Luna, and Charles Lister painted the windows at Renae's Boutique. SYV Pantry opened a pop-up for the Buen Dia graphic artist, and Bob's Well Bread was listed with local artists. Even with all that, a visitor walking the whole route would have seen as much tack, headwear and harness as framed canvas. Most of those pieces are made to be used, and the shops that sell them keep selling them after the event ends.
The Shops Kept Selling the Work After October 11
The kickoff party, the Ranchero Whiskey tasting and the live set by Christopher Bartolic at KJ Murphy's ended with the Art Walk. The hat business carries on. KJ Murphy's describes itself as a custom-hat experience where a customer builds a one-of-a-kind hat, and appointments can be booked through its website.
Artiste Winery & Gallery works the same way. Its current feature, "Harvested Light," pairs Drew Davis's paintings with the winery's fall releases and runs from September 4 to November 1. During the Art Walk, Davis held a Fall Vines acrylic workshop and an artist reception there. According to Artiste's site, the tasting gallery is open Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome and reservations are recommended. The site also promotes painting and tasting in its art studio and an interactive wine-blending workshop, but it lists no dated schedule for late 2026.
For a reader on a Thursday, that leaves two Thursdays and a Monday, plus the weekend days between them, before the Davis show closes on November 1.
The Permanent Collections Behind the Storefronts
Shops sell the craft. Three institutions in the township keep its history, and each of them was part of the Art Walk.
The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum & Parks-Janeway Carriage House calls its holdings "one of the finest carriage and wagon collections west of the Mississippi." The carriage house shows a permanent collection of wheeled vehicles. The museum's newest exhibit, "Shavings & Sawdust: Early Woodworking Tools from the Santa Ynez Valley," opened Thursday, September 24. The tools that built the valley's wagons, barns and saddle trees are a natural companion to the hatbands and headstalls down the street.
The Chumash Museum at 3500 Numancia Street joined the Art Walk through its "Second Thursday at the Museum" series. The October 8 program, from 5 to 8 p.m., featured Dr. Katya Adachi Serrano, an integrative medicine specialist and clinical herbalist. The series is a free after-hours lecture with a speaker, Q&A and reception, and it includes free admission to the museum exhibits and the Cultural Park. Upcoming dates will appear on the museum's events calendar. The regular hours are Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Old Mission Santa Inés gave two free Art Walk tours on October 6 and 10 that focused on its 18th-century artwork. Those tours were a one-time offer. The artwork stays, and the Mission's tour page lists two regular ways to see it:
| Option | When | Adults | Youth | Free admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Docent-led tour, about one hour, book ahead | Wednesday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | $12, ages 18 and up | $8, ages 6 to 17 | Children 5 and under |
| Self-guided visit | 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | $9; seniors 64 and up $7 | $5, ages 6 to 12 | Children 5 and under, veterans, active military with ID |
If you're bringing a group, plan ahead. Docent tours for groups of up to 15 need two weeks' notice, and larger groups need a month. Booking now covers Thanksgiving-week visitors. A party bigger than 15 needs a month's notice, so dates in late November or later are your realistic options.
The Evening Version Runs Every Week
The Art Walk's evening program also points to something that runs all year. On October 8, the Maverick Saloon hosted "Tales of the Tavern" with Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The saloon's regular week covers similar ground. As of its October 2026 calendar, Wednesdays bring two-step lessons for $15 and karaoke from 8 p.m. to midnight. Fridays have open mic from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Saturdays have line-dance lessons from 6 to 8 p.m. for $10, followed by live bands. The Saturday listings run through October 24 and 31.
Dates Between Now and the First Week of November
- Saturday, October 24 and Saturday, October 31: line-dance lessons and live bands at the Maverick Saloon.
- Through Saturday, October 31: the valleywide Scarecrow Fest, as reported by the Santa Ynez Valley News. Businesses in Santa Ynez, Solvang, Buellton, Los Olivos, Los Alamos and Ballard compete for votes and the Harvest Cup, in categories that include most humorous, spookiest, best photo opportunity and best use of recycled materials. You can vote at syvscarecrows.com.
- Sunday, November 1: last day of Drew Davis's "Harvested Light" at Artiste Winery & Gallery.
- Saturday, November 7: the Historical Museum's 42nd Annual Vaquero Benefit dinner and auction. The museum lists the event as sold out.
Several Art Walk makers have work in shops that keep regular hours. Lazy K Leather showed at Charlotte's, Old Cowdogs Western Silver at KJ Murphy's, and Alana Trubitz's pottery at Valley Girl. With the Art Walk over, you can find them during an ordinary week. A sold-out Vaquero dinner, a free lecture series and a hatter who works by appointment were all on the calendar before October 2 and are still there after October 11.
Many of us at Monument Global Estates know this township from the saddle and the arena as well as the closing table. We're always glad to talk about the craftspeople, barns and backroads that make Santa Ynez what it is. When you'd like to compare notes on ranch life here, Let's Connect.
