Santa Barbara Museum Of Art

Smaller museum and gallery but perfect size so you don't get museum fatigue. The permanant galleries are always great to look at after you finish touring their current exhibition. Staff and curators always choose interesting themes and topics and guides are extremely knowledgable and passionate. I also visited the van gogh exhibit which was the most packed i have ever seen place. Free for students as well as long as you bring your student ID with you!

The classic, fine art is lacking...3 Monet, and a Chagall...IMHO: WAY too much contemporary and modern "art." The main exhibit was interesting but just didn't speak to me.

Small but extremely well curated and way more edgy than you would expect. Innovative and exciting collection. So inspiring and fun.

You can be a museum or you can be modern, but you cannot be both. ~ Gertrude Stein Well done!! Sadly, didn’t make it to the second floor. Lots to see and learn. Get in there and take your time. If possible at least 4 hours.

Once a year, there is a day when over 30 museums are free in Southern California! We took advantage of that opportunity on Saturday, March 23rd, this year! We really enjoyed checking out the Asian exhibits. I especially recommend taking one of the free tours. We really enjoyed the tour of Chinese and Japanese artifacts because the stories all link back to the history and culture of the countries. There are no famous artists as part of that discussion. It puts a spotlight on the cultural differences between the east and west approaches to art and cultural values! Thursdays 5-8pm are free to locals. Highly recommend a visit!

The tour was enjoyable and very helpful. I felt like I was being given a nice and quick art lesson. After the tour I was able to enjoy the other art pieces, recognize names mentioned in the tour, and put them in context. The museum collection is lovely, with mostly western art from the 1800s, and some interesting Asian exhibits, and some modern art. We spent 3 hours here on a hot summer afternoon, learned a lot, and enjoyed every minute of it. It’s the best $10 (entrance fee per person) that we could’ve spent.

This is to catch a managers attention. Extremely rude, obnoxious treatment to children. My son's class (3rd grade) had a school field trip earlier this year with his teachers and classmates. You know what is their impression of your facility and workers " angry people who keep yelling " back off" while children were already at some distance away. The only thing they enjoyed was the art room to draw. That's literally all. And what do you think how many want to consider being an artist after this visit? I was contemplating on writing a review about this, until just recently heard the same thing from a mom of a different school.. and she is not the only one... You guys should either monitor your people or provide trainings on how to handle younger crowds. We received coupons to attend as a family, but honestly I'm not considering doing it now, because of the bittersweet after flavor.

A fabulous gem of a museum. One expects that a small museum in a little town miles away from LA would have a modest collection with just one or two spotlights from famous artists. This museum blows that expectation away. This museum offers fantastic samplings from some of the greatest artists of nearly every medium. Rodin, Degas, Pissaro, and ancient art of Mediterranean and Asian origin. A lovely docent is available for daily tours at 1 pm. She was knowledgeable and her affection for the permanent collection was palpable.

Startlingly great, considering Santa Barbara is not a giant city. Collections are heavy on donations rather than purchases - makes sense, considering the local wealth. Exhibit space is perfectly proportioned, their Asian section is highly didactic - go and learn. We saw a variety of temporary exhibits as well - a wonderful GLBT/queer artists show. Would absolutely visit again and again. Parking nearby, entrance fee is so reasonable. Highly recommended!

Fabulous art collection and nicely displayed. We purposely came here to see the Ellsworth Kelly photos, which leaves soon. The photos are black and white and inspiring. The contemporary/ modern art upstairs was also nice to see. Impressive permanent collection too! I loved seeing different works of art from the Impressionists as well as artists I never heard of, such as the Japanese artist, Tsukuhara Foujita. The staff here are all very friendly and helpful. There are bathrooms near the entrance as well as another part of the museum. The museum is nicely laid out and easy to navigate. The gift shop is always fun to browse and find something unique and beautiful for yourself or as a gift. The museum does not have parking on site, but there are city lots within the block.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a jewel of Santa Barbara. With incredible rotating exhibits and their magnificent permanent collections, it is not to be missed! It was amazing to view Joan Tanner's Installation Works and Sculpture- so vibrant and visceral. I also swooned over the Surrealism of Dread Exhibit with exquisite examples of the genre. Staff is friendly and helpful. The building could use a more accessible entrance/signage for ADA, otherwise it's a complete and total delight! So what ART thou waiting for? Get thee to the museum!

