Standing tall through centuries of art, architecture, and festivals, Saint Barbara and her legend have been woven into our city’s cultural fabric in so many ways beyond its name. In honor of 2026 marking the 100th appearance of St. Barbara in Old Spanish Days parades, the Santa Barbara Historical Museum will open this summer’s Project Fiesta exhibition Finding Saint Barbara with a special celebration on July 23rd, inviting locals and visitors alike to celebrate Santa Barbara’s patron saint.
Continuing the 2026 Project Fiesta’s focus on women and their stories, a joint exhibition, Arte de los Mantónes, will also feature historical mantónes, or Spanish shawls, all worn by community members during Fiestas across generations.
Finding Saint Barbara
Immediately recognizable with her gold crown, red cloak, and palm frond, St. Barbara has appeared in all Fiesta parades since 1926, with each representative selected by the members of Reina del Mar Parlor No. 126, Native Daughters of the Golden West. In Finding Saint Barbara, visitors will discover the 100 women who have contributed to this tradition through the museum’s extensive archives of photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera.
“I hope this illuminates the role that St. Barbara plays in Fiesta,” said museum Director of Education Emily Alessio, who curated the exhibition with Executive Director Dacia Harwood, guest curator Neal Graffy, and staff. “She’s part of the City’s identity, she has all these symbols that appear throughout Santa Barbara and public art. When looking at the people who are personifying her, we look at all the different places where Saint Barbara appears during Fiesta week, whether it be the parade or the mission with Fiesta Pequeña. She’s everywhere during that week and continues to be!”
Combined with paintings and sculptures that depict how St. Barbara has been historically represented, the exhibition provides an experience that is as informative as it is beautiful.
“People just sort of accept that the town is called Santa Barbara and they don’t question it,” said local historian, author, and guest curator Neal Graffy. “We probably spent six weeks digging through archives and looking for every piece we could on Saint Barbara—I found as far back as 1877 a woman wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper saying everybody talks about Saint Barbara, but nobody knows who she is!”
While there are many different versions of St. Barbara’s story, her account most commonly holds that she was a third century Roman who secretly converted to Christianity and had a tower built on her father’s property feature three windows to symbolize the Trinity. When confronted, Barbara remained steadfast in her faith and was ultimately beheaded by her father for refusing to denounce Christianity. Legend holds that when she died lightning struck her father and the town magistrate. Accordingly, St. Barbara is thought to protect against sudden death as well as those who work with fire and explosives, such as firemen, artillerymen, and miners.
“In a way, she was one of the first feminists in that she stood up to the male-dominated hierarchy and stuck to her beliefs,” said Graffy.
One of the most exciting results of Graffy’s involvement emerged as he worked with Alessio to investigate previously unidentified photographs. Many reveal the role St. Barbara played within the city before Fiesta began, including a photo showing the local Elks Lodge with a woman representing St. Barbara in a 1907 parade in Santa Monica.
“As a historian you do all of the research and the writing, but you’re basing everything you’re doing on what other people have done and what their accomplishments were,” said Graffy. “So that was just a delight to be able to put it all together and give credit where a lot of credit is due to people that came before us.”
Another meaningful display shows Delfina de la Guerra, the last direct descendant of the historic De la Guerra family, depicting St. Barbara during an 1890 fundraiser to build Cottage Hospital. Nearby, another photograph shows Delfina passing her crown to the 1947 Fiesta St. Barbara, Josephine Pagliotti.
On the next wall, paintings and sculptures of St. Barbara dating from the 17th century through the 1960s provide a stunning overview of how the saint has been depicted by international and local creatives. Most of these works are on-loan from regional museums such as the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. There is even a collection of St. Barbara statues on loan from past Saint Barbara Mary Louise Days.
“Santa Barbara has tried to connect itself to the old world through its architecture and in this case, through its art, folklore, and traditions,” said Alessio. “I think it will be cool for people to see pieces that you might not normally see unless you’re in a church here at the Historical Museum.”
Arte de los Mantónes
Vibrant embroidery greets visitors in the next room, where Arte de los Mantónes showcases about 30 mantónes from the museum’s collection. Combined with Finding Saint Barbara in the prior room, this year’s Project Fiesta exhibitions carry a distinct feminine energy, paying homage to the matriarchs who have and continue to keep Old Spanish Days traditions alive.
“These shawls have been given to the museum by community members who have actually worn them during Fiesta, or they were passed down from their parents and grandparents,” explained Alessio. “There are even a few that were worn by those original matriarchal women in the De La Guerra family during the Californio era and passed down, brought out for special celebrations, and kept in the family.”
Brightly colored and decorated with intricate floral motifs, birds, and figures, the shawls on display range from historic pieces made in Asia and brought to Spain and later to California via trade networks to more recently crafted pieces. While the museum has displayed shawls in past Project Fiestas, this exhibition centers and uplifts them in an unprecedented way.
“These pieces are hanging on the gallery walls like works of art because they’re meant to be seen as works of art. We want people to appreciate the art form,” said Alessio. “They were created to have movement and to almost look alive with their designs.”
The opening Fiesta History Celebration will be held on Thursday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. For tickets visit sbhistorical.org
