It was 75 years ago this June that the old post office building on the corner of State and Anapamu streets first opened its doors as the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The construction inside remained partly unfinished, but there were 1,500 junior high school students waiting patiently on the steps, because founder Buell Hammett had consulted an astrologer who assured him that, at 11:43 in the morning on June 5, the stars would be aligned in the most propitious way possible for the start of this new venture. Regardless of whether or not the stars had anything to do with it, June 5, 1941, was indeed a lucky day, for Santa Barbara’s new museum would prove to consistently deliver experiences far out of proportion to the size of the population it serves.
As the museum gears up for its 75th anniversary celebration beginning on Sunday, May 15, it is time to tell again the fascinating story of how it became one of the top regional art museums in the world. Walking through the splendid new exhibit from the Indian subcontinent, Puja and Piety, it’s easy to feel the deep connection between the museum’s cosmopolitan outlook and the life of our city. But it is through the adjacent selection of works from the permanent collection, 75 in 25, and its introductory essay by the museum’s director Larry Feinberg, that one can learn how this seemingly natural and effortless fit between institution and community came about through the hard work and dedication of several generations.
The early years were necessarily marked by the historical circumstance of the Second World War. As the museum’s first director, Donald J. Bear, was selecting works for the inaugural show, Painting Today and Yesterday in the United States, the Japanese navy was preparing to attack Pearl Harbor. To enter the building through the Ludington Court, then as now home to magnificent examples of Greek and Roman sculptures, and to proceed into an exhibition 140 images strong demonstrating the vitality and range of American art was to witness firsthand the living tradition that the war was being fought to protect. Yet from its very beginning, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art also recognized and honored the multiplicity of artistic expression and the diversity of cultures that come together here in California. When the large McCormick Gallery opened in 1942, among the first shows were major exhibitions of pre-Columbian art and modern paintings from Mexico.
