Saturday and Sunday Walking Tours

Saturday and Sunday Walking Tours
10:00 am

Saturday Sabado Tour leaves from the City Hall steps at de la Guerra Plaza
Sunday Domingo Tour leaves from the downtown Public Library entrance courtyard
Please bring masks to the tour in the event the docent feels they are necessary

Scholarship Reception & Awards Ceremony

2022 Scholarship Reception & Awards Ceremony

Join us in honoring the 2022 AFSB Scholarship and partner Funds recipients!
This is a celebration of higher education as we recognize and award Santa Barbara County students pursuing college-level studies in architecture and related fields.
Thank you to the sponsors, members, and volunteers that make this happen.

Learn more about past Scholarship Recipients HERE at the Scholarship Page. 

May: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

May: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”

 
May’s Book:
The Castle on Sunset by Shawn Levy
6-8:00 PM Wednesday, May 25, 2022
229 East Victoria Street, Santa Barbara 93101
 

Register at Facebook for this FREE in person book club event at the historic Acheson House: the perfect venue to share the architecture of life, death, love, art and scandal at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!

Exhibition: A.BOD.E by Cara Lasell Bonewitz

Exhibition: A.BOD.E by Cara Lasell Bonewitz

May 14 – June 25, 2022

The Architectural Foundation Gallery

Opening Reception May 13, 2022, 5-7 p.m.

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition of A·BOD·E, a solo-exhibition of recent paintings and papier-mâché sculptures by Ojai-based artist Cara Lasell Bonewitz. An opening reception with the artist will be held at the Architectural Foundation Gallery on Friday, May 13, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Cara Lasell Bonewitz received her MFA from the Glasgow School of Art and her BA in Studio Art and History from Yale University.

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara office and gallery are based in the historic Acheson House at the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara. Gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and by appointment.

Images shown:

Fourth Morning

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (unidentified drug shelf)

Oh My Goshi

Kids Draw Architecture 2022 / Niños Dibujan Arquitectura 2022

Kids Draw Architecture Sketch Session at the Courthouse is back!

Join us on May 1st from 1-3pm at the Santa Barbara Courthouse on 1100 Anacapa Street to draw with local architects and artists, materials provided! We will also be accepting mailed in drawings of the Santa Barbara Courthouse through May 27th, 2022, more information below.  

October: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

October: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”

 
October’s Book:
The Shining by Stephen King
6-7:30 PM Thursday, October 28, 2021
229 East Victoria Street, Santa Barbara 93101
 

Register at Facebook for this FREE in person book club event at the historic Acheson House: the perfect venue to share the architecture of horror that is The Shining. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!

September: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

September: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”

 
September’s Book:
The Woman in the Window
by A. J. Finn
 

Register at Facebook for this live video event. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!

Local Treasures Opening: September 18

Local Treasures Festive Opening with Music... and Covid safety precautions
Saturday, September 18, 1-4 pm.

September 18, 2021 Saturday, 1-4
The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present Local Treasures, an exhibition of artworks by thirty artists who have exhibited at the Architectural Foundation Gallery during the past seven years. The exhibition runs from Saturday, September 18th through November 12th, 2021. The public is invited to drop by on the opening day, September 18th from 1-4 (masks and social distancing required).

In the Foundation’s garden, the group Glendessary Jam will be providing music for the event.  

Local Treasures

Local Treasures

September 18 – November 12, 2021
The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present Local Treasures, an exhibition of artworks by thirty artists who have exhibited at the Architectural Foundation Gallery during the past seven years. The exhibition runs from Saturday, September 18th through November 12th, 2021. The public is invited to drop by on the opening day, September 18th from 1-4 (masks and social distancing required); and for the gala Closing Reception with the Artists, Friday, November 12, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Local Treasures honors the extraordinary quality, diversity, and vitality of the artists whose work has recently graced the walls of the Architectural Foundation Gallery. Initiated during the 1990s, the Gallery exhibited watercolor paintings by local architects of Santa Barbara buildings. Later, the Gallery committee expanded its mission to present exhibitions of contemporary art, architecture, and design.  Throughout the pandemic, following all COVID-19 protocols, the Gallery has maintained its schedule of exhibitions with the support of dedicated volunteers.  

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara has been dedicated to expanding our community’s appreciation of the built environment since 1983. The AFSB Gallery is located in the historic Acheson House at the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara. Regular gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm and weekdays by appointment.

The exhibition will be installed in a celebratory salon style (works of different sizes and media will hang next to and above each another), creating dynamic groupings on the Gallery’s walls.  Two-dimensional work including an abstract print by Tony Askew, a collage by Dug Uyesaka, and plein air paintings by Libby Smith and Nina Ward will be complemented by several reliefs—a surreal box construction by Michael Long and a geometric structure in styrene by Marilyn Helsenrott-Hochhauser.  A weaving by Minga Opazo and a screen print by Claudia Borfiga will join photographs by Sara Yerkes, Jeffrey Sippress, Pat McGinnis and Matt Straka, as well as a sewn paper composition by architect Cass Ensberg and a hard-edge, environmental painting by Cynthia Martin.  Two husband/wife duos—printmakers Siu and Don Zimmerman and painters Judy and Warner Nienow will also be featured.

August: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

August: The Architecturally Macabre Book Club

WHERE ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Hosted by AFSB Vice President, Selinda Tuttle.

“Personally, I prefer to read books—fiction or non-fiction—that feature the city as a character,” says the book club’s curator, AFSB Vice President Selinda Tuttle. “The only thing cooler than reading a book that reckons with a city is being able to talk about that book with people who find it just as worthy of conversation.”

 
August’s Book:
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follet
 

Register at Facebook for this live video event. 

 
Join the private Facebook group (same name) to interact with more book lovers!

Happy Reading!