My experience at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art was definitely an extremely memorable one. I went to State Street reluctantly, already exhausted after a 8-hour schoolday and dreading the idea of walking around peering at dusty paintings. However, upon entering the museum, I was immediately impressed by its unique architecture that mixed both modern and traditional elements of interior design, which resulted in a bright, well-lit, and quite elegant interior that was enjoyable to walk around in.
The art pieces of the permanent collection were a mix of ancient-looking statues, beautifully polished vases, and traditional framed oil paints—exactly the type of art pieces I would expect from a “standard” art museum. The piece that stood out to me most is the dark green-brown vase on the left side (Photo 1), and one reason it drew my attention to me was the placement of the exhibition glass case in the room, where it was carefully arranged near the edge of the room, but not so far to the side where it was unnoticeable. I was drawn to the vase’s strong silhouette: its narrow base but wide, protruding jug of a body, and the slender handle and elegant pouring tip. Though it was simple, I appreciated this artwork for its shape and design.
As a fervent animal lover, the exhibit I enjoyed the most was the Art-to-Zoo: Exploring Animal Natures. These series of photographs depicted animals in the effort to showcase, in a scientific manner, animals ability to feel pain, experience varied senses, and exude joy in a nearly human-like way. As a vegetarian and animal rights advocate, the mission behind this exhibit was especially touching to me, because it recognized the fact that modern science tends to degrade these living beings as non-feeling, unintelligent creatures, when in fact, they possess great intellectual capabilities and varied talents. The description of the exhibit was painted on the wall, and included a quote from Charles Darwin that stated, “Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities connected with the social instincts which in us would be called moral.” It’s this quote that perfect exemplifies the goal of this exhibit: to demonstrate how complex and vibrant animals can be.
Since horses are my favorite animal, I was drawn towards the trio of beautiful horse photographs in the left exhibition room. I thought these three images showcased the majestic beauty and powerful strength of horses perfectly.
The first photo on the left , Untitled (Galloping Horse) by Richard H. Ross (1984) is of a dark brown horse in mid-run through a green field, the epitome of freedom and joyous liberation in the middle of beautiful nature. Though I enjoyed seeing the horse in mid-trot, with its little white hoof sticking out, this definitely wasn’t a picture that made me breathless. The horse isn’t demonstrating a powerful gallop through mountainous terrain with muscles and mane rippling, as I’ve seen in other photos; it seems more like a halfway run between a leisurely stroll and a mild trot. The landscape is a bit bland, as it’s just spotty green grass dotted with brownish-looking trees in the back. This photograph definitely wasn’t one of my favorites.
In the middle is Skye Ponies by Keith Carter (1998) showcased a majestic white horse in the middle of grazing. In the midst of chomping on grass, the horse flickers its deep black eyes into the camera, and with a click of his shutter, Carter captures a seemingly soulful and intense stare between the photographer and horse. Though the horse is quite a distance away from Carter, there seems to be an instant connection between the two. However, I wasn’t such a fan of the editing. I wish he had brought the horse in the back into a more blurry focus, because it distracts from the subject of the painting.
On the right is Running from the Storm by Loretta Young-Gautier (2000), and this visually captivating photo is definitely my favorite one. It features a semi-blurry, layered and edited image of a horse running through a haze of black and white smoky clouds. At first, I couldn’t tell if it was a painting or an incredibly photoshopped image, and it was Diane who told me that it was most likely a series of digitized photos layered together to create this unique effect. I loved the dreamy, but fierce lines of the digitized brush strokes, as well as the meddling of colours that created an incredibly realistic stormy pattern. It truly is a remarkable work of art.
Upon leaving the museum, my peers and I browsed through a few nearby galleries, one of which was 100 Grand, which was a gallery that featured a room full of “100 paintings at $1,000 or less!” These price tags were much less friendly than the $30,000 labels stuck on extraordinarily priced paintings we gazed at earlier. It was in this gallery where my group met Stephanie, the adorable woman in the last photo. We were shocked and delighted to discover that she was the subject of Jean Swigget’s oil painting, Little Princess, depicted in the 1951 painting! Her father oftentimes used her as a model for his earlier pieces, and two of them hung in this very gallery. It was definitely an interesting experience to meet Stephanie and ask her what it was like to be forever immortalized through artwork.
Though I admittedly embarked this trip with rather low expectations, I was left amazed and astounded by Santa Barbara's vibrant art culture, and a bit starry-eyed at all the beautiful sculptures, paintings, and installations I had the privelege to view that day. This trip honestly did open my eyes to the wonders of museums (which is even better when they're free), and it's undoubtedly going to push me to explore more art scenes inside museums and festivals in the future.



