This museum is a hidden gem here in Santa Barbara, well it's not really hidden you just don't hear about this museum that much, I have driven also walk by this place some many times. It is located on State street in between shops and restaurants, there is parking on the side also there are a few parking structures near by. A brief history about this museum is that the building now once was a post office from 1912- 1932, and open it's doors to the public as a museum in June 05 1941, there was a an donation entrance fee of $10.00 you could put it in a clear box, there are locker available (free) the museum is very open and spacey. There are two floors to check out the remarkable and magnifinent art and exhibits of European, American, Indian and Asian, there are so many paintings, sculptures and vintage Items on display, there also is so many suit & tie security personnel here you would think the Mona Lisa was here, but they were all helpful and knowledeable, two last things there is a gift shop here plus there a private tour daily at 1:00, I would recommend anyone to check out this museum plus you can never ever learn too much about history.

Had an awesome time visiting this museum recently-I've included a few of my favorite images especially Della Shull who was on the museum pamphlet received upon arriving. Good mix of eras though there was more photography than I personally care for. I think we walked through most of the museum in about two hours and certainly enjoyed the air-conditioning and benches on a warm sunny day!

I'm not expecting to go to the Met when I'm in Santa Barbara, but this little museum exceeded my expectations! Nice little Asian collection and a surprising number of good Impressionist paintings as well.

Went to the Santa Barbara Museum Of Art yesterday. Bought the ticket in advance online. Buying the ticket online was a very easy process. The Museum Store opens earlier than the museum, so if you get there, as I did, before 11:00am when the museum opens, you can look around in the Museum Store. The museum is very nice although it does seem afflicted with the affliction that some art museums have suffered from recently. Not only is there European and American art most people want to see, there is also "art" most people don't want to see, like recent photographs and modern art. Recent photographs and modern art belong in their own museums where people who want to look at such things can go and look at them. Yesterday when I was at the museum three school groups were touring the museum. The two school groups who were looking at the European and American paintings and sculptures and learning about the art were enthralled by the art. The school group who was looking at the recent photographs and forced to listen to someone talking a bunch of nonsense about the recent photographs all looked like they wished they were somewhere else. There was a little bit of Asian art in a rather dark place. Looked like mostly big carved things. Didn't see any Japanese woodblock prints there. Spoke with several people who worked at the museum. They were all very nice.

This art museum is a good place to see different styles of art. From modern and colorful to classic and vintage pieces. They also have statues and plenty of restrooms if needed. The prices are reasonable and the location is easy to find. The issue I had and disliked is that their security kept following my family like we were going to rob the place. It was very uncomfortable because they weren't doing that to other people. Felt like I couldn't enjoy the art because they were staring and pacing around us like piranhas.

Recent renovation have made this museum a 'must see' when visiting Santa Barbara. Interesting collections which can be seen in about an hour. Take you time and look at the various permanent and special current exhibits. Recommended.

For in for free as the elevator was broken. The normal price is $10, and that's about fair. Nice collection of art work and statues. Nothing awe inspiring but a nice place to visit and you can do it in 30 minutes. Worth the stop and they have some nice paintings.

Nice gallery, small yet varied collection. Someone can tour this whole place in an hour.

