Plaza Palooza Day

By Hattie Beresford | November 12, 2024

Library, Faulkner Gallery, and Plaza circa 1930. The connection between the two is camouflaged by the tree in the corner. (photo courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

Joaquin Crespin Juarez, head gardener at Renklauf, the Faulkner sisters’ estate in Montecito, performed the groundbreaking. Where today we see a mixed-use parking lot in the background, in 1929 the Presbyterian church dominated that section of Anapamu Street. (photo courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

Last Sunday’s opening of the new Michael Towbes Library Plaza was everything the Journal’s Jeff Wing predicted it would be in a recent edition of the weekly MJ. It was indeed a mezzo shout of happy civic hollering as a Pandora’s box of color and sound reverberated on the sun splashed block party on Anapamu Street. In addition to speeches by Janet Garufis and dozens of other dignitaries and supporters involved in making Towbes’ plaza manifest, six local performing arts groups took to the stage in performances that presented the vast variety of local cultural interests.

Along Anapamu Street, a panoply of civic organizations introduced a profusion of programs available to Santa Barbarans, from the historic minded Pearl Chase Society to Central Coast Ocean Adventures Foundation’s immersive ocean-based education and experiences, through Mystic Whaler – a replica of a late 19^th century cargo schooner.

In the Faulkner Gallery, a screening of a talk by the late Michael Towbes, whom Wing describes as “a prolific giver, gifted businessman, and radiant human being,” is in progress. Towbes was, indeed, a unique person who emanated an aura of kindness and grace, and his philanthropy benefitted people from all walks of life. It is fitting that the new plaza bears his name. This is a plaza that has a history.

Plaza History

The history behind the plaza must be shared with the history of the Faulkner Gallery. The land was donated by Clarence Black of Detroit and Santa Barbara, whose wife, Mary Corning Winslow Black, was an artist. Funding for the building came from Mary Faulkner Gould of Massachusetts and Montecito, who gave the money in honor of her three sisters. The original architect was Myron Hunt, and the art gallery and plaza opened on October 15, 1930.

Architect Myron Hunt talks about the design to (seated left to right) Mary Corning Winslow Black (widow of Clarence Black), Francis Linn (head librarian), and Mary Faulkner Gould. (photo courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

On September 16, 1929, groundbreaking ceremonies commenced. Seated front and center were Mary Corning Winslow Black, Frances B. Linn, and Mary Faulkner Gould. Wielding a silver-plated shovel, Joaquin Crespin (J.C.) Juarez, a descendent of Presidio soldiers and for nearly 40 years gardener and groundskeeper at Renklauf, (the Faulkner sisters’ estate in Montecito) moved the first shovelful of dirt on behalf of the Faulkner family, and construction commenced.

The design for the plaza, which was tucked in the L of the library and gallery, included three stair-stepped reflecting pools, each succeeding pool cleverly narrower than the one before it to give the illusion of great distance. The pools led to a tall wooden doorway from which rose a colorful stylized portrayal of California poppies surmounted by a sunburst, designed and painted by John Gamble and completed the day of the opening. Inside, brass memorial plaques honored Clarence Black and the Faulkner sisters.

Today’s plaza echoes back to that original design but has morphed into a space appropriate for the needs of Santa Barbara in 2024. Diu ut vivat!