The Downtown Santa Barbara Improvement Association (DSBIA), in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture (SBCOAC), the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative (SBAC), and Santa Barbara Signs is proud to announce the launch of the Vacant Window Beautification Program, a new program designed to transform vacant storefronts along State Street into vibrant, eye-catching displays of local creativity.
The program celebrates Santa Barbara’s artistic spirit by turning vacant windows into welcoming visual experiences for both the community and visitors.
As part of DSBIA’s ongoing commitment to revitalize the downtown district, it brings together property owners, artists, and cultural partners to reimagine vacant spaces as opportunities for beauty and engagement.
Artist Submissions Now Open
The Downtown Santa Barbara Improvement Association (DSBIA) invites Santa Barbara County–based artists—those who live, work, or create art within the county—to submit existing original artwork in digital format for consideration in our new vacant window beautification program. All artwork must be provided digitally, as selected pieces will be enlarged, formatted to fit unique storefront dimensions, and printed on window film. Artists whose work is installed will receive a $250 honorarium.
Guidelines & Considerations
- Artwork must be original and artists must hold full rights to submit their work.
- Submissions must be digital and may include graphic art, photography, or scans of 2D flatwork.
- Work should enhance surrounding architecture and complement downtown colors (terracotta, beige, green trees).
- All work must be family-friendly and intended to beautify vacant storefronts.
- No words, advertising, or signage elements may be included.
- Images must be scalable for large-format printing.
Who May Apply
- Open to artists who live, work, or create in Santa Barbara County.
- Open to artists 18 and over.
- Each artist may submit up to three (3) works for consideration. Only one will be selected.
Selection Process & Honorarium:
- Submissions will be reviewed by the DSBIA Placemaking & Identity Committee.
- Selected works will first be added to a curated image bank.
- If your work is later matched to a storefront installation, you will receive a $250 honorarium and your name will be included on the final print.
- Artist information and credit will be incorporated into the final display design.
Licensing & Usage
By submitting, artists grant DSBIA a license to digitally reproduce selected works for the purposes of the Vacant Window Beautification Program.
Artwork may be cropped, modified, framed with additional elements, and formatted to fit the space. Please note window sizes vary and may be rectangular, curved, grid, etc.
Timeline
- Deadline to submit: 11:45 pm September 5, 2025
- Initial call will remain open for 2 weeks, with potential for additional phases in the future.
APPLY NOW
We look forward to making downtown vibrant and beautiful with you! If you have any questions or would like more information, please email Windows@downtownsb.org.
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BS. The “a new program designed to transform vacant storefronts along State Street into vibrant, eye-catching displays of local creativity.” is actually a ploy to disguise the FACT that some blocks of State St have close to 50% vacancies. Many are at 25%. Vacant storefronts are everywhere and it is an indication of a serious problem that the Downtown Organization (or whatever the coalition is calling itself) is deperate to sweep under the rug.
As long as greedy landlords/propery owners are happy with getting tax write-offs they have no reason to lower rents and fill the spaces with successful businesses. That, apparently, is bad for THEIR business.
Surrender. Total Surrender. The plan to attract tourists and locals to downtown SB is to install custom and original artwork over the windows of empty storefronts. Property owners will then cover/block portions of the artwork with their For Lease/For Rent/Available signs. I hope the plan will work and people from around the country and the world will come to our city to see the artwork. Kind of like the murals in Lompoc.
Bee – Where in the article did it say that this is the “plan”. Also, whose plan is it that you are referring to? Your post isn’t making much sense to me without this context to your thesis. Is it somehow wrong to make our city look nice?
Too little too late.
rubaiyat – Sad to say I agree with your comment. SB will never return to the “glory days” I experienced. I hope I’m wrong and someone can come up with a solid solution to resolve this issue.
Spoken from a deep well of senility.
What a joke. What more can this committee think of to make State Street tackier?
No kidding. How many cumulative city employee work hours are being used on this idea? Just leave the windows alone FFS. The homeless lying in the alcoves and using them as toilets just might be a bigger issue than placing artwork on the windows, don’t we think?
And yeah, this is lipstick on a pig and an attempt to ‘make things look vibrant’. Ehh…
I do miss the old version of State St. It used to be nice. Cars were never the problem.
