Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara

Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) advances creativity & inspires critical thinking th

Join us for our September Paint at Paseo on Thursday September 3, from 5-7pm with artist Riko Rivera (Riko 805). Hi I’m ...
08/25/2026

Join us for our September Paint at Paseo on Thursday September 3, from 5-7pm with artist Riko Rivera (Riko 805).

Hi I’m Riko Rivera a transgender, first-generation Mexican multimedia artist born in Mexico City and raised in California’s Santa Maria Valley.

I’m inspired by Pop Art, Mexican visual culture, and the colorful rótulos of Mexico City.

Through my work as a sign painter, I bring bold colors, playful imagery, and hand-painted lettering into my art.

My work is a celebration of my cultural diversity and the ways I blend my Mexican roots with my everyday life in California.

So we decided to have four exhibitions on view this summer and this is how it went!From dance parties to artists talks, ...
07/24/2026

So we decided to have four exhibitions on view this summer and this is how it went!

From dance parties to artists talks, and a powerful panel discussion, MCASB was always full with the amazing people we get to call our community.

Thank you so much for everyone who came to support our lovely artists and for those who continue to support the museum through their generous donations. You all are the reason we do what we do.

Much love
MCASB Team
🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

Join us on August 6th for a fun guided painting workshop with Santa Maria based illustrator, Helen Yanez. Originally fro...
07/19/2026

Join us on August 6th for a fun guided painting workshop with Santa Maria based illustrator, Helen Yanez. Originally from Michoacán, Mexico, her work serves as a tribute to her Mexican and Purépecha heritage. She celebrates the resilience of brown and indigenous communities in the central coast through vibrant illustrations.

Join us on Wednesday July 22 4 to 6 pm or a special artist walkthrough with Christina McPheeChristina McPhee explores ho...
07/05/2026

Join us on Wednesday July 22 4 to 6 pm or a special artist walkthrough with Christina McPhee

Christina McPhee explores how drawing and writing mesh with listening and reading. In her new project, Diagramming Sentences, Christina’s large scale drawings record quantum moments of transformation. Listening to spoken words, reading voraciously, she processes texts as a reverse illumination. In place of starting with writing, she starts with mark making across the paper surface, using a combination of graphite, charcoal, ink, and oil stick. Clusters, fragments, and notations converge like graphical scores for music. Finally, the voices of living poets enter through texts she copies by hand.

Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.

📸 credit: Liz Hirsch

For the first time ever we are excited to be presenting an award for Curatorial Excellence and Leadership. It is with gr...
07/01/2026

For the first time ever we are excited to be presenting an award for Curatorial Excellence and Leadership. It is with great pleasure that we present to you our first ever recipient of that award, Hamza Walker.

Hamza Walker is a curator, writer, and educator whose practice explores the rhetoric of race in the United States, racial identity, and politics. Ever since seeing avant-garde concerts and performances in late-1980s Chicago, he has felt compelled to share a boundless curiosity about art. In the ensuing years, Walker has curated dozens of exhibitions ranging from solo to thematic exhibitions; from the production of new work to career surveys. Prior to his role at The Brick, Walker served as Associate Curator/Director of Education at the Renaissance Society, a non-collecting museum of contemporary art on the University of Chicago campus.

Recent exhibitions and installations at The Brick include Elizabeth Paige Smith: Unshade Me Of You (2025); Gregg Bordowitz: This Is Not A Love Song (2025); The Absolute Right to Exclude: Reflections on and Implications of Cheryl Harris’ Whiteness as Property (2021); and Postcommodity: Some Reach While Others Clap (2020). Walker holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of Chicago.

Join us in celebrating on Sunday July 12, 2026

Tickets available online, link in our bio. Tickets, tables, and sponsorships raise critical funds for the museum. Help us remain a free space for all.

Photo of deconstructed and reconfigured monument of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson by artist Kara Walker, exhibited at The Brick as part of the co-present exhibition “Monunuments” with the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles.

Portrait by Todd Gray

We are honored to announce that we will be having a special Panel Discussion coming up on Saturday July 18th, at 1pm, wi...
07/01/2026

We are honored to announce that we will be having a special Panel Discussion coming up on Saturday July 18th, at 1pm, with Tama and special guests. Everyone is welcomed to join, tickets are $5 to help defray the Museum’s costs. Link in our bio for your ticket.

Special guests:

Sam Mihara: Sam Mihara is an award-winning lecturer on the history of the mass injustice perpetrated on the Japanese Americans during WWII. His awards include the Biennium Award for Education and Humanities from the Japanese American Citizens League and the prestigious Paul Gagnon Prize as the history educator of the year from the National Council for History Education – the first time for a Japanese American. His speaking engagements have included lectures at the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Congress, Harvard, UC Berkeley and Columbia Law School.

