Founded in 1941, it is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which includes Asian, American, and European art that spans 4,000 years from ancient to modern.

In a letter to the editor published in the Santa Barbara News-Press in July 1937, Cooper proposed that the impressive Italianate structure should be transformed into a museum.

[1] The total cost of the master plan, which involves extensive improvements for the museum’s 1914 building and the re-installation of its collection, was initially projected at $50 million.

[3] Shortly after Amada Cruz became Director in October 2023, she cancelled Three American Painters: Then and Now, a major exhibition with over 62 works, citing the aim of making the museum "more inclusive and more reflective of Santa Barbara County’s diverse community."

According to Santa Barbara Independent Cruz's "tenures at previous institutions were punctuated by controversy," including at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Particular strengths of the permanent collection include: SBMA presents shows of art and artists of the past, such as Degas, Leonardo, Picasso, Rothko, Van Gogh, Nam June Paik, Inge Morath[8] and of living artists including Tatsuo Miyajima,[9] April Street,[10] Kehinde Wiley,[11] and Peter Halley.

This decision followed after seventeen years of concerted efforts by the heirs of Holocaust victim Fritz Grünbaum and intervention by the Manhattan District Attorney.