May 01 Friday
The nine diverse works of American art in this exhibition span from 1915 to 2020, representing a remarkable slice of American art history. This selection weaves together ideas of identity, childhood, and environment. Through diverse mediums, styles, and cultural contexts, these works offer insights into the personal, cultural, and artistic conversations that shape our world. This project is made possible through our remarkable partnership with Art Bridges, whose mission is to bring art out of storage and into communities across America.
Themes of both celebrated and forgotten identities appear throughout—from the mystery of Richard Prince’s Nurse Elsa to the individuality of Alex Katz’s Dark Glasses and the haunting imagery of Edouard Duval-Carrié’s Lost at Sea. Rachel Rose’s Lake Valley transports us to the bittersweet nostalgia of childhood, where memories feel both real and imagined. Pop culture and American consumerism are brought into the conversation with Robert Gober’s Untitled (butter), which turns the familiar into something strange. Frank Stella’s maze-like Cinema de Pepsi Sketch I and Max Weber’s Interior with Music explore color, shape, and detail in bold ways. Félix González-Torres’ participatory work Untitled (L.A.) and Alfred Conteh’s Malik and Marquis invite reflection on friendship, loss and human connection.
Together, these works explore social issues that feel especially relevant today in the American political landscape—ideas of home, belonging, community, and time. Each artwork tells its own story, but together they create a larger history and experience. This exhibition does more than reflect the world: it helps us understand it and imagine the future we want to create.
Passage Through, New York–based artist Peter Krashes’ first solo exhibition on the West Coast, uses paintings of old and new construction, atmospheric details of public meetings, and ordinary yet meaningful aspects of community work to focus on daily experience in an ever-changing world. For nearly two decades, Krashes was deeply engaged as a community activist, and this lived experience shapes the work throughout the exhibition. Passage Through turns our attention to interstitial spaces and events—what is found in between, at the edges of our awareness, in the overlooked, and in the margins of our vision.
In works like Fences and Trees and Sprouting Seedbomb, barriers divide spaces, block visibility, and keep people separate from one another, but over time, they also provide a place for plants to grow and for birds to roost. In early works, scenes from community work, such as More Filled Seats Magnify the Message, grew from rallies and community-building practices, while State Attorney’s Public Meeting Notes emerged from the workings of government. Krashes’ work highlights how a community evolves, and the people, voices, and actions over time that help shape it.
Recent paintings made for this exhibition, including a series of mockingbirds in flight, recognize change as a constant in our neighborhoods while highlighting that resilience is possible over time. Working primarily in gouache, a medium Krashes describes as humble and open, the paintings leave room for uncertainty and possibility. In their directness, Krashes’ paintings reflect the context in which he lives and works in Brooklyn, yet they offer a passage of entry for any voice trying to make sense of our complicated world.
Working on a creative project that’s not quite done? Finish it up and cross it off your resolutions list! the Join other makers and spread out on our big tables, use our tools and dig through our upcycled materials to finalize your masterpiece. Get expert tips as we cheer you on to success. Ages 13+.
AVAILABLE: *LASER CUTTER *CRICUT *SEWING MACHINES *SERGER *BASIC HAND TOOLS *GLUE GUNS*TRACING TABLE *SOLDERING IRON *BLOCK PRINTING TOOLS
May 02 Saturday
More than 1,200 UCSB students annually participate in the UCSB Education Abroad Program (EAP) to study, intern, and conduct research in 35+ countries, earning UC credit toward majors, minors, and general education requirements. Returning students are invited to share their most memorable images from their time outside the United States with EAP.
Curated by EAP staff, this exhibition showcases standout submissions from EAP’s annual photo contests. Through these eye-catching photographs, students share their experiences living abroad with the campus community and highlight how EAP has enriched their undergraduate education at UCSB.
"Through most of our lives and work, Cedric and I have had deep commitments to collaboration, internationalism, and solidarity movements."–Elizabeth Robinson, 2024
This exhibition documents the life’s work of Cedric J. Robinson and Elizabeth Peters Robinson, placing it in the global context of the Black radical tradition. The Robinsons were renowned for their seminal scholarship and activism that had wide-ranging influence at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), in academia, and across many public arenas. The exhibition is drawn from the Cedric J. and Elizabeth P. Robinson Archive (“Robinson Archive”) and supplemented by a variety of materials from other collections in UCSB Library’s Special Research Collections, as well as personal contributions from Elizabeth Robinson.
