Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara

Nice museum downtown. I loved the brains and Japanese exhibition.

Contemporary art is always intriguing. Some very interesting pieces in a small area. Nice short departure from all of the shopping on State Street.

Really heat space to learn 'bout Native American History, culture &c. This is a FREE museum!

We really love catching an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santa Barbara when we can. They don't always have exhibits going, so it pays to check their website first to make sure they're open. It's not a huge museum, but it's free to the public so who can complain? They've been around for over 50 years, the exhibits are always very interesting, as are the events they occasionally offer. Did I mention free? Here's hoping the temporary closure is safely lifted soon. Hours Sunday:Noon - 5 pm Monday: Closed Tuesday:Closed Wednesday:11 - 5 pm Thursday:11 - 8 pm Friday:11 - 5 pm Saturday:11 - 5 pm

Large space exhibiting contemporary art on a rotating schedule. It is located on the second floor of Paseo Nuevo Shopping Mall.

I loved it fun for all ages!!!

Amazing place, great exhibitions of contemporary work from local, California, national and international artists. Lots of programming too, lectures, trips, tours, children's activities, far too much to list. It's really a gem in the community and a reason in itself to come to SB for a visit.

This museum is small but in a good way. It's easy to see the whole thing in an hour and move on with your day. I could see someone spending 2 hours here having some discussions about the art and really taking it in.

This is a small, yet very unique museum. It shows a limited, but very precise collection of specific art. The overall atmosphere of the space is open and airy. Admission is free. So, it is a nice place to go into a view whatever art they are exhibiting whenever you are in the area and they are open. This museum is located on the second floor of the shopping plaza. A good business to look for is CPK, as the museum is upstairs above that. Overall, any art space is a space well-used. This is the case with this art museum.

Free things to do in Santa Barbara Located on the second floor of the Paseo Nuevo mall near the intersection of Chapala and De La Guerra, MOCA Santa Barbara is much smaller than expected. I like museum browsing and I especially like it more when it is free. Stop by if you are in the area and check out what they are showcasing. You might find something interesting.

Heads up: this is tiny and about the size of one large warehouse with one or two exhibits. However, it's free and tucked in paso nuevo if you're strolling around. You can easily just poke your head in for five minutes, check out the art, and go. While small, it's clear the artists and curators put in thought into the exhibit and presentation. You go up the stairs (which were beautiful/instagrammable by themselves), and the museum is right next to the public restrooms. Especially if you're already headed to the bathrooms, definitely worth just quickly popping your head in.

Wow, what a cool hidden gem! This free museum features local artists in four rotations year round. The curator and associate curator put so much thought and effort into the artists they showcase and how they set and display the pieces. The art stands alone on the walls and in the space with no titles or descriptions as the curator prefers to disseminate pamphlets with that information instead. Prepare to do some reading so you can get more context on the art. They also host events for the community like wine nights! Really small exhibit room with a main gallery, a small annex, and a film screening room. Excited to see what comes next!

Curated Cocktails event was festive and fun! DJ Darla Bea plus a Dash of Cin (Cinnamon rum hot toddy) made for a great evening under the snowy sky (mall snowfall for holiday shoppers).

This place stated it was open on their website but it was not. There was a sign on the door that said it will reopen on January 28. I would recommend calling ahead.

The MCASB is upstairs in the Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center, making it an easy place to view some art during a shopping break. It's a small museum with a few galleries/rooms. They feature regional art - paintings, video, sculpture, etc. Artists were from surrounding cities: Los Osos, Ventura, etc.The signs explain the artist's vision/inspiration. With contemporary art, I guess it isn't surprising that most of the pieces featured abstract geometric shapes and bright colors. Nothing really struck me as intriguing/interesting, so my favorite piece was a sandbox filled with wood scraps. Exhibitions rotate four times a year and the museum is closed between exhibitions. Free admission. Open Wednesday-Sunday.

I'm glad this place is around, it's more like an art gallery, it's not a museum. But they do showcase interesting art. It's upstairs, in Paseo Nuevo, across from the theater. If they're opened(they close pretty early at 5 pm), check it out. It's free. Monday and Tuesday is closed. The space is a nice idea, a great place to stop by and take a break from the bustling State Street and enjoy modern art.

There was a fun interactive section and this time they had two exhibits; one was making clay art using Michael DeLucia's techniques and the other was painting on a paper where you draw anything and use that for inspiration for the rest of the artwork. The decor of the room is very nice, but the museum in general is small. The interactive exhabits this time were very fun and it took a decent amount of time. My friend told me she went before and a previous interactive exhibit they had was putting an emoji on a board and writing an experience related to it. The museum says it's free, but only if you fill out a small form for a year of news - otherwise it'll be a $5 donation to the museum!

Stumbled upon this little museum when we visited Paseo Nuevo. It's located up these beautiful tiled steps. It's not a huge museum and spans only a few rooms but it's free and pretty well curated. When we went the exhibits were focused around different chair designs and furniture. They even have an interactive room where you can exercise your creativity and design your own mini chair. They provide you with crafting materials and put it on display later. Next time I return to Santa Barbara ill definitely swing by this spot for their next exhibit!

Located on the second floor of the Paseo Nuevo mall near the intersection of Chapala and De La Guerra, I'm jaded when an art museum is in a shopping center but left satisfied. With only one gallery and no permanent collection, the appeal of the museum is highly dependent upon the current temporary exhibition. We luckily went to see the textured paintings by N. Dash so we had a good experience - albeit for a brief 5 minutes for the $5 suggested entry fee.

I would have given this gallery a higher rating, however, when we visited last month there was a piece on display that was clearly pornographic ("you know it when you see it"). I would have been embarrassed and horrified if I had had my grandchildren or my parents along. Ick. Someone didn't use good judgment in curating this exhibit.