On Sunday, December 6, three Santa Paula museums are free on the same day. The Santa Paula Art Museum waives admission from noon to 4 p.m. The Aviation Museum of Santa Paula opens its hangars for free from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Museum of Ventura County's Agriculture Museum is open Sundays and lists its admission as free. If you start at the airport in the morning and finish downtown in the afternoon, the town's whole museum circuit costs nothing.
Most of the November dates on Santa Paula's calendar lead up to that Sunday. One preview costs $10, one is a Main Street shopping night, and Santa arrives the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Taken in order, the season gets you into each room before December and then lets you return for free.
Why the Circuit Has Three Stops
Visitors to Santa Paula used to have a fourth museum to see. The California Oil Museum occupied the 1890 Union Oil Building at 1001 E. Main St. According to Ventura County Local's Santa Paula guide, it closed in September 2021 and has not reopened. Chevron donated the building to the city along with $2 million, and the city is planning a new use for it. You can still see the landmark from the street, and it is a fitting place to pass on a museum day. The same guide notes that Union Oil Company was formed in Santa Paula in 1890.
That leaves three museums, each tied to one part of the town's identity. The city calls itself the Citrus Capital of the World, and the Agriculture Museum carries that story. Santa Paula Airport has been open since 1930, and on the first Sunday of every month its hangars open to visitors. The Art Museum at 117 N. 10th Street adds rotating exhibitions of historic and contemporary art. Its Cole Creativity Center is next door at 123 N. 10th Street.
The free days are not new. The Art Museum is free for everyone on the first Sunday of every month, and the Aviation Museum's hangar day is a monthly event too. December stands out because the Art Museum's new solo exhibition will have opened by then.
December 6, Start to Finish
The hours overlap well enough to put the stops in a clear order. Here is one way to run the day:
- 10 a.m. at the Aviation Museum of Santa Paula, 800 E. Santa Maria Street #E. First Sundays run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., admission is free, and the museum's December listing also mentions free EAA Young Eagles first flights. Arriving at opening gives you the morning in the hangars.
- 11 a.m. or later at the Agriculture Museum. The Museum of Ventura County lists the Agriculture Museum's regular hours as Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Because it stays open until 5, this stop can also go at the end of the day.
- Noon to 3 p.m. at the Art Museum's Free Family Day. The museum holds Free Family Day on the first Sunday of every month, provides all materials and welcomes everyone.
- Until 4 p.m. in the Art Museum galleries. Free admission runs from noon to 4 p.m., an hour past the end of the family activities. That leaves time for the galleries after the craft tables close.
You can confirm the December details on the Santa Paula Art Museum events page and the Aviation Museum's calendar before you go.
November Is the Preview
At the Art Museum, the new show opens in mid-November and stays up well past the holidays. Ventura Breeze's November roundup of the museum's calendar announced a premiere party for "Jim Wilson: Looking Back and Looking Forward" on Saturday, November 14, from 4 to 6 p.m. The outlet described Wilson as a Tehachapi painter:
"drawn to the geometric beauty of circles, arcs, and lines."
The premiere party costs $5 for museum members and $10 for non-members. The exhibition runs through March 7, 2027. That means the $10 premiere and the free December 6 visit show the same paintings. One way to use both is to see the show on opening night and bring family or houseguests back on the first Sunday in December.
November 14 is a full day downtown. The city calendar lists Poetry on Eighth Open Mic from noon to 2 p.m., a monthly event at 119 N. 8th St. That leaves about two hours before the premiere party starts at the Art Museum on 10th Street.
The other November dates prepare you for the remaining stops:
- November 16, 4 to 6 p.m.: "Women in Ag" at the Agriculture Museum, listed by the Museum of Ventura County at $10. This is a paid evening program before the free Sunday visit.
- November 20: a Mixed Media Workshop based on the work of Georgia O'Keeffe at the Cole Creativity Center. Teaching artists lead the class and provide all materials, and preregistration is required.
- November 21, 4 to 8 p.m.: the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Sip & Shop along Main Street. The Art Museum takes part, and every purchase in its gift shop supports the museum's education programs.
The Santa Weekends in Between
The city's own holiday events fall between Sip & Shop and the free Sunday. According to Ventura County Local, Santa arrives downtown for the Santa Paula Christmas Parade on Saturday, November 28, at 10 a.m., the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The same guide lists a free Come See Santa pancake breakfast on Saturday, December 5, which requires registration, and Santa Tours through town from December 15 to 18.
The pancake breakfast lands the day before the free Sunday, so families can make a full weekend of it with Santa on Saturday and the museums on Sunday. The breakfast requires registration. Times and registration for the city events can change from year to year, so check the City of Santa Paula calendar before you plan around them.
If you have guests arriving for Thanksgiving week, the parade fits on the Saturday morning after the holiday. For guests visiting in early December, the free first Sunday shows them all three museums.
For more than 30 years, Robin has helped Ventura County families plan around the calendars that matter to them, whether that means hosting relatives for the holidays or timing a move for after the parade. If a change is coming up for your family in Santa Paula this winter, call or email Robin Plain for a personalized Ventura County market consultation.
