Tag archives: musuem

Art in the Castle
By Richard Mineards   |   July 4, 2023

It was quite the celebrity turnout when the Santa Barbara Museum of Art launched its latest exhibition The Private Universe of James Castle, which runs through September 17. With more than 90 works, the show features many of the most beautiful and accomplished drawings created by the extraordinarily gifted, profoundly deaf, self-taught artist, many of […]

A Journey Along Santa Barbara’s Historic Trails
By Hattie Beresford   |   July 12, 2022

John Muir once wrote, “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you… and cares will drop away like the leaves of Autumn.” The Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s latest exhibition celebrates the region’s increasingly popular hiking trails and public lands. Isolated by COVID, locked out of their gyms, and finally […]

A Night in the Old West
By Lynda Millner   |   April 26, 2022

As I drove up to the Santa Barbara Carriage and Western Art Museum, there was a trick roping expert twirling her rope and ready to entertain all the Montessori Center School parents, there to fundraise for their kids. That would be toddlers 18 months up through sixth grade. It had been two years since they […]

Eleanor van Cott Remembered
By Richard Mineards   |   April 19, 2022

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 […]

Lockwood and Huguette
By Hattie Beresford   |   March 22, 2022

Lockwood de Forest (Sr.) was already considered one of the best-known landscape painters in the United States when he made his first appearance in Santa Barbara in late 1902. Captivated by the landscape, he painted over 100 oil sketches of the countryside by February 1903. That month, 112 of them were exhibited at Mrs. Tadd’s […]

History on Display
By Richard Mineards   |   March 22, 2022

Santa Barbara Historical Museum is hosting two major side-by-side exhibitions with works by copper heiress Huguette Marcelle Clark and local landscapist Lockwood de Forest. It is the first exhibition of Clark’s impressive artwork since 1931, and is presented in collaboration with the Bellosguardo Foundation, which is running her former magnificent estate overlooking East Beach. Her […]

Go to Gogh
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 24, 2022

It’s been a very long time, or perhaps ever, since Santa Barbara has eagerly anticipated an exhibition as exciting as “Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources,” a landmark show that launches February 27 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The exhibition boasts 20 works of art by the Dutch master from his […]

In the Clouds
By Richard Mineards   |   February 8, 2022

CAMA – Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara – hosted the second concert of its international series at the Granada with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which has visited out Eden by the Beach more than 144 times since the venerable venue was built in 1924. Both organizations are celebrating their 103rd anniversaries. Under guest […]

Museum Opens a Trove from Its Collection
By Scott Craig   |   November 16, 2021

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, which moved from the confines of the Reynold’s Gallery to its current home in the Adams Center for the Visual Arts more than a decade ago, reveals the enormity of its holdings in “Academic, Barbizon, and Impressionist Artists: Highlights from the Permanent Collection” from November 11- December 18 in […]

Grand Reopening
By Lynda Millner   |   September 7, 2021

After six long years of renovation and $50 million, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) has reopened its doors to the public. As Mercedes Eichholz Director and CEO Larry Feinberg put it, “If you’re wondering where all the money went, realize that much of it is out of sight like seismic retrofitting; replacement of […]

Promoting Inclusivity: Community Helps Rethink SBMA’s Mission
By Nick Masuda   |   August 24, 2021

For Kandy Luria-Budgor, it was like looking at a very good-looking person, only to see them wearing the wrong clothes. So, she and dozens of other donors did something about it. And now the Santa Barbara Museum of Art looks glorious — both outside and inside. “The museum it was didn’t fit the scholarly and […]

Salt and Silver
By Lynda Millner   |   September 19, 2020

Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) recently held an opening reception for their latest exhibit, “Salt & Silver: Early Photography, 1840 – 1860.” There were over 100 seldom seen salt prints from the Wilson Centre for Photography in London with the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. These are some of the earliest […]

‘Field Day’ Not Far Afield
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 7, 2020

Back in the academic art world, the AD&A Museum at UCSB has launched a preview of  “Field Day,” its annual Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. The pre-show features projects in progress and studio shots, revealing the process of creating works for the show that includes sculpture, photography, installations, video, and painting.   The exhibit […]

Museum Awards Local Artists
By Scott Craig   |   June 6, 2019

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art kicked off its yearly exhibition featuring tri-county artists by handing out $3,000 in cash awards to winners at the opening reception May 16. Roxanne Sexauer, UC Long Beach professor of art, juried the exhibition, “Body and Soul: Annual Tri-County Juried Exhibition,” selecting paintings, prints, collages, sculptures, watercolors, and photographs […]

Off the Wall
By Lynda Millner   |   May 23, 2019

Every three years, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Women’s Board takes on a monumental task of an event called “Off The Wall” to raise funds for the Museum’s acquisitions, exhibitions, and education programs. This year it was under the direction of Leigh Shreves and her committee: Susan Bradley, Leisa Cosentino, Wendy Darling, Paula Farrington, […]

Feast Like the Romans Did
By Hana-Lee Sedgwick   |   October 4, 2018

It’s not every day you see a crowd of hungry revelers enjoying local food and wine while dressed in togas. Yet, that’s exactly what you’ll find at the “Feast of Apicius” event on Saturday, October 20, at the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum.  Held from 2 to 5 pm in Fleischmann Auditorium, this delicious wine […]

Florestal: Then and Now
By Lynda Millner   |   April 26, 2018

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) tried something new and different. The event began at the Lobero tent for a reception. After, the guests went into the historic theatre for a presentation by architect Marc Appleton titled “Florestal: Then and Now.” This talk was about architecture, garden, and a family chronicle of the Spanish Colonial […]