Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History We connect people to nature for the betterment of both.
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The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History has two locations, offering guests the unique opportunity to discover and explore from land to sea. MUSEUM
2559 Puesta del Sol
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 682-4711

SEA CENTER
211 Stearns Wharf
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 962-2526

We'll have plenty of tasty nibbles at the Museum’s fundraiser Santa Barbara Wine Festival® on June 27! Like the wine, al...
06/17/2026

We'll have plenty of tasty nibbles at the Museum’s fundraiser Santa Barbara Wine Festival® on June 27! Like the wine, all the food is donated by our generous vendors. View the full list and snag the remaining tickets while they last at sbnature.org/winefestival 🥂 Among the continuing vendors are Goat Tree at Hotel Californian Convivo Restaurant & Bar Cuso's Creamery Jessica Foster Confections Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar Loquita Santa Barbara and The Lark Santa Barbara—among those joining us for the first time are La Paloma Cafe Mendocino Farms and Solera & Co.

Join us for a drop-in community drawing session included with Museum admission! 🦋 Stretch your creative muscles and trai...
06/16/2026

Join us for a drop-in community drawing session included with Museum admission! 🦋 Stretch your creative muscles and train your skills with guidance from education staff as you examine the antique scientific illustrations of The Collectors: A Life in Lepidoptera. Find out how artists have contributed to scientific research while sketching the butterflies and moths featured and pictured in the exhibit. These sessions are best for art lovers ages eight and up. Basic materials will be available, but you’re welcome to bring your own drawing boards and utensils (pencils only, please). The program repeats on Thursdays June 18–August 20, 1:30–2:30 PM. More details in The Art of Science: Drawing Butterflies & Moths.

Wish you had time to capture the details of butterflies? Amateur and professional shutterbugs ages 16 and up are welcome...
06/15/2026

Wish you had time to capture the details of butterflies? Amateur and professional shutterbugs ages 16 and up are welcome to bring their cameras for photographer-only sessions in the Butterfly Pavilion. June 23, July 14, and August 18, we’re hosting 1.5-hour sessions outside of our usual open hours. Just 15 photographers will have the 1,000 butterflies to themselves. Find details and tickets at Macrophotography in the Butterfly Pavilion. These photos taken in our pavilion are ©2025 Gary Robinson.

Unique opportunity coming up to pin butterflies with our entomologist! Bug fanciers ages 15 and up can sign up while spo...
06/12/2026

Unique opportunity coming up to pin butterflies with our entomologist! Bug fanciers ages 15 and up can sign up while spots last for a one-hour workshop on Sunday, July 5, 11:00 AM to noon here at the Museum. Learn the basics of preparing insects for scientific or hobbyist collecting with guidance from Schlinger Chair of Entomology Alex Harman, Ph.D. Choose from a selection of showy butterfly species (specimens salvaged from our pavilion) and try your hand at pinning two. Return to the Museum a week later to pick up your dried and framed specimens. Details at Butterfly Pinning with a Curator

Let’s party with purpose! The Santa Barbara Wine Festival® is a fundraiser for the Museum’s education programs. Now in i...
06/11/2026

Let’s party with purpose! The Santa Barbara Wine Festival® is a fundraiser for the Museum’s education programs. Now in its thirty-seventh year, this festival is powered by people who donate the delicious fruits of their labor and generously share their time and expertise with you during a beautiful summer afternoon under the oaks. Visit sbnature.org/winefestival to learn more and join us on June 27. Huge thanks to all of our longtime vendors. ❤🐳🥂

Nature journaling is an enjoyable and relaxing practice to inspire mindfulness, attention, and connection to the natural...
06/10/2026

Nature journaling is an enjoyable and relaxing practice to inspire mindfulness, attention, and connection to the natural world. 🐦 June 17, July 15, and August 19, 2:00–4:00 PM, nature lovers ages eight and up are invited to join us as we investigate the variety of species popping up on the Museum campus, casually writing and drawing what we notice along the way. 🌱 Each session will focus on a different group of species inhabiting an area of the Museum campus. Included with admission, Members are always free. Details at Drop-in Nature Journaling: Birds, Blooms, and Bugs! 🎨 Nature journal art by Amihan Franada

Grab your macro lens and spend 90 minutes surrounded by winged wonders in the beautiful garden of Butterflies Alive! Dur...
06/05/2026

Grab your macro lens and spend 90 minutes surrounded by winged wonders in the beautiful garden of Butterflies Alive! During Macrophotography in the Butterfly Pavilion, amateur and professional shutterbugs ages 16 and up are welcome to bring their tripods for special photographer-only sessions on June 23, July 14, and August 18. Space is limited, so register today at https://tickets.sbnature.org/events/865339ab-f537-f13b-6ddc-1c22e94d5927 📸🦋 Owl butterfly wing macrophoto © 2025 Gary Robinson

Congratulations grads! We just celebrated four newly-certified volunteer educators: Nydia is a returning volunteer who b...
06/03/2026

Congratulations grads! We just celebrated four newly-certified volunteer educators: Nydia is a returning volunteer who brushed up on our in-depth curriculum; Maya and Bonnie found us back in fall and learned with us throughout the year. Georgeann couldn't make the party but we are proud of her achievement, too. We gathered to thank all 37 of our active education volunteers for another wonderful school year guiding programs for students on field trips. Volunteers, you bring our exhibits to life. This school year alone, you collectively devoted 2,871 hours to training, teaching, and interpreting. Together, we served over 5,500 students. We hear so much every year from students and teachers who benefit from your expertise, enthusiasm, and generosity. Learn more at sbnature.org/volunteer 📷 Additional photo courtesy Daryl West

06/02/2026

Butterfly Storytime 🦋📖🦋📖🦋 All the butterflies in our pavilion started life as eggs in Costa Rica. Our Butterfly Wrangler Kim Zsembik visited Costa Rica Entomological Supply (CRES) to learn how their network of small family farms raises butterflies sustainably for exhibitors around the world. Visit sbnature.org/blog to learn more about how butterfly farming works in a country where people care deeply about preserving biodiversity.

05/30/2026

Check out this mouthless moth! Schlinger Chair of Entomology Alex Harman, Ph.D., digs into the difference between butterflies and moths as he prepares hundreds of butterfly chrysalids and a handful of moth cocoons for the Butterfly Pavilion here at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. (Exhibit details at sbnature.org/butterfliesalive ) The variety of species on exhibit depends on what we receive from Costa Rica Entomological Supply (CRES), and sometimes they send us these gorgeous _Rothschildea lebeau_ silkmoths. A few just emerged, so visit us soon if you want a chance to spot one in the pavilion. Don’t forget to pop into the Santa Barbara Gallery for a peek into the emergence chamber to see the chrysalids, and if we’re lucky, more cocoons like these. If you want to know what’s happening with the hot glue, check out our reel from a couple weeks ago, also featuring Dr. Harman.

Address

2559 Puesta Del Sol
Santa Barbara, CA
93105

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+18056824711

Website

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