Only the sickened MAGA right would lose their socks over window beautification. Please tell us where the article says anyone from the city is spending hours, or ask your buddy Randy if they are using hours. Which year on state street was magical? I remember in the 90’s cigarettes everywhere, I saw someone pull a gun on state and also saw a gang jump people. Its much safer and cleaner than back then (and fewer homeless now). Back then downtown smelled.like a bathroom every morning from all of the urine. MAGAs believe in some fairly talented magic time in this country that never existed. The orange cult leader manipulates the weak minded with this visions of a historic utopia that never existed. I guess if you were making grilled cheese sandwiches on a sportfishing vessel you might have missed it.
Having art in a window is tacky?
Let’s waste even more time on this nonsense on not work on/talk about ANY ideas to solve the actual problem. Talk about lipstick on a pig.
Typical MAGAts complaining and crying about everything. What a miserable bunch.
Yeah, art in windows won’t solve the problem, but it could look pretty cool. You all whinge and moan 24/7 here about how “horrible” State is and how trashy it looks, yet every time some comes up with an idea to make it a little nicer, you shiff all over it.
In what world is local art in windows anything but nice?
BASICDOESN”TKNOWHOWTOREAD – I never said cleaning up State was a “MAGA” issue. It’s that all you MAGAts are constantly complaining about State street as you complain about everything all day, every day. How much did you all cry about the Cracker Barrel logo for example?
State has nothing to do with Trump. The incessant complaining and refusal to actually try to fix the cause of the problem is typical MAGA form.
A business that displays art on the windows is not tacky. What is tacky is to completely disguise a business by completely covering the windows with local artwork. The sole purpose of doing this is to hide the fact that we have a failing downtown business corridor. I would equate it to taking a large cardboard refrigerator box, painting/covering the box with artwork, cut a few vent holes in it, then placing it over an unhoused person laying on the sidewalk. Same deal.
So you dont want downtown to look nice. We get it.
Cleaning up and improving downtown has nothing to do with MAGA. It’s a non-partisan issue that needs real solutions instead of fluff like this wasting taxpayer dollars. The City is lagging on our downtown. This looks like a “feel good” kick the can around play. That’s what people have a problem with. Everything in life isn’t about Trump.
MAGA has something to do with it when they cry like babies and lose their minds about a beautification projec (like you are doing)
I thought Randy Rowse was going to fix everything – that’s what all the righties said when he got elected. The far right nutsos seem to want to leave State in poor condition so they will have something to complain about – they have no solution. Something as simple as beautifying window spaces to make the overall aesthetic look nice – and hopefully drive tourism and future store rentals the MAGAts lose their minds about. But no, go ahead and make it political.
Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view), the “far right nutsos” are NOT in charge. The majority of the council is quite progressive; the mayor is a minority of one. He wants State St. open. The council majority don’t know what they want, and so do nothing. The result is State St. “in poor condition…they have no solution.” But it’s not because of any far right nutsos in this case. It’s the good guys.
The far right nutsos are the ones posting (perhaps like you) who can’t even be ok with a very basic project to make window storefronts look appealing. So hear you are. Randy is too busy at champagne brunches, happy hours and ribbon cuttings.
OK – I give up. How can I compete with that? I don’t even know what you are talking about!
Which part of MAGAts hate pretty windows didn’t you get?
Who said anything about the windows? I like the art. And, for the record, I am not MAGA. (Strange assumption from my post.) But what does that have to do with the fact that Randy Rowse does not make the decisions or have the power you seem to think he does? If you’re not happy, blame the city council – not just one member.
No one assumed you are MAGA … learn how to read.
Who said you were MAGA. You must be new here. People blamed the former mayor for things she had no control over so I will do the same. Please stop trying to be the arbiter of speech. Why do you hate the windows? Thats what the article is about, but you were triggered by my knock on Randy, go figure.
I was responding to your post. No one is trying to be the “arbiter of speech.” You are free to reply, and you did. I am not at all new here. In fact, I assumed you must be new since you don’t know how city government works. I understand now that you do know, and chose, for your own reasons to hide that. I apologize for trying to correct a misunderstanding that didn’t exist. That is all my post was about.
And whoever said I was MAGA (something about MAGAts hating art or something) must be same one who said I hate the windows. The implied connection of these untruths is obvious! (Well, maybe not the part about MAGAts hating art. Seeing Donald’s re-do of the White House, it’s probably true!) Still, I resent being associated with MAGA in any way – implicitly or otherwise. It’s more than insulting! I would slap you with my glove, if I had one! Call me anything you like – except that!
😎 Have a great Labor Day!
You have a great labor day as well. You need to pick a fabulous screen name other than posting anonymous! Sorry I associated you with something you are not and misunderstood your post. Lol @ glove slap. 🙂