Night at the Museum
Santa Barbara Magazine Toasts Its 50th Anniversary at SBMA
Written by Lorie Dewhirst Porter
A festive crowd gathered downtown at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) to toast Santa Barbara Magazine’s 50th anniversary and to celebrate the publication of its winter Culture Issue. Hosted by CEO/editorial director/CEO Jennifer Smith and executive editor Gina Tolleson, the gathering included multimedia artist Russell Young, whose color-saturated artwork on the magazine’s winter cover features a modified 1965 Andy Warhol photograph of his muse, Santa Barbara native Edie Sedgwick, at the height of her fame.
To welcome guests as they arrived, Anna and Bion Rice — owners of Artiste Winery in Santa Ynez, which is known for its wines with labels by artists — graciously filled flutes with their sparkling “Special” 2023 Brut Rosé. With Young’s artwork gracing the label, “Special” is the winery's fourth release in its collaboration with Santa Barbara Magazine. Each one has been timed to coincide with the magazine’s 2025 quarterly issues, all with unique covers by local artists to commemorate the magazine’s five decades. The complete set of the Santa Barbara Magazine Collection of four wines with artist-designed labels is available from the winery (artiste.com).
The ultimate highlight of the evening was an exclusive VIP tour of the museum’s special exhibitions The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art and Encore: 19th-Century French Art from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, expertly led by SBMA’s Eicholz Foundation director Amada Cruz. Among the attentive audience were several local artists, including Fall issue cover artist David Florimbi with daughter Sofia; Spring issue cover artist Olivia Joffrey with daughter Cosima; Cassandria Blackmore, Susan Read Cronin, and Mary Heebner and MacDuff Everton. Also enjoying the art-themed event were Anne Towbes, Aubrie Young, Kyle Brace, Stephanie and Dewey Nicks, Tammy Hughes, Charlotte Bryant and Alejandro Medina, John Connelly and Frederick Janka, and Kendall Conrad and David Cameron.
