SBMA Board of Trustees Announces 1st Gilded Gala Event

In a most elegant fashion, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Board of Trustees will hold their 1^st Gilded Gala black-tie fundraiser at the Rosewood Miramar Beach on Saturday, March 1.

Society Invites is here with all the finer details of this signature “black-tie with a glimmer of gold” gala funding event, as I interviewed the SBMA Board of Trustees Event Co-Chairs Lynn Cunningham Brown and Carol Linn, their event committee of Jacquelyn Klein-Brown, Christian McGrath, Martha Townsend, Beth Wood, and Jennifer Zacharias; and SBMA Eichholz Foundation Director Amada Cruz. 

We met at the Ridley-Tree Gallery, which proved to be the best background for our conversation and photograph, as it launched a long-term exhibition titled, Modern Life: A Global Artworld, 1850 – 1950, featuring SBMA’s renowned permanent collection with works by artists such as Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, George Bellows, Joaquín Torres-García, Wifredo Lam, Auguste Rodin, Rufino Tamayo, Henri Fantin-Latour, and their peers.

Surrounded by these wonderful works of art, we selected the Monet wall as the backdrop for the photograph. 

Next, I interviewed Brown and Linn:

MJ. How did the SBMA Board of Trustees decide on a single fundraising event for 2025?

Lynn Cunningham Brown (LCB). This is an SBMA Board event, and Amada and the Board were in lock step on this as a major fundraiser for the SBMA. This new funding event came about because we wanted to have a gala that would really put us forward into a new era; to show that the SBMA is going places in a new way, and we wanted a gala that would match that.

Carol Linn (CL). We wanted to have a formal black-tie event here as there are so few black-tie events now in Santa Barbara, and people are excited to attend it. This is our one and only fundraiser for 2025, and we are excited to offer this experience at the lovely Rosewood Miramar Beach.

MJ. When did the committee begin working on the gala?

LCB. We started the gala process in June 2024 with a “whisper campaign,” by talking with people about it. And everyone asked to be counted in, and we began selling tickets till suddenly we found ourselves sold out at 270 people before the invitation went out the door.

MJ. I understand you are taking names for a Waitlist?

LCB. We are sold out and taking names for a Waitlist, and also extending invitations for people who are interested in table sponsorships, to underwrite and do something for the SBMA. Have your name on the Waitlist in case someone has to give up their table for some reason, you can take over the table sponsorship and attend the event.

MJ. What is the gala program featuring?

LCB. Attendees at the Gilded Gala can look forward to an artfully provocative evening filled with extraordinary food and libations, a live band and dancing, entertainment, and avant-garde activations around every corner. We are having exclusive live auction experiences, and fundraising opportunities will showcase the SBMA children’s education programs supporting 25,000 children, teachers, and adults annually throughout Santa Barbara County. 

MJ. Where are the funding proceeds being directed?

LCB. Proceeds from the event will benefit SBMA’s essential education and engagement programs, as well as the preservation, study, and exhibition of its diverse collections. The gala funds support the Museum’s vital education and engagement programs, for the care, study, and exhibition of its collections, and to bring art into the lives of all people.  

411: https://gildedgala.org
Waitlist: Karen Kawaguchi (805) 884-6428 | kkawaguchi@sbma.net