If ever wanted to see a rainbow close-up but could never catch it, there is one in Santa Barbara just waiting for you. Located along the waterfront on the edge of Cabrillo Ball Park is Santa Barbara's Chromatic Gate. At a height of 21 feet and weighing 12.5 tons, the "rainbow arch" was erected in 1991. The Chromatic Gate is made out of six different colors, one slightly taller than the other as it creates a rainbow gateway. If looking at it from the shortest to the tallest, the six arches go yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, and blue.
Santa Barbara's Chromatic Gate has gained notoriety on Instagram and is considered a very instagrammable location due to the many primary colors. The colors fade and depending on your date of arrival, the colors of the structure may be in softer tones. Chromatic Gate is known to get facelifts or makeup from time to time.
The Chromatic Gate in Santa Barbara was designed by renown Austrian-born artist, Herbert Bayer. In 1975 Bayer moved to the neighboring community of Montecito where his last 10 years were spent in our beautiful setting working on paintings and environmental projects. His name, years of life, and the artwork's name are displayed in front of the arch. Bayer's Chromatic Gate in ARCO Circle (the Atlantic Richfield company funded the construction) has, among others, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's director Paul Mills to thank for its completion and existence.
