Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

 

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

In Santa Barbara, California, there is a natural history museum called the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Every year, it reconnects more than 150,000 people (including their 5,700 members) to nature both indoors and outdoors. The museum is nestled in nature, along Mission Creek in the Mission Canyon area. The museum has ten indoor exhibit halls dedicated to regional natural history subjects such as astronomy, birds, insects, geology, mammals, marine life, paleontology, plant life, and the Chumash Indians. It houses a research library, the John & Peggy Maximus Art Gallery  and the Central Coast's only full-dome planetarium.

History

The Santa Barbara Natural History Society and an accompanying museum at 1226 State Street were founded in the 1880s by a group of professional and amateur scientists, including botanist Caroline Bingham.

 Though the effort had dwindled by the end of the century, the arrival of ornithologist William Leon Dawson from Ohio re-ignited it. Dawson and a group of prominent Santa Barbarans established the Museum of Comparative Oology, which was initially housed in two outbuildings on his Puesta del Sol Road property in Mission Canyon. His extensive collection of bird eggs, as well as the collections of other community members, were used to build the initial holdings. Dawson, according to the museum's website, believed in oology—the study of birds."Eggs would cast a flood of light on the trend of life itself," revealing "the secrets of life's origins and destiny." Though it began with a collection of bird eggs, the museum's holdings were quickly expanded into other realms by its board of directors. Ralph Hoffmann, a Harvard-trained educator, botanist, and ornithologist, took over as director after William Dawson.  Paul Marshall Rea, the next director, had previously served as president of the American Association of Museums, director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and director of the Carnegie Foundation in Washington, D.C. Dr. Caroline Hazard, president of Wellesley College at the time, was one of the museum's notable benefactors: she donated a portion of her estate in Mission Canyon for the purpose.

Exhibits

A mockup of a northern fulmar's stomach oil attack is included in the taxidermied bird exhibit.The museum is well-known for its fine dioramas of birds, mammals, and habitats from southern California. Famous artists from the California school of plein-air painters illustrated these in the 1930s and 1960s. The Bird Habitat Hall, for example, features mounted specimens by staff members Egmont Rett and Waldo Abbott, as well as background paintings by Ray Strong. The museum also has halls dedicated to marine life, geology, and Chumash Indian life, as well as an art gallery devoted to antique natural history prints. It has over 3 million specimens in its collections and an active research programme focused on marine biology, terrestrial vertebrates, and amphibians.Insects, anthropology, geological mapping, and natural history art are all examples of natural history art.  A rearticulated skeleton of a 72-foot (22-meter) blue whale greets visitors near the front entrance, becoming an iconic display for the museum and Santa Barbara. Temporary exhibits include dinosaurs, sharks, antique natural history art, "Butterflies Alive," and "Bringing the Condors Home," which tell the story of the California condor's decline and beginning of recovery. In early 2005, the Gladwin Planetarium at the museum was renovated and outfitted with technology to display distant planets, stars, and galaxies. The museum will begin a $30 million renovation in the fall of 2016, beginning with the butterfly pavilion. The museum will remain open during the renovation, and the square footage will remain unchanged. 

Museum

admission is available from Wednesday to Monday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Tuesdays are closed.

Adult (18–64 years) (18–64 years) $18

Senior (age 65 and up) $16

Teen (13–17 years) (13–17 years) $16

Child (2–12 years) (2–12 years) $12

Child under the age of two is free.

Fresh SNAP/Cal Fresh $3*

(for up to four people per visit)

Sea Center 

Tickets are available daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Adult (18–64 years) (18–64 years) $13

Senior (age 65 and up) $11

Teen (13–17 years) (13–17 years) $11

Child (2–12 years) (2–12 years) $10

Child under the age of two is free.Fresh SNAP/Cal Fresh $3*

(for up to four people per visit)