When intrepid artist Judy Sutcliffe fell in love with Santa Barbara as a 36-year-old winter fugitive from Audubon, Iowa, she had one friend and no home here. Five years later, she was standing under the arch of the county’s iconic courthouse next to Queen Elizabeth II and Mayor Sheila Lodge, unveiling her large tile plaque that commemorates the historic meeting in Santa Barbara between the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, and the Queen of the United Kingdom on March 1, 1983.
Shortly after Judy’s compelling winter visit in January 1978, she sold everything she had in Iowa for cash and returned to Santa Barbara in her old red VW Beetle, into which she fit everything she owned.
While in Iowa, where she grew up, multitalented Judy had written beef and hog columns for regional newsletters, designed dolls for the animated film Raggedy Ann and Andy, created and manufactured more than 70 editions of Iowa Heritage collector plates, and sculpted dolls of every Iowa First Lady, which are on permanent display in Iowa’s State Capitol.