I love this place. The ambience and the silent in this place are amazing. I love it when you are able to go to an art museum and able to burry yourself in arts. Definitely will come back again

It's fair to say this is my favorite museum in Santa Barbara. I was in town for the day visiting from LA and had heard many great things about this museum so decided to see for myself. Parking is easy and there are multiple areas to do it. It's not very large inside but is two floors filled with beautiful works from all over the world. It's subdivided into different regions and periods and it's very easy to spend an hour here looking and reading. Coming from LA it's way less crowded than I'm used to so that was also a bonus. I would recommend to anyone visiting Santa Barbara or if you're a fan of art like I am and live within driving distance SB is a wonderful town to plan a day away.

1 for a small town this museum is great. They have some wonderful exhibits. We had a private tour for the van Gogh exhibit. I learned so many new things. They have an excellent team 2. The museum store is full of wonderful fines. We walked away with some gorgeous jewelry that was well priced. It will be perfect for Travel as well. 3. Easy parking in the city lots right across from the library which is just around the corner from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. 4. Lots of places to go have a bite to eat before or after your adventure. It's right on State Street. 5. It's large enough that it feels airy and very clean

I like art, and the museum hosts a wide range of classical pieces which are right up my alley. The building is nice, and admission is reasonable. However, some of the staff were so rude and unaccommodating. They hover around you like vultures and were borderline harassing an individual in a wheelchair. I understand maintaining protective standards, but they seemed to go too far!

We visited Santa Barbara and the museum this week from Orange County. I had read but forgotten about the Van Gogh exhibit, so I was pleased and surprised to have stumbled into it. I try to visit the Santa Barbara Museum of Art whenever I am in town. Here are my thoughts about the museum from a Facebook discussion with a friend today: CW, you should definitely visit the museum some time. It's a small museum that can be visited in one, two or three hours, depending on your interest. Whether they are showing a special exhibit, as is the Van Gogh exhibit, or their permanent collection, a visit will please. Their permanent collection is relatively small but deep and eclectic, and includes work from many renowned artists with whom you are likely familiar. I think the size of the museum works to it's advantage because it packs alot into a small bite. I'm pretty much exhausted and wasted after anything more than two or three hours in a museum. The Santa Barbara is the Goldie Lock's baby bear of museums, just right.

This museum is located on State Street. Parking can be found in private lots or on the side of the streets. If you are a student, make sure to bring your ID as they do give student discounts for admission. The museum is 2 stories and has a plethora of artwork being displayed! There is European art, Asian art, abstract art, and digital art. The museum also has a shop that is located right next to the museum outside. Overall, the vibes are immaculate here!

Just a great little spot - a must for families- buy a membership and go often .. well run, amazing exhibits for a smaller Museum.. we are lucky to have this gem

We spent three hours in this relatively small museum, our normal tolerance for art museums is less than two hours. We spent significant time here discussing the works that interested us, there were many. A wide selection of art, ranging from modern art we did not get at all, digital art, and more traditional American/European/Asian art. A well curated art museum. Reasonably priced, great half hour docent led tour, centrally located downtown. Well worth a visit.

Loved the museum and their gift shop and have been going there with my daughter & buying Jewlery and unique gifts there for years. A year or so ago I bought a pair of earrings to go with a pendant from my father, and even I don't usually buy custom jewelry since I worry they might tarnish, especially when it's $40 ( for that price, I can buy something in sterling silver that can be polished easily,) but the sales lady told me they shouldn't tarnish. I started to notice the earrings were fading and I stop wearing them. Finally made a point to bring them to the gift shop and I explained the whole situation. The gentleman helping me was nice but they don't have something identical to replace them, so I thought maybe I can exchange for another design that can also go with the pendant to save me another trip, and he said I could but he might get in trouble. So I said I'll leave my earrings there for them to come up with a solution. This morning I got a call from John from the gift shop asking me to pick up the earrings and contact the Jewlery store directly to resolve the issue because it's been more than a year. When I told him what their staff said the earring wouldn't tarnish at the time of my purchase. Then he said it's been over a year and their staff selling things might not be knowledgable... I said I have lots of less expensive custom Jewlery that lasted decades and this is not the customer service I expected from the art museum. I've been shopping there for many years and I don't think I'd buy from the store if they can't stand by their words. Then he quickly offered me to come back to pick another design. But after what he said and not offering the exchange at the first place, it just doesn't feel right to accept it. To be clear.... Above was an unfinished review from a few years back and the manager might not be there anymore. Like I said, I loved the museum and the gift shop so I hesitated to post this review. But its reminders to finish this review showing up in my inbox repeatedly and I wasn't able to remove it, I decided to have a closure... Probably the longest review I wrote. Thanks for reading it.

