Live Performances That Create Community

Every year, UCSB Arts & Lectures brings some of the world’s most celebrated artists and speakers to Santa Barbara, creating opportunities for the community to gather around extraordinary performances, provocative ideas, and shared cultural experiences. The 2026-27 season reflects that remarkable range, with artists including jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, The Joffrey Ballet, and mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile appearing at venues from the Granada Theatre and Lobero Theatre to the Music Academy of the West’s intimate Hahn Hall. 

The season’s speakers are equally wide ranging. Author and journalist Michael Pollan, tennis champion and commentator John McEnroe, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Anne Applebaum, and acclaimed novelist Margaret Atwood are among the figures who will engage Santa Barbara audiences with ideas and perspectives drawn from politics, culture, literature, science, sports, and contemporary life. 

That combination of performing arts and public conversation is central to Arts & Lectures’ identity. But the organization’s role extends beyond presenting an ambitious annual season. A&L also maintains long-standing relationships with major artists, introduces audiences to new artists and voices, and helps create new work through commissions and co-commissions. 

“Commissioning new work is fundamental to Arts & Lectures’ mission,” says Meghan Bush, Miller McCune Executive Director. By providing financial support during the creative process, A&L helps artists realize ambitious new projects and brings audiences into contact with work that expands the art form itself. “It takes significant funds to make that happen, but it’s very important to support artists’ visions,” Bush says. “That’s how art keeps growing.”

That same commitment to connecting people with artists and ideas extends well beyond the stage. Access for ALL, A&L’s suite of education and community programs, reaches from TK-12 classrooms to the UCSB campus and communities throughout Santa Barbara County, offering opportunities to experience the arts beyond the traditional ticketed performance. These programs deepen the relationship between visiting artists and the community, creating encounters that can be as meaningful as what happens onstage. 

Arts Adventures brings elementary school students to local theaters for special matinee performances at no cost. “For many of these students, these events are their first experience in a professional theater,” Bush says. 

Arts Up Close brings visiting artists directly into classrooms and other educational settings, where TK-12 and college students can engage with creative voices from around the world. ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! extends that spirit of access into communities throughout the county, presenting free performances by leading Latin artists.

Together, these programs create year-round opportunities for people throughout Santa Barbara County to engage with artists and ideas. “We believe it’s important for folks in our community to be able to engage with artists and ideas beyond the stage,” Bush says. “Everyone should be able to experience the transformative power of the arts.”