Wade Nomura: Wade Nomura was born and raised in Santa Barbara. His parents settled here after their release from the Poston, AZ concentration camp. He is a Carpinteria Councilman and two times Mayor, the President of the Santa Barbara Japanese American Citizens League, and author of “Creating Destiny” about his early life as a Japanese American after WWII.

Mark Masaoka: Mark Masaoka has been a leader in Little Tokyo (Los Angeles), working for housing for residents displaced by redevelopment, as Policy Director of the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council, the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council, as well as helping found the Little Tokyo Community Impact Fund which collects small investment shares to purchase real estate that enables local ethnic legacy businesses to stay in business. He is part of Nikkei Progressives’ current collaborative work on immigrant rights and Black reparations.

You’re invited to join MCASB and Dannah Mari Hidalgo on Friday, July 17 from 5-7 pm for an Artist walk through!Come lear...
07/01/2026

You’re invited to join MCASB and Dannah Mari Hidalgo on Friday, July 17 from 5-7 pm for an Artist walk through!

Come learn more about Dannah’s process, her artwork, and the making of the exhibition.

Dannah Mari Hidalgo creates cacophonic narratives through a collage-like technique, identified as “double image”. Two images simultaneously existing on one surface, while still attempting to maintain distinction, compels the viewer to alternate between narratives - recognizing one in the context of the other. The concept of double image reinforces dichotomous relationships: abstract and representational, severity and humor, depth and flatness, the brazen and tender, and resolve tension.

This event is free to the public. For any questions or to let us know you’ll be joining us, email [email protected]

Hello everyone, we would like you all meet Marc Swanson, 2026 Art Awards RecipientMarc Swanson is a multidisciplinary Am...
06/28/2026

Hello everyone, we would like you all meet Marc Swanson, 2026 Art Awards Recipient

Marc Swanson is a multidisciplinary American artist whose work explores the complex intersections of identity, mythology, landscape, and q***r history. Working primarily in sculpture and installation, his work has also included
painting, video, and photography.

Swanson has exhibited widely in galleries and institutions internationally and across the United States. His work is held in numerous museums including The Whitney, MFA Boston and The Walker art center. In summer 2026, he will present a new solo exhibition, Death Is Expensive, at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art

Join us in celebrating Marc Swanson on Sunday July 12, 2026

Tickets available online, link in our bio. Tickets, tables, and sponsorships raise critical funds for the museum. Help us remain a free space for all.

Still life with flowers, 2022

Next in the lineup we’d like you to meet Tonia Calderon, 2026 Art Awards Recipient.Calderon (b. 1987, San Jose, Californ...
06/26/2026

Next in the lineup we’d like you to meet Tonia Calderon, 2026 Art Awards Recipient.

Calderon (b. 1987, San Jose, California) is a visual artist based in Los Angeles, known for her large-scale abstract paintings that combine natural and synthetic materials. In recent years, Calderon has developed a distinctive creative process that interweaves flower pigments, oil paints, and chemical elements.

Calderon’s work encourages viewers to reflect on the interplay of light, color, and fragility through an experimental process that combines unexpected materials, emphasizing the balance between fragility and nature.

For the past decade, Calderon has exhibited her work across a diverse range of platforms and participated in projects with BMW, Nike, and Forbes 30 Under 30. Her endeavors reflect an ambitious vision that challenges traditional boundaries and engages in new opportunities for the presentation of contemporary art.

Join us in celebrating Tonia Calderon on Sunday July 12, 2026

Tickets available online, link in our bio. Tickets, tables, and sponsorships raise critical funds for the museum. Help us remain a free space for all.

Let the waves of the sea separate us now. If that’s what it takes to prove this is real., 2025

Wow, what a celebration it was! HUGE shout out to the oh so talented Jonboogz for such an amazing screening of his film,...
06/25/2026

Wow, what a celebration it was! HUGE shout out to the oh so talented Jonboogz for such an amazing screening of his film, Remedy in the Rythm!

We love to be a part of a full circle moment with this impactful project and we can’t wait for others to see it too. It’s wild to believe that it was only a year ago when Juneteenth with Jon Boogz 2025 kicked off the fundraising efforts for this project.

Thank you to Shamell Bell for moderating the Q&A/ breathwork portion of the show. 🎤

And of course this isn’t a celebration without music and dancing! Thanks to DJ ANANAS for bringing the vibes that had people dancing the night away. 🎶🎧

This event would have not been possible without the support of our SB community along with Paseo Nuevo Santa Barbara Independent International California Pizza Kitchen ALMA ROSA WINERY Cheese Shop Santa Barbara Dreamcote Wine Co. Solminer & others.

Lastly we would like to thank our board member i n g r i d for not only taking these beautiful photos but also for planning the event. We appreciate you!! ❤️❤️

Address

653 Paseo Nuevo, Upper Arts Terrace
Santa Barbara, CA
93101

Opening Hours

Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 12pm - 4pm
Friday 12pm - 5pm
Saturday 12pm - 4pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+18059665373

Website

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