Isla Vista: Building a Community

Isla Vista: Building a Community, 1970-2016

Mon, 10/10/2016 - 8:00am to Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:00pm
Exhibition
Location:
Special Research Collections

View the online exhibition.

This exhibition explores the political, cultural, and social struggles of Isla Vista to become an independent, cohesive community, from 1970 to the present day. Since the protests of the 1970s, grassroots activism has improved conditions in the area, but Isla Vista, populated mainly by UCSB students, still faces difficulties as an unincorporated college town. Cityhood remains elusive, and this November voters will decide on whether or not to create a Community Services District to provide residents with more local control.

Please check hours for Special Research Collections before visiting exhibition.
 

Mapping a Community, a companion to this exhibition, includes maps and photographs representing a small sample of the types of cartographic information that the UCSB Library’s Map & Imagery Laboratory (MIL) has collected about Isla Vista.  It is on display in the UCSB Library's Mountain Gallery (1st Floor) through January 12, 2017.

EXHIBITION EVENTS:

  • Opening reception. Thursday, October 27, from 5 to 7 pm
  • Professor Alice O'Connor (UCSB History) will give a talk titled: "Democracy Matters: The Road to Self-Governance in Isla Vista."  Thursday, November 3, from 5 to 7 pm. Sponsored by the UCSB Library and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Community Matters Series.
    Video of O'Connor's talk.
  • "Isla Vista: Voices from the Community." Panel of Isla Vista residents moderated by George Thurlow, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Alumni Affairs and Chancellor's Special Assistant, Isla Vista. Thursday, December 1, from 5 to 7 pm. Sponsored by the UCSB Library and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Community Matters Series.
    Video of panel discussion.
  • All events will be at the UCSB Library (Special Research Collections, 3rd Floor, Mountain Side)
  • The exhibition and events are supported, in part, by the Chancellor's Coordinating Committee on Isla Vista.

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