The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is thrilled to announce that Heritage, Craft & Evolution: Surfboard Design 1885 – 1959–an exciting exhibit combining historic replica surfboards, paintings, and photographs of key pioneers of surfing and their beaches–will open at the Museum, one week from today, on Thursday, June 24th and continue through October 30, 2021! We are especially excited because this exhibit is our way of celebrating our full reopening of Thursdays through Tuesdays, 10am-5pm! This exhibit, and the book that accompanies it, is truly unique for the way it tells the stories of California surfing, surfing pioneers, and surfboard design through a multimedia approach, combining art, history, and photography.

Renny Yater, a local resident and pioneer–still to be found on State Street in Santa Barbara shaping boards–is one of three collaborators on the project that led to the exhibit. Renny produced the replicas of historic surfboards, ranging from a 1907 George Freeth plank board to a 1950s-style Hobie balsa board; artist John Comer of Santa Barbara and Baja, whose “This Sacred Land” exhibit opened June 5 at Santa Barbara Fine Art, painted vignettes on each board depicting the beaches where that board was used; and artists Kevin Ancell and Peter St. Pierre faux-painted the boards to “age” and recreate their historic appearance.

This unusual and fascinating exhibit will be of interest to surfers, artists, and those interested in the history of Southern California.