We hope you can join us for the Annual Kids Draw Architecture sketch session! It will be held at Riviera Park on Sunday, April 19th from 1 -3 p.m. This is a FREE event, and all sketching materials are provided.
March 28 – May 30, 2026, at the Architectural Foundation Gallery
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 28th, 2 – 4 p.m.
Artist Talk: Saturday, April 25th, 2 – 3 p.m.
The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of PINHOLE NOIR, an exhibition of recent pinhole camera photographs by Lindsay Skutch.
An opening reception will be held at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Saturday, March 28, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Skutch will present an Artist Talk in the gallery on Saturday, April 25, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Lindsay Skutch’s striking black & white photographs of familiar sites and sights in Southern California are taken with pinhole cameras she constructs using Sanka coffee cans, cardboard CBD containers, and Christmas cookie tins. The photographs have an eerie, outside of time feeling—like buried memories or dimly remembered dreams.
Pinhole cameras are a form of camera obscura (Latin for dark chamber)—a room or box with a small opening that allows light to pass through a tiny aperture, or pinhole, and project an inverted image of what is outside onto photographic paper on the opposite surface inside.
The exposure varies depending on location, sun direction and subject matter. The paper is processed in a darkroom, and it becomes the negative. Skutch prints all her photographs from cameras she makes and the negatives she processes.
The camera obscura/pinhole camera technique has been used since the 16th century by artists like Leonardo da Vinci; also, as a way of observing eclipses without looking directly at the sun and damaging the eyes.
Lindsay Skutch grew up in Greenwich, Conn. She was 13 years old when her father built her a dark room and she discovered that photography was her voice. She attended Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Calif.
After a successful, 38-year career in Los Angeles and New York producing global commercials with directors John Frankenheimer, Sidney Pollock, Alfonso Cuaron, and Kathryn Bigelow, Skutch now revels in the chance element involved in making pinhole photographs:
“You have no idea if the negative will turn out or what the image is truly going to look like. There is no viewfinder and no way of knowing if the tin can is even pointing at what you want it to.”
She credits Marian Roth of Provincetown, Mass. for teaching her the basics of this art form. Roth once said to her, “I make photographs, I don’t take photographs.”
The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara (AFSB) seeks to promote quality in architecture, art, and design by fostering an understanding of excellence in the urban environment. The AFSB offers diverse programs serving Santa Barbara County that provide educational opportunities for the community with participation from local architects and design professionals. Learn more at afsb.org.
2026 Finalists (L to R): Kira Grama, Benke Sepulveda, Grace Oberg, Nicole Velandia, Keith Mullen, Itzel Vasquez-Fernandez, Cas Elliott, Nico Ruffenach, Winslow Seamans, Isabell Payne, Bella Da Re, Evie Beuville
1st Place: Isabelle (Bella) Da Re, 11th grade, Dos Pueblos High School
2nd Place: Isabell Payne, 11th grade, San Marcos High School
3rd Place: Winslow Seamans, 10th grade, Midland School
Honorable Mention: Benke Sepulveda, 11th grade, Dunn School
Honorable Mention: Cas Elliott, 12th grade, Olive Grove Charter School
Sixty-three students from 15 Santa Barbara County high schools participated in design charrettes on February 24th at two locations: Santa Barbara City College and Allan Hancock College. Twelve finalists presented their designs during a Juried Review on February 28th at Elverhøj Museum in Solvang.
Over the past 35 years, thousands of students have gone through this rigorous and fun design challege. This year’s competition challenges students to design their home in the year 2026.
Congratulations on all who participated! It was a joy to have this competition and we look forward to another year of the High School Architectural Design Competition!
For more details, visit our High School Design Competition Page.