Santa Barbara’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCASB) made a special announcement during the 2025 Art Awards on July 13, 2025. They decided to halt its annual Día de los Muertos event due recent to immigration enforcement, reports The Independent.
Highlights
- MCASB has cancelled its 2025 Día de los Muertos event to stand with communities impacted by ICE enforcement.
- Executive Director Dalia Garcia says the celebration is paused to resist cultural erasure and injustice.
- The museum will redirect resources toward initiatives supporting affected and vulnerable populations in the County.
MCASB Aims to Make a Statement Through This Cancellation
MCASB’s Executive Director, Dalia Garcia, stated they cannot celebrate while communities are being threatened, reports The Independent.
She went on to say during the July 13 special announcement that maintaining traditions is an act of cultural survival to preserve identity for future generations and their museum is committed to all forms of artistic cultural expression.
All resources with the MCASB will now be redirected towards the initiative aimed at protecting and empowering affected populations.
The Día de los Muertos Calenda was first brought to Santa Barbara in 2023, drawing over 1,000 attendees. This number grew to nearly 10,000 people in 2024, bringing to the forefront the community’s need to promote authentic cultural experiences across all holidays.
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The only ones walking around with skull masks will be the ICE fascists.
“We cannot celebrate as usual while communities are under threat while people face deportation, lose essential support systems, and are forced to choose between cultural participation and personal safety.”
Kudos to the art museum for doing the right thing! This is how the Fiesta LLC or whatever anglo-run entity is in charge of Fiesta, should have handled it. At the very least, it should have been scaled back to reduce exposure in public places where ICE/DHS could move easily. Then again, I’m hoping the good people of SB don’t allow them to move freely anywhere if they show up!
RESIST!