Honoring artistic excellence, raising critical funds, and looking fabulous while doing it, supporters of MCASB gathered at the Museum and Paseo Nuevo Arts Terrace on Sunday, July 12 for the annual Art Awards.
Celebrating 50 years of contemporary art this year — MCASB was founded in 1976 by artists for artists — the museum remains a free community benefit and quality of life asset for Santa Barbara and the California Central Coast. This year’s MCASB honorees for their artistic excellence and history past, present and future with the museum included Kathryn Andrews, Sanford Biggers, Tonia Calderon, and Marc Swanson. In addition, a new award for curatorial excellence and arts leadership honored the achievements of Hamza Walker, director of The Brick, the Los Angeles nonprofit visual art space.
Dalia Garcia and Marcelo Mendez | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Melina Poinsettia | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Brian Calvin, 2024 Art Awardee | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Andre Young, Tonia Calderon (center) and other guests | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Angel D’Mon | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Helen Yanez | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Jacqueline Forbes | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Vivian Storm | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Arthur Lewis | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Barbara Parmet embracing Mia Lopez | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom
Additional celebrations at the event were the acquisition of the institution’s historically significant archive by the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library Special Research Collections, now accessible to the public.
Also honored were the 2026 Roots and Branches Fellowship recipients, who will receive a $1,000 unrestricted award, thanks to the program donors. Roots and Branches fellows include: Beth Amine, Natalia Bautista, Audrey Gamble, Luis David Figueroa, and Mia Lopez.
The 2026 Roots & Branches Fellows, from left, Mia Lopez, Luis David Figueroa, Barb Parmet (artist and supporter), Beth Amine and Engels Garcia | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Ceramic Art Awards to gift recipients by Rodrigo Ormachea | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Tonia Calderon and Arthur Lewis | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Avi Reichental and Cassandria Blackmore | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Some of the atmosphere at the MCASB Art Awards, July 12, 2026 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Andre Young | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
DJ Ananas | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Some of the atmosphere at the MCASB Art Awards, July 12, 2026 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Mishell Carcamo, MCASB Associate | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Hamza Walker | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Marc Swanson, Tonia Calderon, Dalia Garcia, Freddy Janka, Kathryn Andrews, Hamza Walker | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
DJ Ananas | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Some of the atmosphere at the MCASB Art Awards, July 12, 2026 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Vero Sanchez and Adriana Arriaga | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Hamza Walker | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Sculpture center pieces for purchase by Rodrigo Ormachea | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom
Roots and Branches is one of MCASB’s core BIPOC fellowship programs, a reparative investment in the cultural leaders our community already has. This year’s cohort recognizes five BIPOC artists and cultural organizers in Santa Barbara County for their labor, commitment, passion, and social justice work. Fellows reflect diverse disciplines, ages, and communities: Black, Indigenous, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and working-class artists and organizers whose practices are rooted in lived experience, community accountability, and arts and culture work, say the organizers.
For more information about the museum and its programs see mcasantabarbara.org.
