Museum open Wed–Mon, Sea Center open daily; both 10:00 AM–5:00 PM

Press Releases

October 10, 2024
From Saturday, September 28 to Sunday, October 13, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will host its 6th Annual The Artist’s Table Art Show, a fundraiser for Museum education programs.
September 17, 2024
Lucy Firestone, Gregory Fuss, and Greg Giloth have been appointed to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Board of Trustees for a three-year term.
September 12, 2024
In February 1824, Chumash people at three local missions took up arms against soldiers and missionaries, kicking off a regionwide struggle that took months to resolve.
August 2, 2024
A groundbreaking new study has shed light on the remarkable diversity of galeommatoidean bivalves, a little-known group of marine mollusks, from the western coast of South Africa.
July 16, 2024
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History proudly announces the addition of two distinguished professionals to its dynamic team.
July 9, 2024
One of the most popular books by staff at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH) is finally back in print. Chumash Ethnobotany by Jan Timbrook is now available.
June 3, 2024
Come celebrate World Oceans Day at the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf during a festival from 10:00 AM–3:00 PM on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Free admission from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
May 20, 2024
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will open its extremely popular annual summer exhibit Butterflies Alive! on Saturday, May 25 through Monday, September 2 (Memorial Day through Labor Day wee
May 10, 2024
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s latest exhibit depicts birds with some of the most elaborate feathers in the world.
April 22, 2024
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s annual Mission Creek Gala: Mineral Masquerade took place Saturday, April 13.
February 29, 2024
On January 12, 2024, the SB Museum of Natural History closed its Chumash Life exhibit to comply with new federal regulations that were released under the Native American Graves Protection Act.
January 31, 2024
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History hosted its Leadership Circles of Giving Dinner on Thursday, January 18 in Fleischmann Auditorium.
January 16, 2024
The Sea Center on Stearns Wharf is offering free admission to its Underwater Parks Day Festival on Saturday, January 20, 2024 with activities from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
November 29, 2023
Hiroko Benko and Amanda Lee have been appointed to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Board of Trustees for a three-year term.
July 17, 2023
The Museum’s Gladwin Planetarium now features an Evans & Sutherland Digistar 7 dual-projection system with 4K resolution, a game-changer for the Museum’s guests, educators, and expert presenters.
June 13, 2023
On June 3, 2023 the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History opened the art exhibit Curious by Nature: Works of Charley and Edie Harper (organized by Springfield Museum of Art and Fowler Artistic LLC).
June 6, 2023
Come celebrate World Oceans Day (WOD) at the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf with free admission for all, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM on Saturday, June 10, 2023.
June 5, 2023
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH) has coordinated the return of the remains of two ancestral Indigenous Peruvian individuals to the Consulate General of Peru in Los Angeles.
June 1, 2023
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History opened its extremely popular annual summer exhibit Butterflies Alive! on Saturday, May 27.
April 26, 2023
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s 23rd Annual Mission Creek Gala took place Saturday, April 15.