Poster Artist Pedro De La Cruz

Fiesta Forever! in Vibrant Color

By Leslie Dinaberg | August 5, 2026

Read more from our 2026 Fiesta cover story here.

A joyful spirit of optimism, threaded throughout the work of Santa Barbara–based artist Pedro De La Cruz, also weaves its way through this year’s Old Spanish Days Fiesta poster, which De La Cruz spent six months perfecting after his selection for this honor by El Presidente Colin Hayward.

The poster is a colorful, character-filled scene, featuring Santa Barbara’s famed Spanish architecture and representative figures such as dancing flamencas, mariachis, and vaqueros on horseback, as well as the Old Mission, Casa de la Guerra, and Saint Barbara’s famed tower.

“My voice is my painting and the color in my painting, or whatever I paint, whatever the subject may be. That’s my voice, visual,” said De La Cruz in a recent interview about his work creating the poster and his current
exhibition at Art & Soul gallery. “Visuals speak different, but the same. … You know how I do love Santa Barbara a lot, and California, and my country, too. I should put out a U.S. flag outside my studio because I love my country, and I’m grateful for this.”

Of his collaboration with El Presidente Hayward, De La Cruz said they had many, many conversations, and that he gave him freedom to create.

“I want to be respectful of the history of Santa Barbara and the traditions of Santa Barbara, and then the poster itself,” said De La Cruz, who came to Santa Barbara from Tijuana as a young child. “But this is my love story for Santa Barbara … but also my love letter too. … The poster is just like a celebration of the people in Santa Barbara coming together, California coming together, just everyone coming together. It’s a very inclusive piece.”