The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) and the California Historical Society (CHS) are pleased to present the exhibition I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California at Casa de la Guerra (15 East De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara) on display February 6 through April 27, 2014. Enjoy an opening reception on Thursday, February 6 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., a free First Thursday event.

 

In its first Central Coast museum partnership, the California Historical Society presents I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of RuralCalifornia, a traveling exhibition curated by writer and photographer Lisa M. Hamilton working with independent curator Erin Garcia. According to the 2010 Census, geographically the state of California is more than 94 percent rural. Over the past two years, Hamilton has been telling the stories of rural communities in her multimedia work Real Rural.

 

For this exhibition, Hamilton delved into the California Historical Society’s vast photography holdings to connect the past with the present. I See Beauty in This Life brings together Hamilton’s large-scale color photographs with historical material dating from the 1880s through the mid-twentieth century. The result is a complex portrait of the people and places that are rural California.

 

The title of the exhibition is taken from an interview that Hamilton did with Modoc County rancher and poet Linda Hussa:

 

“If your poetry isn’t based on something that’s important to you—family, place, the purpose of your life—well then it’s kind of empty isn’t it? Because it has to have that passion to affect other people, to make other people care about what you are saying. They have to hear that there is something there… I always wanted people to understand what was going on in the rural routes. And that there certainly should be some regard for the people there. Because I see beauty in this life, I don’t think it is lonesome. And I don’t think it is dumb.”

 

This exhibition is sponsored by the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation, Stephen and Barbara Hearst; Sherwin-Williams; California Department of Food and Agriculture; California Rangeland Trust; Bill Lane Center for the American West; and Julie and Craig McNamara.

 

Enjoy refreshments from local producers: wine from Roblar, a Santa Ynez Valley vintner, and Mission Mills Olive Oil, made from olives grown at the Santa Inés Mission Mills.

 

CALENDAR LISTING

 

Opening Reception:

I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California

Date & Time: Thursday, February 6, 2014 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Location: Casa de la Guerra, 15 East De la Guerra Street, Santa BarbaraCost: Free First Thursday event

Description: Presenting I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California, a traveling exhibition from the California Historical Society (CHS), curated by writer and photographer Lisa M. Hamilton.

 

Exhibit Dates: February 6 through April 27, 2014Saturday - Sunday, Noon to 4:00 PMCasa de la Guerra, 15 East De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara

FREE with museum admission ($5/adults, $4/seniors (62+), Free/children 16 & under & SBTHP members

For more information call (805) 965-0093