By Hamp Simmons
Special to the Daily Press

After duly honoring the dead with all of the Dias de los Muertos events this week, I’m ready to go out this weekend and spend some quality time with the living! And there are some really great ways to do that this weekend.

Unfortunately, most of them take place on Saturday night, so you’ll have to decide which of these lively events you’ll go for. Any one of them will be great, but people like me who can’t make up their minds will have to figure out how to take them all in at once. But trust me, it can be done.

Great Northern
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
1639 18th Street, Santa Monica

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There’s a fascinating evening in store for you at the 18th Street Arts Center on Saturday night. There will be opening receptions for two new group exhibitions — “Does Religion Kill?” and “20/20 — New Polaroid Portraits.” Great Northern will be performing their own style of cinematic pop rock in a free concert and some of the center’s most intriguing artists including Phranc, Joe Biel, Lisa Freeman and visiting artists from Taiwan and Australia will open their studios to the public.

For more info, call (310) 453-3711.

Greg Santos at the See Line Gallery
Saturday, Nov. 4, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
See Line Gallery
1812 Berkeley Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 829 1727

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One of Santa Monica’s newest commercial galleries, See Line Gallery, presents the first Los Angeles solo exhibition of paintings by Greg Santos. Working from his own photographs of the television screen, the artist employs video and photography to create light-filled paintings that transfix the viewer.

Heat & Light: A Pan-American Classical Music Marathon
Saturday, Nov. 4, from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Jacaranda
Barnum Hall
Santa Monica High School
601 Pico Boulevard

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The beautifully restored Barnum Hall, built in 1938 by the WPA, will host Jacaranda’s three-concert marathon Heat and Light! Thirty-five extraordinary musicians will perform works by 12 composers from the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Cuba, including Copland, Ives, Ginastera, Varese, Golijov, Roldan, Revueltas, Adams, Harrison, Reich, Cage and Riley.

The concerts start at 4 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 10 p.m.; ending at midnight. The three concerts will be separated by a dinner break and a dessert/coffee break with bold and seductive treats prepared on site by the chefs of Border Grill and Ciudad.

Sunday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Santa Monica Playhouse
1211 4th Street
(310) 394-9779

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And finally, on Sunday night, Santa Monica Playhouse’s own diva extraordinaire, Evelyn Rudie, premieres her new show, “Audition! The Musical.” Billed as a hilarious ride on the Hollywood roller coaster of life, the show is based on all-too-true Hollywood stories. Get there early for the buffet supper at 6 p.m. and then stay late for the dessert reception afterward. You’ll be glad you didn’t miss this delightful evening.

So, did you figure out how to do all three on Saturday night? Well, hit the Jacaranda marathon early, grab an enchilada from the Border Grill folks after the first concert, and then zip on over to See Line Gallery. From there, it’s just a short jog to 18th Street for you adventurous types. And then head on back to Jacaranda at Barnum Hall and catch the last of the marathon. With all that running around, you’ll have burned burn off enough calories to treat yourself to dessert.

Did you know that Santa Monica leads the way with the highest proportion of creative workers — more than six times the national average — than other centers of creativity such as New York, San Francisco, Berkeley and Los Angeles? Don’t miss out on learning even more about how important the arts are in Santa Monica and what is in store for their future on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at the Santa Monica Main Library, when we present the draft recommendations of Creative Capital.

Comments or suggestions for the Palette? Send them to Artpalette.mailbox@smgov.net.