Really enjoy the portfolio of the permanent collections and ongoing displays. And the staff, especially the security department are professional and courteous.

Disturbing art not fit for families and small children. For a small museum I wished there was more art for the whole family. A while exhibit about dread, including an "artist" who love erotic and an offensive piece with the Pope. Even the interpretation of the Mickey Mouse on Washington was a slam in commercialism. Daily docent art tour at 11:30 am and 1 pm. The only part worth it has Degas and Matisse, plus a number of key art at the entrance, except they were so high up that even with the map it was tough to admire.

Nice museum , great they also have option for free tickets in general section . We enjoyed the exhibits and love to see the art and museums open again.

$25 entrance fee. Nice collection of artworks. I went for the Van Gogh experience and the lady who gave the tour was very knowledgeable. Museum is located on the main road in Santa Barbara downtown. Would recommend if you are visiting.

Love visiting on Thursday evenings when admission is free and they close later than usual. A great museum with a nice variety of art. From ancient pottery to modern art, there is something here for everyone. With rotating exhibits to keep you coming back for more it is no secret as to why this museum has captivated so many peoples hearts. A must visit for every local at some point in their lives.

The museum is centrally located and easy to get to. If you are a member, you'll have access to the special exhibition at no further cost. I specifically came to see the Van Gogh exhibition. I didn't expect much, thinking there'd only be one tiny room to see, but boy was I was mistaken. The exhibition was incredibly well thought out and expansive, stretching into several rooms. I learned a lot about Van Gogh's influences and more about his life. What a gem to see world class art in this small town. It was a thought provoking experience and I'm going back to visit again soon before the exhibition is over.

The museum is conveniently in downtown Santa Barbara. I parked in one of the parking structures nearby. I was able to purchase tickets on site. I had ample time to visit the store prior to the opening of the museum. We explored two floors of art. We took our time going from one gallery to the next. I was really looking forward to viewing some Georgia O'Keeffe's but was informed that they were not on display.

A lovely space with fascinating shows and exhibits! This is truly an exquisite representation of the Santa Barbara community! The docent tour was a wonderful treat. Go check it out!

I have wanted to visit this museum for ages and finally got the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, for me, they are renovating the museum at this time. So, there were only two rooms open for viewing. It was free admission though, which was really awesome! I love that they have such a huge offering of work by American artists. We don't get to see that very often. A lot of museums focus on European artists. So, I was very happy to see this selection of American work. With that being said, only a few pieces spoke to me. I am glad that I made the trip, but I am curious what the museum is like when it is fully open?? I'll have to check it out again, then.

Such a wonderful museum! I love all of the different types or art pieces. The VanGogh experience was great!

I've been here about half a dozen times and each time I see and appreciate something new. They have such a variety of artworks from around the world and have a robust children's center. I scheduled a school field trip here recently and showed up very early on accident and they were so calming, professional, and gracious. The tour guides were knowledgeable and friendly.

