Museum Exhibitions
The Museum’s mission is to create meaningful connections to Santa Barbara history. The signature installation, The Story of Santa Barbara traces our community’s story from the Chumash to the mid-20th century.
Accessible and diverse programming along with rotating exhibitions feature dynamic local traditions and historical events. Visitors also experience the Edward Borein Gallery, the Gledhill Research Library, and two historic adobes.
Ludmilla
Ludmilla Pilat Welch: Serene Santa Barbara
Plein air painter Ludmilla Pilat Welch moved to Santa Barbara in 1905 and became fascinated with the area’s remaining adobes. Her renderings are an important historic record as many of these remnants of Santa Barbara’s past slowly disappeared from the landscape…
Open through July 5, 2026
The Gift
New Additions to our Story
Since our founding in 1932, collecting and preserving the material and written history of the Santa Barbara area has been at the core of our institution’s purpose and that task is on-going to this day. Every year the Historical Museum adds to the ever-growing collections to better illuminate and share this rich history.
This exhibition highlights just some of the gifts we have added in recent years thanks to the generosity of our community.
Open through July 5, 2026
Coming Soon: Stars, Stripes & Santa Barbara
A pop-up exhibition of Independence Day Memories from our Santa Barbara News-Press archive.
As the USA approaches its 250th anniversary this summer, join us to relive the sights and sounds of summers past with pop-up exhibition of Independence Day memories from the preserved Santa Barbara News-Press Collection, sharing highlights from 1950-1985.
The Museum recently acquired the Santa Barbara News-Press archive, preserving generations of local stories, one million photographs, and records documenting our community. Read about it here.
The outdoor exhibition will be open July 1, July 2, July 3 and July 5.
Coming Soon: Finding Saint Barbara
This new exhibition will explore the origin and stories of our city’s patron saint and marking one hundred years of her presence in Fiesta celebrations.
The exhibition is part of our yearly series "Project Fiesta," created to celebrate the history of Old Spanish Days Fiesta in our community.
Opening July 23
Coming Soon: Arte de los Mantónes
Part of our Project Fiesta series of exhibitions
Celebrating the beauty and history of the Spanish shawl, from its origins in Manila and the global silk trade to its lasting place in the traditions of Santa Barbara. Passed down through generations and featured in Old Spanish Days Fiesta performances and celebrations, these shawls reflect a living tradition that continues to connect culture, community, and heritage.
Opening July 23, 2026
The Story of Santa Barbara
The Museum’s mission is to create meaningful connections to Santa Barbara history. The signature installation traces our community’s story from the Chumash to the mid-20th century. The exhibition features highlights of our extensive collection including clothing, furniture, fine art, photographs, decorative arts, and more.
An audio guide is available to accompany your self-guided visit.
Permanent Installation
Edward Borein Gallery
Western artist Edward Borein (1872-1945) roamed the western states and territories and much of Mexico, working as a cowboy and using his artistic talent to record these experiences.
In his early thirties Borein decided to pursue a career as a professional artist and moved to New York City, where his studio soon became a favorite haunt for important figures such as Will Rogers, Charles M. Russell, Carl Oscar Borg and Buffalo Bill Cody. In the early 1920s he returned to his native California and set up a permanent studio in Santa Barbara. His etchings, watercolors, and drawings quickly earned him a reputation as one of the foremost interpreters of the American West.
The Museum holds the largest and most significant collections of his work, thanks to the dedication and research of curator Marlene Miller.
Permanent Installation
Partner Exhibition at the Museum of Natural History
Fashion Fatale: The Human Obsession with Feathers explored humanity's fascination with feathers as symbols of beauty, power, and status. Created by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, and showcasing several pieces from the Historical Museum, this exhibition invited visitors to view how feathers graced fashion—from ceremonial adornments to mass-market trends—and to consider the impacts of these choices on bird populations.
(Ended Fall 2025)
