••• “Eight artists who would have been included in the exhibition Three American Painters: Then and Now at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art have penned a letter to the board of directors to protest the show’s abrupt cancellation earlier this month and the termination of its curator.” Museum director Amada “Cruz said that the show was canceled in line with the aim of making the museum ‘more inclusive and more reflective of Santa Barbara County’s diverse community,’ adding that the show and catalogue ‘fell short from a diversity perspective.'” So there’s a quota? —Hyperallergic
••• Voting is underway on a Community Benefit Improvement District in downtown Santa Barbara “funded by assessment fees the owners of 400 or so properties—located between Sola Street and Highway 101 and bounded by Chapala Street to the west and by Anacapa Street to the east—would impose upon themselves.” —Independent
••• Noozhawk, the Independent, and Edhat all recapped the recent meeting of Carpinteria’s Architectural Review Board about the proposed hotel/housing development on the bluffs. Residents came out in droves to oppose it, but “the Architecture Review Board doesn’t have the authority to approve or deny the project. Thursday night’s packed meeting served as a preliminary hearing and an opportunity to give feedback to the developers on the project’s design, architecture and landscaping. […] The board made a motion to continue the project, meaning that the developers will have to come back to the board at a later time with a revised version of the project based on the board’s comments” (Noozhawk).
••• The Coral Casino reopened. —John Palminteri
••• Water damage from a sprinkler alarm (there was no fire) has forced the Granada Theatre to close, possibly through February. —Independent
••• “The X Games is returning to Ventura in June. The three-day competition featuring skateboarding, BMX and Moto X will take place June 28-30 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.” —VC Star
••• “The county approved a contract Tuesday to landscape the first phase of the controversial Modoc Road multi-use trail. Supervisors approved construction in May 2022, and the first section was finished last August. The finished path will start near Calle De Los Amigos and connect to the Obern Trail Bike Path across from Encore Drive. Construction on the next section will begin this summer.” —Noozhawk
••• “When completed, the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinic’s new Westside clinic at 621 W. Micheltorena Street will be two feet taller than originally planned, to accommodate plumbing infrastructure required for its dental suites.” —Noozhawk
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Did you write the headline with the intention of being divisive? Since when are DEIB initiatives frowned upon when considering access of art to all?
Inappropriate to call out whether there is a quota. If you haven’t learned by now, systemic racism is a real thing and without quotas, how would we ensure representation across all facets of our society?
I expected better from Siteline.
If you haven’t learned by now, racial quotas are racism. By definition Affirmative Action was systemic racism. If you were an employer and had a racial or gender quota, even if race/gender are just one of several factors in the hiring decision, that is illegal. The museum would have been better off saying the exhibit was boring and wouldn’t be a draw for the community.
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!
????
Thank you, Jefferson A. Spot on!
I am never certain if responses like this are tongue in cheek but based on how outrageous the quota comment is I am going to go with sarcasm.
It is shameful for a white woman to come in and co-opt the efforts of a tenured curator—a minority, Eik Kahng—then fire her, inserting herself in her position and the new curator, and destroy Eik’s efforts late in the exhibition stage after the loans had been secured. This situation exemplifies the abuse of white privilege and white power in non-profits. You should be ashamed for being so blinded by DEIC that you fail to recognize the injustice and systemic racism unfolding before your eyes. Get off Erik’s page.
Uh, that “white women” is a Cuban born immigrant…. to ehco your comment, don’t be so blinded by DEIC that everything unfolding before your eyes is injustice and systemic racism.
Just because she was born in Cuba does not mean she is not white. She is a white woman born in Cuba, and her birthplace does not negate her racial identity. Being born in Cuba doesn’t automatically mean someone is not white. My white friend was born in Singapore. Perhaps you should consider avoiding assumptions based on birthplace. This is clearly a white woman exploiting diversity, while creating immense harm upon minorities.
“immense harm upon minorities”…LOL
She’s “Cuban” as much as Elizabeth Warren is Cherokee. No one can verify her true background or story. She is exploited the academic system just like Elizabeth Warren. She “immigrated” to America at nine months old. Can we see the evidence and the evidence of her “brown-ness?” Or is this just her family folklore, similar to Elizabeth Warren? She is an outsider without a clear story or clear background check. Let’s see a DNA test.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their DNA.”
― Martin Luther King Jr. (probably)
Talent, Talent, Talent – Not Color, Race or Sexual Orientation – DE & I is Racism !!!
Talent, Talent, Talent – Not Color, Race or Sexual Orientation – DE & I is Racism Woke Crap!!!
That is quite the article about the Museum- I’m sure the eye rolls from the hourly staff are worth the price of a day’s admission….
This is such nonsense. What does inclusive even mean. So woke. Very disturbing.
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…
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.
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
Eik Kahng is a SB treasure. What a travesty!
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.
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.
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.
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.
MCA = Museum of Contemporary Art
Director Cruz was hired this fall. Things were probably approved by the previous administration before that point.
Thanks Paul
Yes, I suppose that would make sense.
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.
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.
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.