The human impact on the natural environment will be integrated into exhibits throughout the Museum at Old Mission Santa Barbara (OMSB) for a new exhibit Caring for Our Common Home, which opens on Earth Day, April 22 and runs through Sept. 5.

The Old Mission Museum is one of 14 local museums and cultural institutions participating in a collaboration focused on raising awareness of climate change. Impact: Climate Change & the Urgency of Now features exhibits, events and programs offering thought-provoking perspectives though art, history, science and nature. Visit www.sbmuseumsalliance.org.

“At Old Mission Santa Barbara we believe everyone has a responsibility to care for our common home, and our everyday choices affect that home – Earth,” said Monica Orozco, OMSB executive director. “By exploring our new museum exhibit, visitors learn how people interacted with and affected the natural world at different times in history and how we do so today.”

Visitors to the Old Mission Museum can explore the effects humans have had on the local environment in exhibits spanning the early California/Mission period to the present, and consider the future if these effects are not addressed.  

“The exhibit is contextualized within the mission’s Franciscan traditions, as well as the Papal Encyclical, ‘Laudato Si’,” said Orozco. “Avenues of action for individuals and communities to enact change are presented, and visitors participate by stating commitments they are willing to take to address the current climate crisis.” 

OMSB was established on the Feast of St. Barbara, Dec. 4, 1786 by Fr. Fermin Francisco de Lasuen. It was the tenth of the 21 California missions to be founded by the Spanish Franciscans. It is the only mission that has been under the continuous guidance of the Franciscan friars since its founding, and has the oldest liturgical choral singing tradition of any California mission. 

A visit to the 15-acre mission includes the church, historic cemetery and mausoleum, and the nine-room museum of historical artwork and artifacts. The museum looks at the history of the Chumash, on whose ancestral land the mission sits; the Mission Era; the Mexican period; and U.S. statehood to today.

“The museum strives to help visitors reflect on, understand and connect to the world around them by encouraging conversation and reflection on the historical experiences of many communities,” said Orozco.

Self-guided tours, which include the museum, Sacred Garden, Historic Cemetery, and Mission Church, are available 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Reservations are not required.

Rates are $15 for adults (ages 18-64), $13 for seniors (65 and older), $13 for active military (with ID), $10 for youth (ages 5-17), free for children (age 4 and youger), and free for members of Friends of the Mission.  
 
Old Mission Santa Barbara is home to a community of Franciscan friars. It is also home base for Saint Barbara Parish, which operates under the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library, a separate Franciscan-sponsored nonprofit, and a novitiate, which provides the first year of education for friars in training from across the U.S.

For more, visit www.santabarbaramission.org.