On view: November 2, 2025 - April 12, 2026
Opening Reception & Artist Talk: Sunday, November 2, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Contact: hello@mcasantabarbara.org
Location: MCASB Satellite at The Riviera Beach House, 121 State St, Santa Barbara, California
Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara presents
Makahiya: I wanted you to feel the same, a debut solo exhibition by Godofredo Astudillo, a winner of the annual Call for Entries program for the MCASB Satellite at The Riviera Beach House
I paint to hold onto what’s fading. I paint to forgive, to remember, to make peace with what’s left behind—and to dream boldly of brighter days. - Godofredo Astudillo
Makahiya, referenced in the exhibition title, is also known as Mimosa pudica and is a creeping annual or perennial flowering plant of the pea/legume family Fabaceae. It is often grown for its curiosity value: the sensitive compound leaves quickly fold inward and droop when touched or shaken and re-open a few minutes later.
Born in Los Angeles, Godofredo Astudillo is a Filipino-American artist whose practice centers on figurative painting. His work is profoundly shaped by his formative years growing up in 1980’s and 90’s Los Angeles, a period that imbues his canvases with a distinctive sense of place and an acute understanding of human interaction. A profound personal reckoning, marked by a period of significant health challenges, served as a potent catalyst for his artistic evolution, transforming painting into a critical means of processing memory, resilience, and identity. Through evocative portraiture and explorations of the human form—often featuring figures drawn from lost or imagined connections—Godofredo's canvases navigate themes of intimacy, transformation, and the elusive nature of human connection, striving to capture the fleeting emotion of a moment. His work powerfully re-examines personal histories, transforming ephemeral sentiments into enduring visual metaphors.
Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) is pleased to announce the second year of the re-imagination of the storied Call For Entries exhibition program established by the Contemporary Arts Forum, the precursor to the museum. This call will program the MCASB Satellite at Riviera Beach House with two exhibitions over the course of one year. Any artist over the age of 18 living and working in California between and including the greater Los Angeles area through the San Francisco Bay area is eligible to apply each year. Applications for the 2026/2027 cycle will open in early 2026.
2025/26 Call For Entries Jury: Ana Briz is Assistant Director and Curator of Exhibitions at the AD&A Museum in UC Santa Barbara. Juan Silverio (they/she) is a writer, curator and cultural worker, and curatorial assistant at the Hammer Museum. Deliasofia Zacarias (she/her) is a writer, curator, and arts administrator, currently the CEO & Director’s Office Executive Assistant and Curatorial Fellow at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Lauren Guilford is a curator, art historian, and writer in Santa Barbara. Dalia Garcia, Executive Director, MCASB.
Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) seeks to enrich lives and inspire critical thinking through meaningful engagement with the art and ideas of our time. MCASB provides Santa Barbara and the Central Coast with exhibitions and programming that encourage discovery, cultivate new perspectives, and challenge the way we see and experience the world, ourselves, and each other.
The Riviera Beach House is an artful boutique hotel situated steps from the sand in Santa Barbara’s eclectic Funk Zone neighborhood. The newly redesigned property has become a destination where people gather to enjoy curated experiences, explore local culture, and embrace the Riviera lifestyle. Maya Mallick, owner of The Riviera Beach House, is passionate about design and embraces art as an intrinsic part of the hotel experience.