smART Families is a group of families dedicated to educating their children in the visual arts, while also supporting the larger art education outreach activities of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The group hosts a series of events for children and their parents relating to the Museum's current exhibitions and permanent collection. Since its beginning in 2003, smART Families has provided support for SBMA's Education Programs.

• California State Standard-based education programs for 15,000 students in grades K-12
• Transportation for over 11,000 students to the Museum
• Teacher Training Programs for over 1,100 teachers
• Going Up! exhibitions of student artwork in the Museum's elevator
• A rich array of programs for over 3000 families that is interactive, multi-generational, and designed to help families understand cultural history as well as art.

Education Programs at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art offer more than information and inspiration. They offer the opportunity for transformation: in the personal transformation that occurs while looking closely at the original work of art, in the transformation of a child who experiences for the first time the power of expressing feelings in paint or charcoal, to the transformation of a community that shares in the belief that art matters and sees in the Museum not only a shared history but the promise of the future. We are grateful to smART Families for generously supporting this opportunity for so many in our community.

During the year, smART Families members are invited to join in fun and artful activities for the whole family. Some of the art-filled activities that we have planned for the 2013-14 season include:

Kick Off – 9.27.13
In the Galleries – 11.6.13
Holiday Party – 12.8.13
In the Galleries – 3.5.14
Spring Celebration – 4.27.14
 

The new smART Families Junior Docents Program enables children grades six and above to work with a seasoned Museum Docent to gain a broader, deeper knowledge of the exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. To learn more about the program, click here.

smART Families membership is $315 per year in addition to a Museum membership at any level. Families contributing additional support for art education are recognized at the smART Families Benefactor and Patron levels. For more information, please contact Mary Bucci, Manager of Annual Fund & Planned Giving, at mbucci@sbma.net or 805.884.6427.