GOINGS ON SANTA BARBARA : Culture on Campus : With UC Santa Barbara in session again, the school becomes a popular venue for arts and entertainment.

One way to tell that school is back in session is by looking at the arts and entertainment activities going on in Santa Barbara. As September winds down, UC Santa Barbara becomes quite a popular venue:

* A video-art exhibit titled “Eye for I: Video Self-Portraits” opened Wednesday at the University Art Museum. The traveling exhibit, curated by Raymond Bellour of the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, features 14 American and European artists and their high-tech self-portraits. The show will run through Oct. 30. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 893-2951.

* Wednesday also marked the opening of the “UCSB Art Studio Faculty Exhibition,” which will run through Oct. 30. University faculty, former faculty and visiting professors will display their wide-ranging talents.

* Single-show tickets go on sale today for UCSB’s Arts and Lectures series, which will run from mid-October through early May. The season will open Oct. 15 with a performance by Doug Varone and Dancers. Other shows will feature the Tokyo String Quartet, the Ohio Ballet, the Gyuto Monks Tibetan Tantric Choir, the Maria Benitez Dance Company, the American Indian Dance Theatre, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Spalding Gray, among others. For information, call 893-3535.

* Even though it’s not on campus, the Jessye Norman recital at the Arlington Theatre on Sunday has plenty to do with UCSB. Proceeds from the show will benefit the university’s Summer Vocal Institute. Norman, who has performed with top opera companies throughout the world, comes to Santa Barbara because of her longtime association with Elizabeth Mannion, vocal instructor and founder of the Vocal Institute. Norman will perform works by George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy and Manuel De Falla. The concert will begin at 4 p.m. The Arlington is located at 1317 State St. Tickets are $20, $30, $35 and $50, and they are selling quickly. Call the Arlington box office at 964-4408.

Carpinteria’s Francis Puccinelli Gallery is getting a jump on the traditional Nov. 2 Mexican celebration of life and death, “El Dia de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead).” An exhibit featuring various interpretations of this four-century-old custom is on display now. There will be an artists’ reception Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. The artists include Linda Benet, chairwoman of the art department at Santa Barbara City College, Santa Paula native Erik Davison and Santa Barbaran Nell Campbell. The exhibit closes Nov. 2. The Puccinelli Gallery is located at 888 Linden Ave., second floor. It’s open Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For information, call 684-6301.

At the Santa Barbara County Bowl this week: Linda Ronstadt on Saturday and the Sun Day Concert on, well, Sunday. Ronstadt needs no explanation. The Sun Day concert, on the other hand, may. More than 20 local musicians will be getting together for a four-hour reggae, Latin, salsa and world-beat marathon. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Children’s Education Project at the Santa Barbara Peace Resource Center. The concert will start at 2 p.m., but gates open at 1 p.m. and preconcert picnicking is encouraged. Tickets for both Ronstadt ($20 and $25) and the Sun Day Concert ($11.50) are available through the Bowl box office at 966-7566. The Bowl is located at 1122 N. Milpas St.

The Sunday Travel Film Series at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History kicks off this week--on Sunday, appropriately--with the movie “Jordan: The Desert Kingdom.” News correspondent Hal McClure, with 15 years of reporting from the Mideast and Asia, will lead the video tour through historic locales and Biblical sites. Show time is 3 p.m. The museum is located at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road. Tickets are $4. For more information, call 682-4711.