GOINGS ON SANTA BARBARA : Worldly Art : Sterling K Gallery is finally open--and home to 22 artists of many nationalities.

About 700 art and/or party lovers welcomed the Sterling K Gallery to Santa Barbara last week at a grand-opening celebration that was better late than never.

The gallery, originally scheduled to open in May but delayed by construction, is home to the work of 22 artists from around the world--Spain, France, the Soviet Union, Israel, Mexico, Yugoslavia, Japan, Poland and the United States. The artwork ranges from bronze sculptures to serigraphs, from realistic to Impressionist.

“They’re contemporary artists; they’re all alive right now,” co-owner Mary Knarr said. “A lot of them, I feel very strongly, are up-and-coming artists of the ‘90s. Many of them are young, some in their late 30s and 40s . . . old for me, young for artists.”

The gallery is in the Paseo Nuevo Mall, across from Nordstrom. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 962-0606.

“Facing the Finish: Some Recent California Art,” a collection of work by 10 young California artists, continues on display at the Contemporary Arts Forum in Santa Barbara. The exhibit was arranged by two curators at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where it will be on display next fall.

The works touch on subjects such as ecological disaster, disease and “extreme personal difficulties.” Nevertheless, the curators describe the collective mood as one of “guarded optimism,” to “get on with it, to take stock clearly and honestly and to proceed to make something.” The exhibit will run through Aug. 17. The Contemporary Arts Forum is at 653 Paseo Nuevo, second floor. For information, call 966-5373.

Jazz pianist David Benoit will perform in the courtyard of the Gainey Winery in Santa Ynez on Friday night. The winery is three miles east of Solvang on California 246 and 30 minutes north of Santa Barbara on California 154. Tickets for the show are $25. The courtyard opens at 5:30 p.m., with the concert beginning at 7 p.m. Picnicking is encouraged. For information, call 688-0558.

The Santa Barbara City College Theatre Arts Department will stage William Finn’s “March of the Falsettos” for a 10-night run beginning Friday. The play is part of a trilogy focusing on the life of a bisexual man. Show time is 8 p.m. at the college’s Studio Theatre, located on the west side of campus at the 800 block of Cliff Drive. Tickets are $8, $6 for senior citizens. Call 965-5935.

More campus theater: UC Santa Barbara’s Theatre Artists Group will present “Memoir: Sarah Bernhardt’s Last Summer” by Canadian playwright John Murrell, beginning tonight at the Studio Theatre on campus. Faculty members Judith Olauson and Frank Ries portray Bernhardt and her servant Georges Pitou, respectively, in a story of the flamboyant actress’s life on stage and off. The play runs through Wednesday. Show time is 8 p.m. except Sunday, when there will be a 2 p.m. matinee only. Tickets are $8. Call 893-3535 or 893-3241.