A deeply influential educator, Cedric Robinson (1940-2016) was a well-known scholar of racial capitalism and the Black radical tradition, and an active participant in political movements, both at home and internationally. For more than 30 years, Elizabeth Robinson has been an educator, social worker, former associate director for media at KCSB-FM radio, activist, and community media producer.
This exhibition was curated by Yolanda Blue, the Library’s Curator of American and International History, Politics, and Cultures Collections, in collaboration with New York University and UCSB Library staff.
William Shakespeare’s plays transcended their origins almost immediately. Even during his lifetime, his unforgettable characters and indelible lines were already escaping the stage – taken up by others and repurposed and circulated in diverse ways. While his plays have been performed continuously for over four hundred years, they have also left the stage behind to live on elsewhere.
Printers and publishers have reproduced Shakespeare’s words in every possible textual format and in numerous languages. Literary and visual artists have continuously adapted and reinterpreted them in various artforms. Musicians and choreographers have refashioned his stories into opera, ballet, pop songs, and modern dance. Meanwhile, filmmakers, television writers, and videogame creators have transformed them for modern screens. This exhibition explores the many forms and many afterlives of Shakespeare’s art – from a single scrap of his crabbed handwritten text to the digital media of the twenty-first century.
Infinite Variety was co-curated by David Gartrell, the Library’s Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Professor Jim Kearney, Department of English. The exhibition is on display in the Jackie Laskoff Exhibition Alcove, located in the Sara Miller McCune Arts Library (1st Floor, Mountain Side), and is co-sponsored by UCSB Library and the Department of English.
Join us for Saturday morning art adventures in the EE Makerspace above Art from Scrap.All materials provided - just bring your imagination!Kids 5+ (adults must stay in the Makerspace with their child).Projects may use hot glue guns - safety first!
Long celebrated for its golden light and serene vistas, the Ojai Valley has inspired generations of artists. Ojai Mystique continues this tradition, inviting nineteen artists from across the region and beyond to immerse themselves in the landscape and translate their impressions into two paintings: a large masterwork and a smaller companion piece.
Exhibiting artists: John Cosby, Steven Curry, Carolyn Lord, Kim Lordier, Jennifer Moses, Charles Muench, John Nava, Michael Obermeyer, Jesse Powell, Ian Roberts, Ray Roberts, Dave Santillanes, Dan Schultz, Frank Serrano, W. Jason Situ, Alexey Steele, Sarah Vedder, Anne Ward, Wendy Wirth.
Ojai Mystique is curated by Jennifer Moses and Dan Schultz. Demonstrations and artist talks are scheduled throughout the exhibition.
Opening reception: Friday April 17, 2026, 5-7pm. Exhibition runs through August 9, 2026.
Ojai Valley Museum hours are Thursday - Sunday 10am - 4pm.
THE FRIENDS OF THE BUELLTON LIBRARY ARE PLEASED TO PRESENT THEIR SPRING ART SHOWCASE IN HONOR OFMENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS AND MOTHERS’ DAY.
This exhibit for the entire month of May is entitled,“Creating from Within,” featuring four local artists from the Santa Ynez Valley,expressing the love-bond between mother and child, the joy of life, sharing thoughts and feelings without words, and visually representing deeply felt emotions as part of a self-soothing process.
The four artists exhibiting in our Spring Art Showcase are Renée Kelleher, Maggie Powell,Sherry Uyeda & Alexandra Yakutis presenting in various mediums: oils, graphite, watercolors, colored pencil, charcoal, and ceramic.
This art will be on display for the entire month of May inside the Friends’ Room at the BuelltonLibrary, which will be accessible for viewing during our open store hours (3 days per week, 2hours each day), as well as, for the Opening Reception. Our open hours are: Mondays10am-noon, Tuesdays 2-4pm, and Saturdays 11am-1pm.
Our goal for our art showcases is to highlight Local Artists from the Santa Ynez Valley and bringart appreciation to the community. The Friends’ Room is also a used book store, where weraise funds to support the Buellton Library, host lecture series, and other events.
We will be having a wine & hors d'oeuvres Artist Reception on Sat., May 2nd, from 4-6pm.
