The Santa Barbara Mission’s museum will open a new exhibit on Earth Day. It’s called “Caring for Our Common Home.”
“Caring for Our Common Home,” a new exhibit on the human impact on the natural environment, will open on Earth Day at the Museum at Old Mission Santa Barbara.
The exhibit will run April 22-Sept. 5.
The Santa Barbara Mission’s museum is one of 14 local museums and cultural institutions participating in a collaboration focused on climate change (www.sbmuseumsalliance.org).
“At Old Mission Santa Barbara we believe everyone has a responsibility to care for our common home, and our everyday choices affect that home – Earth,” said Dr. Monica Orozco, the Santa Barbara Mission executive director. “By exploring our new museum exhibit, visitors learn how people interacted with and affected the natural world at different times in history and how we do so today.”
Visitors to the museum will learn about the effects humans have had on the local environment in exhibits that span from the early California/mission period to today. And visitors will contemplate the future if those effects aren’t addressed, according to a news release.
“The exhibit is contextualized within the Mission’s Franciscan traditions as well as the Papal Encyclical, Laudato Si’,” said Dr. Orozco. “Avenues of action for individuals and communities to enact change are presented, and visitors participate by stating commitments they are willing to take to address the current climate crisis.”
— Dave Mason