I typically visit this museum a few times a year but, since construction inside has put much of the square footage off limits and will do so for quite some time, I've postponed my visits. However, 'Paths of Gold: Japanese Landscape and Narrative Paintings from the Collection' and 'Let It Snow! Paintings of Winter' are two very small exhibitions that were worth the visit. They both made me realize that I still have no idea how varied this museum's collection really is. The Japanese folding screens are beautiful and, in this exhibition, they aren't behind glass (like other museums). You can really get an undistorted view of the brilliant colors and details. The winter paintings are on view in a rather dark gallery and it certainly made me feel like I was in the season. I kept coming back to Bruce Crane's 'Moonrise,' a circa 1890s painting that, for me, captured the light and subdued colors of winter better than anything else in the room. Every time I visit this museum, it's a real surprise. Okay, I guess that's good but I hope that, once construction is over, there are fewer surprises and more of the permanent collection is on display. I want to see more: much, much more.

I was at the art museum a few weeks ago for the van Gogh exhibit. It was amazing. The staff we're helpful and courteous. It was under renovation until last August I'm glad to see them open again. This two-story building has stairs and elevators for easy access to all the exhibits. A special thanks to Mike for making the exhibition available to me and my friend.

Was not expecting much from this museum (am from out of town), and was so pleasantly surprised at it! For a small museum, the museum packed a robust show of pre to post impressionistic work from a variety of classic artists. The size of the collection is decent and quite impressive, a classic case of quality over quantity. The depth of work was amazing, lovely really.

Such a art lovely museum. I used to come here on field trips when I was a kid. My friend and I enjoyed the beautiful art work especially the Van Gogh's! Can't wait to return once the other exhibits open back up!

They finally reopened recently and I went to visit on Saturday. The tickets were free. You just have to reserve them and get the QR code in your email. When I arrived there was a parking structure nearby which was pretty cheap ($1.50 for my stay), but what threw me off was the entrance to the museum. Google Maps didn't really help because I kept walking down the street 6 times to make sure I didn't walk pass by it. But if you park in the structure nearest to the museum, don't walk onto the streets and rather walk the other way to find the entrance hidden in the middle of the block. Alternatively if you're walking on State St, you can walk until you find the entrance of the museum's gift shop which can lead you to the kiosk too. The museum itself was located on one floor and was really small and curated. I'm not sure if they are under construction because I saw there were other floors and some doors that didn't allow access, but even with this 2-room exhibit I felt that it was a nice way to kill an hour if you want to do something fun and free in Downtown SB.

Van Gogh did not disappoint. The exhibit is amazing especially since it's in our backyard. Wish the timeline was at the beginning of the show. And wish it was all on one level as well as a sign to direct you to the room with the Wheat and then go upstairs before coming back down to complete the exhibit. A layout of the exhibit would've made it a 5. Also the roping looks cheap in front of the art work. Feel rope from Home Depot didn't do the exhibit justice. And in other areas there was no rope. Weird! If you can ignore these inconsistencies, you'll enjoy the exhibit.

A museum gift store that is small but has very nice high quality items at a variety of price ranges. However, it was the WORST service. I had two pieces of jewelry and was waiting to be checked out and waving to two associates, both of whom were speaking to friends (maybe customers). After waiting patiently for 5 minutes, I put back the items and said we'll come back another day and associate said, "I love your Hawaiian shirt." Clearly, working at the gift store is a hobby and not a job. Maybe my family and I will return, maybe not. A lousy experience, especially for returning customers.

The museum is a bit small but tons of cool art to look at. We're from the South Bay and decided to do a trip down to Santa Barbara and one of the places we stopped to explore was the museum of art. It started of great until one of the security followed us throughout the entire museum which was extremely uncomfortable that we decided to leave.

Small museum, but worth checking out when you're in town! I visited this place on a Thursday (it's free after 5!! Every Thursday). At that time they had the Nam June Paik tvclock exhibit. The museum is small and well kept. The primary collection take up about 3 rooms I believe. They're very community oriented. They have an area to paint (something great to take your kids to.. or yourself if you wanna do some finger painting or anything like that AND THAT'S ALSO FREE).

Fabulous guided tour of the newly renovated museum. Art from various countries around the world, as well as various eras. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable. Beautiful museum!

