A variety of rocks, including turquoise and crystals will be available at the museum's closet sale.
Rose quartz (left), travertine (center), and azurite (right) and more will be on sale to benefit earth science research. Credit: Courtesy photo

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will host a sale featuring treasures from closets around town, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 25-26.

Colorful horizontally striped hand-basket with lid and thin handles.
A striped hand-basket with lid is among items included in closet sale.

The stand-alone event is an expansion of the popular Out of the Closet booth at the museum’s annual winter holiday sale. Items for sale in that booth come from people in the community who want to benefit the museum’s Anthropology Department collections and research.

Funds raised have enabled the department to acquire several nineteenth-century Chumash baskets, and a variety of works by modern-day native artists.

For the February event, the Anthropology Department is teaming up with other departments at the museum to put on a larger benefit sale, offering a unique selection of books, rocks, folk art, and nature education materials.

“Supporting our collections and curators is vital to continuing our active scientific research,” said Kim Zsembik, director of guest experience, and organizer of the sale.

“Many shoppers are familiar with the Library and Anthropology department sales during the Folk & Tribal Arts Marketplace fundraiser,” she said. “This new experience includes community-donated treasures to support the earth science collections, too.

“Jewelry makers will find rough rocks and minerals to polish for their creative projects, and in doing so they’ll be supporting our earth science research.”

For more information, visit sbnature.org/calendar.