Tag archives: Historical Museum

Supporters of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum turned out in droves when Jeanne Buchanan, membership director for more than two decades, marked her retirement. The Minnesota native, who is moving to Milwaukee to join her four sisters in August, was presented with a signed photo of our Eden by the Beach as a memory for […]

The Amazons were out in force at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum for Women United’s Blue in Bloom lunch co-chaired by Alice Hampton and Julie Heider-Gray. The fun fest, which raised more than $20,000 for United Way, featured two keynote speakers Dr. Melissa Drake, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist in Santa Barbara, and Diana Rigby, superintendent of […]

English-born artist Don Louis Perceval is the focus of the latest exhibition at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum with His Vision of the West, which runs through August 17. Curated by Marlene Miller, Perceval’s interests were mainly the colorful people and cultures native to the desert realms. Perceval made Montecito his home for the last […]

Santa Barbara Historical Museum had more than 300 lunar-tics at the Members Holiday Soirée under a full moon, which also marked the opening of two new exhibitions: The Chair, featuring seating through the ages, and J. Walter Collinge, displaying the photographer’s images of our Eden by the Beach before and after the 1925 earthquake. The […]

Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s latest exhibition celebrates half a century of Summer Solstice, the colorful and creative annual parade on State Street. The event started in 1974 when mime and artist Michael Gonzales celebrated his birthday with friends on the town’s main thoroughfare. Fifty years later nearly 100,000 people line the street to experience something […]

Santa Barbara Historical Museum went to gown with its latest exhibition Seasonal Soirées: Evening Couture 1880-1980 curated by former museum president Sharon Bradford, whose previous show was The West-Dressed Woman featuring frontier wear during the 19th and 20th centuries from the museum’s vaults. Santa Barbara even launched the career of Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo – […]

Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s latest exhibition, Project Fiesta, marking the 99th anniversary of Old Spanish Days, was a Herculean task. Museum president Dacia Harwood and her colleagues had to sort through thousands of photos in the institution’s Gledhill Library to pick just 99 shots, mostly black and white, taken since Fiesta was founded in 1924. […]

A pertinent historical and classical portrait exhibition is on view at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum titled, “Clarence Mattei (1883-1945), Portrait of a Community,” curated by the museum staff in conjunction with Santa Barbara historian Erin Graffy. Mattei’s portraits feature local to international luminaries, politicians, film stars, and the elite. His father Felix founded Mattei’s […]

It was a double header at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when the august institution hosted its annual holiday party for 275 guests, as well as opening its latest exhibition, “Clarence Mattei – A Portrait of Our Community.” Mattei, whose parents owned the eponymous Mattei’s Tavern, was sponsored to attend the prestigious Mark Hopkins Art […]

Dietary concerns went out the window when the Santa Barbara Historical Museum was the venue for a 14-course dinner for 40 guests as part of a gastronomic evening of Spanish cuisine hosted by the Consul of Tourism Affairs in Los Angeles, local California missions honcho David Bolton, and Gonzalo Sarmiento. Two of Madrid’s top chefs, […]

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum was the venue for another Fiesta party. This time a kickoff for the Montecito Bank & Trust and their loyal customers. They had outgrown their own bank as a party place. I always liked going up to the teller window and withdrawing a margarita instead of dollars. Their motto is […]

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum became a page out of a book about Sevilla with their La Fiesta del Museo Old Spanish Days party in the courtyard. We celebrated the culture, the dance, and the cuisine of one of my favorite places on Earth. My family was lucky enough to live there for seven years. […]

Fiesta fever was palpable when the Santa Barbara Historical Museum hosted its La Fiesta del Museo, chaired by Sharon Bradford, for the first time in two years with 300 traditionally garbed guests helping raise 10% of the popular institution’s annual budget. A colorful variety of musical acts kept the fiesta fans entertained including Juan Zaragoza […]

A new exhibit at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum celebrates the region’s hiking trails and public lands through historic photographs, paintings, and historic items from the museum’s collections. Take a Hike, Save the World is a visual journey through our Eden by the Beach’s most scenic areas, as seen by artists and photographers beginning in […]

After a two-year absence given the pandemic, the Dream Foundation hosted its 11th annual Flower Empower lunch at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, with a record 239 guests raising more than $140,000 for the popular organization that fulfills the final wishes of terminally-ill adults. “It’s so nice to be together again with real people and […]

Munificence reigned supreme when the Santa Barbara Education Foundation held its annual Hope Awards at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum honoring Montecito uber philanthropist Sara Miller McCune and Frank Stevens, who has been involved with the organization for its entire 37-year history. Tributes were paid to the dynamic duo by Barbara Keyani, former executive director […]

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) is having a plethora of exhibits. They recently had an evening with curator Jeremy Tessmer (from Sullivan Goss gallery), who took a personal look at one of Santa Barbara’s most acclaimed artists, Lockwood de Forest. The Museum was lucky enough to have a grand collection of his works given […]

On a personal note, I remember Eleanor Van Cott, a longtime trustee and former president of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, who has just moved to more heavenly pastures at the age of 99.  A native of New York, Eleanor, best known for efforts to make our town’s University Club inclusive of women, worked for […]

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) has been a busy place lately with not one but two exhibits. One is copper heiress Huguette Clark’s work, not shown for 80 years and the other is Lockwood de Forest. Huguette’s collection is on view in collaboration with the Bellosguardo Foundation. There’s even a recently discovered personal photo […]

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) held a member appreciation soiree over the holidays. The courtyard looked so festive with all the tables decked out in sparkly gold tablecloths. The tapa table people were busy making tacos and pizza and we were busy eating them. There was a band playing and no COVID worries since […]