Makers Market is the best outdoor market that Santa Barbara has to offer. Meet the artisans in person. This market offers unique one of a kind items in an outdoor European style setting.

The Preston Morton Collection, which forms the core of American art at SBMA, was gifted in 1961 upon the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Museum’s founding. In so doing, Preston Morton ensured that SBMA could boast one of the most comprehensive overviews of American art from the 18th to the mid-20th century among mid-sized institutions. The timing of the gift was significant, representing a corrective to the European bias of midcentury canonical modernism and a proud reassertion of home-grown American art.

This selection of small format paintings is a reminder of the breadth of the Museum’s holdings in this area. Oil and brush conjure the illusion of near and far persuasively, from the close perspective of still life, to the life-size proportions of bust portraiture, to sublime expanses of land and sky. Whether within hand’s reach or at an immeasurable distance, both types of visual experience are captured within the confines of a canvas no more than 15 inches in diameter.

Artists represented include William Merritt Chase, Frederic Edwin Church, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Thomas Eakins, Walter Gay, George Inness, George Luks, Jervis McEntee, John Frederick Peto, Levi Wells Prentice, Edward Henry Potthast.

Image: William Merritt Chase, "Children on the Beach" (detail), 1894. Oil on board. SBMA, Bequest of Margaret Mallory.

Help La Cumbre Plaza in supporting our local community food banks from coast-to-coast. Working with our partner properties throughout the country, we’re aiming to help serve a million meals to those in need.

We’ve partnered with FOOD BANK SANTA BARBARA to host a monetary collection drive.

We thank you for your generosity.

Join our team: MILLION MEALS CHALLENGE LA CUMBRE PLAZA at https://donate.foodbanksbc.org/give/t311203/#!/donation/checkout .

Although the Santa Barbara Zoo's popular annual Halloween event, Boo at the Zoo, is canceled this year due to COVID-19, guests can still get into the spirit with Spooky Zoo, an outdoor Halloween spell-ebration from October 16–31! 

Fri, Oct 23–Sun, Oct 25 Museum Mysteries: Max is Missing!
Fri, Oct 30–Sun, Nov 1 Museum Mysteries: The Hidden Fossil

Celebrate safely by solving curious mysteries of natural history. Bring your family in costume to enjoy the Museum decorated for Halloween, with even more bats and spiders than usual. Enjoy bottle rocket launches and spooky science experiments. You can purchase a clue kit to turn your visit into a cryptic adventure revealing and decoding hidden messages and following a scavenger hunt. Continue the fun with a take-home activity and come back next week for another mystery!

Limited availability clue kit includes two secret message magnifying glasses, invisible ink pen, UV light, clues, evidence container, take-home activity, and reusable bag.

Space is limited; reservations required: sbnature.org/tickets

Rebecca Zendejas will be creating a Community Memorial altar at Paradise Found, inspired by the celebrations of Samhain and Dias de los Muertos. If you have lost someone dear in the last year, we invite you to stop by and add their name to the altar.

Housing Santa Barbara Days 2020 (HSBD 2020) officially kicks off this Saturday, October 24th at 10am!

Join the community virtually for Domestic Violence Awareness Month!

How do we (and how can we better) meet the basic food needs of our entire community and ensure fair access to local food resources? ¿Cómo podemos (y cómo podemos mejorar) satisfacer las necesidades alimentarias básicas de toda nuestra comunidad y garantizar un acceso justo a los recursos alimentarios locales?

Join World Dance For Humanity for a spooktacular virtual dance fest!