Tag archives: Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Hello Loves! It’s been a Society minute with many newsworthy notables coming your way. This weekend I had the utmost honor to attend the SB Museum of Art’s celebration for the 75th Anniversary Year of its “Ambassadors” (formerly known as the SBMA Women’s Board) on Saturday, April 15 at the SB Cabrillo Pavilion. The celebration […]
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) held its second annual Gilded Gala on Saturday, February 28, at Rosewood Miramar Beach. Proceeds from the event support the museum’s commitment to art, education, and community. Guests arrived in elegantly fashionable black-tie and formal attire. The reception featured a formal step-and-repeat area with a Getty Images photographer, […]
It is always such a pleasure to cover the SB Museum of Art Ambassadors’ New Members Luncheon, held annually in January. The group, formerly titled the SB Museum of Art Women’s Board, officially has been renamed in 2026 to reflect both its mission and open-to-all member policy. This year is an especially important year for […]
Written by Maria McCall It was a who’s who of Santa Barbara’s arts patrons as the Santa Barbara Museum of Art welcomed its top donors and museum circles members for an exclusive viewing of its latest extravaganza. Director and CEO Amada Cruz greeted guests with her contagious enthusiasm, inviting them to view the collections and […]
On a very rainy Monday evening, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art saw its celebratory event for the SBMA Circles of Leadership, benefactors, directors, and curators with special guests become its latest nouvelle vague. I was invited to attend and report for our readers by Lindsey Garrison SBMA director of marketing and communications, and SBMA’s […]
Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Executive Director and CEO Amada Cruz is understandably proud of the museum’s current exhibition. The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse traces the origins of the independent artist collective known as the Impressionists via a rich array of paintings, including exquisite examples by very famous artists, including Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, […]
This week’s Society Edit is full-on-art! Are you watching Paris Fashion Week’s SS26 and pining for the Impressionism that came out of SS25? Are you recalling Women’s Wear Daily and Artnet presenting Impressionist artists Monet, Manet, Vincent van Gogh, and Pissaro in the couture designer fashion books, and that art literally printed on the fabrics? […]
A notable new arrival now graces Westmont’s campus: Maternity, a nearly 2,000-pound bronze sculpture by renowned South American artist Fernando Botero. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art has loaned the work to Westmont from the collection of the late Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree. Standing about nine feet tall, the piece – in Botero’s self-definitive style of […]
To all my art-society followers, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, it is time to buy that golden ticket and take the ride to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s 2nd Annual Gilded Gala scheduled for February 28, 2026, which as you read this, is close to selling out (say no to #fomo). Do […]
On March 14th, the Senate passed a continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025, providing funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through September 2025. On the evening of March 14th, President Trump then ordered that the IMLS – the singular federal agency dedicated to funding library services – “be eliminated to the […]
Patricia Iglesias Peco (born in 1974, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is part of the SBMA’s current exhibition featuring Latin Women. Titled Accretion, the exhibit is curated by Lauren Karazija, SBMA Curatorial Assistant of Contemporary Art. In her interview with me on the exhibit, Karazija explained, “Accretion celebrates the rich diversity of Latina experiences, moving beyond and […]
In what will turn out to be setting the bar for galas in our town, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s 1st Annual Gilded Gala Fundraiser was held on Friday, February 28 at none other than the Rosewood Miramar Beach. The gala’s mission is to raise funds for the SBMA’s “…dawn of a new era, […]
The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara honored 20 student artists during a presentation and reception at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Mary Craig Auditorium. Each will receive a scholarship and their selected art submissions are currently being exhibited through this week. Now in its 46th year, the program continues to attract exceptionally talented student […]
For the first time since being established in 1951, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Women’s Board (SBMAWB) is now fully DEI with its first men members introduced alongside new women members at its annual January Luncheon. I attended the luncheon held on Thursday, January 23, at the University Club. Presiding was SBMAWB President, Paula […]
The Austin-based Miró Quartet, long considered one of America’s most celebrated and dedicated string quartets, marks its 30th anniversary with a return to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s laudable chamber music series on January 19. The Miró, which in 2005 became the first ensemble ever to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, […]
In a most elegant fashion, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Board of Trustees will hold their 1st Gilded Gala black-tie fundraiser at the Rosewood Miramar Beach on Saturday, March 1. Society Invites is here with all the finer details of this signature “black-tie with a glimmer of gold” gala funding event, as I interviewed […]
When Amada Cruz took over as Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s new Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Director and CEO about 13 months ago, she had a clear idea of how she viewed the museum’s evolving role in the community. “I see a lot of value in the arts beyond the aesthetic,” she said in these […]
The venerable Santa Barbara Club hosted a fascinating talk by Santa Barbara Museum of Art docent Lori Mohr about the State Street institution’s latest exhibition featuring the art of the late uber philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree and her husband Paul. There are 58 works in all, of primarily 19th century British and French provenance. After her […]
Violinist Jessica Guideri, concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Symphony, and Amy Tatum, the orchestra’s principal flutist, head half a block south of their normal Granada Theatre venue to play a series of pop-up performances in the galleries of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art on August 25. The pair of musicians will play a combination […]
On the wings of his curated Santa Barbara Museum of Art exhibition of the Ridley-Tree Collection, Contemporary Art Curator James Glisson,PhD, has moved into a new role as the museum’s Chief Curator. He was appointed to the position by Eichholz Foundation Executive Director Amada Cruz, who said in her press release, “I am delighted that […]
