Jonathan Smith is a Santa Barbara man with plans to fly on a “magic carpet” adventure to bring artistic projections to those who need them. Smith is the Santa Barbara representative artist and volunteer for the mobile Flying Carpet Children Festival in Turkey, where refugee children can escape to a different world, even if just for an evening.
In Santa Barbara, Smith runs The Environment Makers Inc. corporation with his business and life partner Kym Cochran, who is also a theming artist in her own right. They focus primarily on lighting and projection projects around town, such as a historical projection inside the chapel at El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park, a nature projection inside the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, and another historical projection at the Old Santa Barbara Mission Museum, which are all on permanent display. All of their creative endeavors are educational or aim to bring the community closer together. Smith is bringing this same bridging energy on his trip across the globe to the Flying Carpet Children Festival.
“Every year, the Flying Carpet Children Festival gathers and hosts around 40-50 composers, performers, circus artists, dancers, multidisciplinary artists, and designers to create the most magical experience possible through a two-week residency in the city of Mardin,” the festival’s website says. They travel from cities to villages in Southeast Turkey to share their performance art with the children there. Smith is one of the collective’s 58 artists and volunteers from 24 countries selected to put the show together…