First of all, thank you for your generosity towards the arts.
I am trying to understand fully what happened at The Santa Barbara Art Museum with laptop and iPhone in hand. Acronyms are not my forte as I have lived abroad for so long. I have found out what DEIB stands for but I am still in the dark for what MCA stands. Another thing that I do not understand; Didn't Museum Director Cruz have the opportunity to study the list of participating artists that curator Eik had in mind when the project was first proposed? It all sounds so nuts that what sounds like a good show should have been cancelled so late on. I'm afraid this is very counter productive for any of the goals behind Diversity and Equity.
Congrats on building of are time 100 years from now it maybe the only record of what we can build today.
They lock that gate all the time
The underpass has always been horribly noisy, especially when a motorcycle or someone with no muffler passes through. Jeff Shelton will add visual appeal, but let’s hope acoustics will be addressed.
Franceschi is a well used park. Living in the neighborhood, I'm there 3x a week and see others starting there day enjoying the sun rise or viewing sunsets , enjoying picnic lunches or using the paths and stairs of the Lower park for Cardio. Visitors are from all parts of the town, young and old. Only recently has there been any weekly maintenance which isn't much more than emptying trashcans, a 20 min. stop before moving to the other places in town.
We do not need infill of our Historic open spaces.
I totally agree! It's a wonderful historic property and beautiful as is.
Also -- I agree with Maureen. So very disturbingly woke. Woke in practice is the opposite of what it is trying to be. Woke in practice abused time & finances of an institution, lost a major donation(s), and canceled what would have been a coup of an exhibition for Santa Barbara Museum of Art. This would have been a PHENOMENAL show and would have brought a lot of people to town to see it. Again, horrified that this happened.
I was horrified to hear this on many levels. So much of the museum's time and money must have gone into planning this exhibition. For an institution always looking for donations and grants, this is an abuse of finances. Securing loans from other institutions isn't easy and often is the result of years of building relationships-- to cancel after securing is flagrant. Why couldn't the next show feature an artist who is a person of color? To base exhibitions on a person's skin color is not diversity...
The City should not waste any more taxpayer money on this project... much better option would be to sell the property to the highest bidder, who would then quite likely return the property to its original splendor, in an efficient and tasteful manner. The City could then use those much-needed proceeds to repair and improve the rest of the city parks that the residents actually use. Not to mention the current ongoing City costs that would cease (full-time onsite caretaker, repairs and maintenance, etc etc).
Agree that this is an appalling development for SB, and that your decision to adjust a gift is appropriate. The City needs to discontinue funding all of these organizations at least until the housing/homeless crisis is solved. There is sufficient opportunity for private corporate and other public funding of the Arts in SB and those donors can waste their time ignoring art for the sake of politics and DEI if they want to. That is the beauty of America!
Samarkand, in my experience one man’s quota can legitimately be seen as another’s racism/sexism/ageism and that in this free country it is always appropriate to express your opinion… even if someone disagrees or it deviates from what the cool kids, or those who think they are, consider “appropriate”.
To me it’s just sad to see a respected institution get dragged into the mud. But maybe they have bigger donors who want to exclude art based on revisionist thinking or figure they can extort it from the City.
But mostly it makes me sad for the City to waste money on this form of elitism especially when political agendas are played through it - especially while there are people pooping in the bushes of the Museum property and elsewhere around town.
Mecca Sports Bar, 512 N Milpas St, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Wishing each and every one of you a safe and uneventful weekend. All of the latest evacuation warnings and updates can be found here: https://www.countyofsb.org/4135/February-2024-Storm
Take good care of yourselves and your neighbors - the enduring values of compassion and perspective have historically served our city well through moments of real crisis.
The Coral reopened but only to ultra rich that could afford $2,500 a month. The community that supported it for so many years have been left out so that the greedy owner could visit his elite friends when he flys in from Chicago and not have to see the local riff raff.
Talent, Talent, Talent - Not Color, Race or Sexual Orientation - DE & I is Racism Woke Crap!!!
I believe the 3rd Window owner's husband is related to the Neiman Ranch family, so that'll be the reason for the high quality meat, they get a really good deal on beef
Talent, Talent, Talent - Not Color, Race or Sexual Orientation - DE & I is Racism !!!
Thank you for your wise re-evaluation of donated funds to the Whitney Museum, a worthy recipient, instead of SBMA. As a former supporter of SBMA , and resident of SB for over forty years, I applaud your vocalizing sound intellect and dismay at the decisions and direction in which SBMA has revealed. Major donor Wright S. Ludington, amongst so many others, would be devasted to see their beloved Museum of Art and its ideals distorted due to politics.
Another museum (the Huntington?) should schedule this show and publish the catalogue. It’s important and I’d love to see it. Shocking that a 15-year employee can be treated so shabbily.
My family had planned to donate $1 million to the SBMA to help support blockbuster exhibitions in Santa Barbara. However, we are appalled by these recent developments. It’s bewildering that the SBMA dismissed Eik to collaborate with Janka from MCA to support an unknown LA artist. According to public records from the city arts commission minutes, Janka has been diverting city grant money to the MCA while serving as head of the commission, a position that should involve recommending grants in an unbiased, non-self serving manner to local arts non-profits. Instead, the funds appear to be benefiting him and his cronies. It’s also public record that the MCA indeed received $18,000 from the city to “combat white patriarchy” while he was serving on the committee, denying other deserving non-profits. Meanwhile, Cruz is promoting this highly questionable individual but terminated Eik, citing “diversity issues.” In light of these actions, we’ve decided to redirect our donation to the Whitney Museum, rather than supporting the SBMA. The situation is truly disheartening.
We’ve been able to walk around the corner to Via Vai for our 30 years of living here. It’s been our go-to family restaurant. We are personally devastated by its closure and deeply saddened by what it represents regarding the direction in which Montecito is going.
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Agreed, they don't even need to bury their rationale any more as long as they feel they are on the moral "correct side" in their estimation. California is gone folks..beyond the breach and over the falls for at least 15 years. Out when I retire...wish it was sooner!
Eik Kahng is a SB treasure. What a travesty!
Not diverse enough? I thought art was based on talent not skin color . I hope State Street does become like the SF tenderloin and surrounding area. Disgusting
This is such nonsense. What does inclusive even mean. So woke. Very disturbing.
