GOINGS ON : 2 Art Shows to View With an Open Mind : ‘Fish Tank Sonata’ begins Saturday. And dogs and alligators surf in Ron Anderson’s Steve Stein Gallery exhibition.

A pair of art exhibit openings lead the list of things to do/ or see this weekend up the coast. Both shows have a fairly important prerequisite attached: View them with an open mind.

Santa Barbara’s Contemporary Arts Forum will present photographer Arthur Tress’ “Fish Tank Sonata” exhibit beginning Saturday. And, yes, the collection of 63 photos is unique, as the title might suggest.

Tress spent three years traveling around the country, fish tank in hand, scouring flea markets in search of toys and props representative of 1940s and ‘50s America. The photos were taken of the props inside the water-filled fish tank, in front of thought-provoking backdrops and landscapes. The work is accompanied by prose written by Tress.

The photographer’s work has been exhibited in the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, and in other museums and galleries around the world. His exhibit at CAF will run through Sept. 2. There will be an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. It is on the second level of the Paseo Nuevo shopping center, at Chapala and De La Guerra streets. For information, call 966-5373.

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Also opening Saturday is a show by former UC Santa Barbara art student Ron Anderson, who will have his surfing-inspired, three-dimensional, light-hearted wall hangings on display at the Steve Stein Gallery in Montecito. Look for dogs and alligators getting set to hang 10. (Or would it be three or four?)

There will be opening receptions for Anderson from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The exhibit will run through Aug. 22. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. It is at 1155 Coast Village Road. Call 565-2032.

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Singer-songwriter Ellen Turner and her band Dudley will celebrate the release of their new tape, “Public Nudism,” on Friday night at Joseppi’s in Santa Barbara. The band will be on hand to perform, with the Cory Sipper Band opening. The festivities will begin about 9:30 p.m. The club is at 434 State St. Call 962-5516 for information.

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Santa Barbara’s Riviera Theatre, as part of its Saturday Encore Collection, will present Dustin Hoffman in “The Graduate,” beginning at 11 a.m. Tickets are $5. The theater is at 2044 Alameda Padre Serra. Call 965-3886 or 966-4556 for information.

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Little Jonny and the Giants will perform their country, blues and zydeco acoustics Sunday at the Concerts in the Park series at the bandstand in Santa Barbara’s Alameda Park. As always, the concert is free. And also as always, the park is situated at Micheltorena and Anacapa streets. Show time is 3 p.m. For information, call 963-0611, Ext. 4530.

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Michael and Valerie Nelson and the Magical Moonshine Theatre group will share animal stories with the help of life-size puppets, masks and musical instruments at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on Monday.

The show will include the story of Br’er Rabbit, who saves the forest from the nasty, animal-eating lion, and a Native American tale of Coyote and the Grizzly Bear, in which the traditional trickster Coyote saves Mountain Ram’s life.

Show time is 3 p.m. Tickets to the show are $2, with admission to the museum. The museum is at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road. Call 682-4711 for information.

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Miracle Worx Productions, a dinner theater company, is currently performing “Owl and the Pussycat” at the La Cantina Room in Santa Barbara’s Radisson Hotel. The offbeat love story that starred Alan Alda and Diana Sants when it opened in New York in 1964, will run through Aug. 28. This version stars Santa Barbara residents Marco Del Chiaro and Jacqueline Hayes. Show times are Thursday through Saturday at 9 p.m. (buffet dinner at 8 p.m.) and Sunday at 2 p.m. (buffet brunch at 1 p.m.) Tickets are $35. The show this Saturday will be a fund raiser for AIDS Counseling and Assistance programs. Call 963-0744, ext. 200 (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) or ext. 367 (5-11 p.m.). The hotel is located at 111 E. Cabrillo Blvd.