We had free passes from our hotel package, turned out it was free on a Sunday anyways. A good sized museum, not too big or small, they are undergoing a 4 year remodeling, some halls were closed. The entrance is quite interesting, it's like a Roman home, atrium to be exactly, a beautiful fountain with benches and statues around it, that's where Romans entertain guests in ancient times. A gentleman gave us and a few museum visitors a tour. A very educational tour, but a little too long for me, ADD was acting up so I had trouble concentrating in the end, and felt like fainting cause I had to force myself to concentrate, it was annoying. But I learned a lot about the arts of this museum, I liked it a lot. They have a few Monet paintings, those are some of my favorites I think. Definitely pay a visit here in downtown Santa Barbara, also tons of shops and restaurants nearby to check out after museum visit. Ps. Parking structure or valet parking nearby.

Maybe it's the humanities major in me, but I really enjoyed the Santa Barbara Museum of Art more than the Mission... We came on Sunday afternoon towards the end of our trip. The admission fee for adults are usually $10, but if you have a student id you can get in for $6 :) yay for looking young enough to get college discounts still!! My favorite collections were definitely the Japanese and the Egyptian exhibits. I really admired the skill-based occupations of the time. In the world we live in, mass production takes away the meaning of art and what's special. So looking at the hand made artifacts really call out to a part in my soul (yeah I know, I sound super lame...) I really preferred the artifacts over the more contemporary photographs and painting. But that's all a preference thing, I have nothing against photographs and paints... I just enjoy the sculptures and artifacts at a higher level. My only complaint about this place is that I didn't have enough time to truly enjoy its' beauty. Towards the end of the trip, I felt like time was running out. If I come back to Santa Barbara, this will probably one of the places I check out on the first day so I can spend more time here :)

Fine little art museum on State Street. I enjoyed the permanent collections more than the current exhibits, especially the room on the far right from the lobby and the Asian art just off the lobby on the left. I recommend taking the 1 PM daily docent led tour.

The museum is under renovation but they let us in for free. The pretty young lady at the counter with pretty eyes was at expert at customer service. The collection that was there was rather unremarkable. Lots of things being moved around. The Remington painting was my favorite. It's interesting as hell. I picked the wrong time to come and I'm going to give it another chance when they've put things back together. In the meantime I wouldn't recommend going. I'll return later and adjust my review up or down depending on which way it goes.

Only 1 floor of the museum was open with exhibits due to construction. Yet, we still paid for admission and weren't told that a majority of exhibits were unavailable for viewing. It would have been nice to know that beforehand, and to save a trip for later...... 1 star for the pieces available for viewing 1 star for the entertaining "free admission" art museum gift shop

Smallest museum I've ever been to. It's only two floors with a few different styles. We saw the whole thing in around 30 minutes. I am an artist and love art and only found 2 or 3 paintings to be nice enough to take a picture to remember. I was excited to see this place as I love supporting museums and art, but I was let down here.

Free museum! If you like art I recommend this place. It's not that big and they don't have a lot collection too. I guess some rooms are under contraction. Also no taking pictures and no food or drinks

Gem of a museum in the center of town. This small museum boasts representations of most of the styles of art. Currently only two rooms are open to the public as the museum undergoes an extensive remodeling. We got lucky on a recent visit, and were able to eavesdrop on the curator's lecture to the docents about the current "Snow" show. I had wanted to see this show and was disappointed because I thought that it would not be open during our visit, but I felt we struck gold listening to the very knowledgeable curator explain the significance of the varied works of art. "Snow" features American Impressionists and their contemporaries depicting the beauties of the autumn landscape. The rainy rainy day that we were there provided the perfect atmosphere for the wintery scenes. The light effects produced by the artists are breathtaking, and well worth the very reduced (1/2 price) cost of admission. Works from the permanent collection are on view during renovation, and the museum is showing three Monet landscapes, as well as work by other major artists, along with a representation of their Asian art collection. I am looking forward to their reopening in 2020 when the extended galleries are available.