GOINGS ON / SANTA BARBARA : Longtime Friends : A Museum of Art exhibit celebrates the historical bond between the U.S. and France.

On America’s birthday, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art will celebrate the nation’s friendship with France with the opening of the exhibition “Discoveries! French Masterpieces From St. Etienne.”

The historical bond between the two nations runs deep. The Franco-American alliance dates to 1778, when the French government, under Louis XVI, declared its support for American colonists struggling for independence from Great Britain.

Now, an alliance between St. Etienne’s Musee d’Art Moderne and the Santa Barbara museum results in this exhibit of 65 paintings and works on paper, presented for the first time in the United States. The show will offer the rare opportunity to see important works by 19th-Century artists working in the area of Lyon, said Robert Henning Jr., assistant director for curatorial services at the museum.

“Discoveries!” is the most recent example of the museum’s emphasis on French art. In addition to a series of exhibitions, the museum’s permanent collection centers on a group of French impressionist paintings, including three by Claude Monet. One of the museum’s goals, Henning said, is to establish a national reputation in French art.

“Discoveries!” continues through Oct. 25. Admission is $3, free on Thursdays. For information, call 963-4364.

On Thursdays through Aug. 13, students in summer session at the Music Academy of the West will perform free concerts at the museum, starting at 2 p.m. The students are musicians from around the world. Occasionally, faculty members also will perform at the shows. Programs will be announced at the start of each performance. Some will have a French theme to accompany the “Discoveries!” exhibit. For information, call 963-4364.

Also in celebration of July 4, Santa Barbara will hold a parade on State Street, starting at 1 p.m.

Arts and crafts shows will be held at the Old Mission and at the beach along Cabrillo Boulevard, and the Santa Barbara Symphony will perform a free all-American pops concert at 5 p.m. at the County Courthouse sunken gardens.

The pops program includes tunes from Music Man, songs by Irvin Berlin (including “Symphonic Portrait” and “God Bless America”), Sousa marches, works by Leroy Anderson and a medley of Gershwin songs sung by jazz vocalist Herb Jeffries.

Bring picnic food, chairs and blankets. For Fourth of July information, call 965-3023.

While the Museum of Art is displaying French works, the University Art Museum and the UC Santa Barbara Women’s Center are showing the works of an African-American feminist.

“Faith Ringgold: A 25-Year Survey” continues through Aug. 9.

The exhibit features the mural-sized, brilliantly colored “story quilts” through which the artist expresses social, political and personal commentary.

They are a blend of paintings, fabrics and written texts, all literally stitched together into a narrative.

In her popular quilt “Tar Beach,” the painted scene includes a girl and her brother lying on a mattress on the tar-papered roof of a Harlem apartment building.

They stare at the stars and the lights of the George Washington Bridge as the child’s parents and neighbors eat, drink and play cards at a rooftop table. The writing on the accompanying quilt reads: “Sleeping on Tar Beach was magical. Laying on the roof in the night made me feel rich, like I owned all that I could see. I can fly. That means that I am free to go wherever I want to for the rest of my life!”

The exhibit also features more than 50 works spanning Ringgold’s career, including her first major oil paintings depicting the racial tensions of the 1960s and an Atlanta series of sculptures, created in 1981 in response to the murders of 20 black children.

Her work also includes collages, Nigerian-inspired masks, dolls and soft sculptures.

On July 11, the University Art Museum will hold a Children’s Saturday Morning Workshop, in which children will participate in a quilt-making art project.

And there will be a reading of Ringgold’s book “Tar Beach.”

The workshop carries a $5 charge for supplies and snacks.

Call 893-2951 for reservations. Admission to the exhibits is free.