Living Art of Chumash Basketry at SB Museum of Natural History 

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• Opens to the public January 25 at noon 

• New exhibit in a familiar space 

• Celebrates baskets in Chumash traditional culture and today 

• Describes connections between baskets and landscape 

• Free talk by the curator February 3 at 7:30 PM  

A new exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History features the living art of Chumash basketry, a tradition with deep roots in the region. For thousands of years, baskets played essential roles in all aspects of traditional Chumash life. Modern Chumash weavers carry on those traditions, creating baskets entirely by hand and teaching their children. Chumash Basketry: Art & Life at the Museum highlights the connections between those living traditions and the natural world, in the first comprehensive exhibition featuring the world’s largest collection of Chumash baskets. The only previous major exhibition of Chumash basketry was held in 1964, at UCSB.

The new exhibit demonstrates the creative variety of uses and designs in traditional basketry, from technological marvels like the tightly woven baskets for storing water and cooking, to baskets as art. Select modern works by contemporary Chumash weavers, including Samantha Sandoval and Susanne Hammel-Sawyer, put the abundant historic examples in the context of continuing traditions, and the words of Chumash elders and weavers are interspersed throughout the exhibit, expressing the personal significance, joys, and challenges of basketry.

“Baskets are more than beautiful objects,” says Curator Emeritus of Ethnography Jan Timbrook, Ph.D. “They offer a window into Native peoples’ partnership with the natural world, their deep knowledge, their everyday life, beliefs, creativity, history, and resilience. It has been my extraordinary privilege to have cared for and learned from these uniquely special cultural icons for more than 50 years, and to be able to share this knowledge with the wider world.”

Using specific native plants that are managed, harvested, and prepared for weaving, Chumash weavers promote conservation and respect for the environment. Guests at the Museum can read about the plants and learn to recognize them, deepening their sense of connection between landscape and culture. The ethnobotanical information in the new basketry exhibit complements the Museum’s permanent living exhibits in the Sukinanik’oy Garden of Chumash Plants.

The new exhibit was organized by Dr. Timbrook, who has long worked in close collaboration with Native communities. The author of Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People of Southern California, her expertise in anthropology, botany, and art has long served the Museum’s work to educate and inspire.

The exhibit opens to the public at noon on January 25. Those curious to know more are invited to attend a free talk at the Museum in Fleischmann Auditorium on February 3 by Dr. Timbrook, presented by the Santa Barbara County Archaeological Society. The talk begins at 7:30 PM but it is recommended to arrive early to ensure a seat and view the exhibit. Check the Museum’s website sbnature.org for details. 

About the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Inspiring curiosity for over 100 years. Founded in 1916, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History inspires a thirst for discovery and a passion for the natural world. The Museum seeks to connect people to nature for the betterment of both, and prides itself on being naturally different. For more information, visit sbnature.org.