Permanent Collection
March 29 - November 11, 2019
This show features a total of 19 artworks out of the collection's near 150 photos, prints, paintings, and sculptures. The art represents many perspectives on the nonprofit’s mission to inspire people to enjoy, value, and conserve wildlife and natural areas through art. Curated by members of the exhibition committee, this show features new acquisitions and highlights unique stories from the collection’s history. In addition to looking back, The Wildling Museum is also looking forward. As the 20-year milestone approaches, facility improvements are underway to expand the art storage capacity by 300% and new educational programming about the collection is currently being developed.
The first purchase for the permanent collection, acquired in 2000, is a painting entitled Cascade on the Firehole (1912) by Austrian artist John Fery (1859-1934) and depicts a waterfall in Yellowstone National Park. The 54” x 80” historical Fery painting will be on display next to West Wind by The Wildling Museum founder and local artist Patti Jacquemain. West Wind, a 37” x 26” original woodcut, is the latest addition to the collection. There is a story behind these two works of art. Bruce McCurdy, founding board member and Chairman of the Museum’s Collections and Exhibition Committee, transported the Fery painting to the museum in 2000 from Montana. McCurdy was an integral part of collections and exhibitions and advisor to UCSB student artists, including Jacquemain. The Wildling Museum’s first collections exhibit in 2004 entitled, Building a Collection, was dedicated to McCurdy. In this year’s exhibit, you will see a photographic print by Bruce McCurdy (1930-2003), titled Oceano Dunes III, gifted by his wife, Beverly McCurdy. When asked about her donation, Beverly said, “He liked the idea of creating a museum to champion art and the wilderness and accepted her (Jacquemain’s) request to serve. I donated this work in his honor.”
Supporting The Wildling Museum’s mission, the exhibit will feature an interactive postcard art station. Liz Alvarez, Lompoc High School teacher, is creating new lesson plans. She said, “At the Wildling Museum, visitors of all ages are invited to look closely, explore the complexity and find an opportunity to create something original. Influenced by an existing artwork, visitors are encouraged to understand the art collection by participating in art making to interpret what the art means to them. Especially since no two art projects are precisely alike, the artworks and discussions become instruments that contribute original thought about the artwork. While it may be terrifying and exhilarating to share original art with others, participants receive support for their projects and opportunity to create something original, influenced by the permanent collection.”
This exhibit is possible thanks to the support of many individuals throughout the last 20 years. In particular, the volunteers and art professionals who contributed to this exhibit are Liz Alvarez, James Balsitis, Chris Chapman, Mitra Cline, Holli Harmon, Elizabeth Knowles, Stacey Otte-Demangate, and Nicole Strasburg.
Checklist
John Fery
Austrian, 1859-1934
Cascade on the Firehole, 1912
Oil on Canvas
Museum Purchase
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2000.1.1
John Anderson Gorham
American, 1910-1985
Taboose, n.d.
Acrylic on board
Gift of Elsie W. Hunt
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2002.2.2
Ines E. Labunski Roberts
Polish
Snow Mounts and Little Trees, n.d.
Epson Print, n.d.
Museum Purchase
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2003.3.1
Lockwood de Forest, II
American, 1850-1932
Petrified Forest, Arizona, 1909
Oil on board
Gift of Lockwood de Forest, IV
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2003.4.1
Everett Ruess
American, (1914-1934)
Sentinels of the Wild, ca 1933
Linoleum Block Print
Gift of Marlene and Warren Miller
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2003.5.1
Everett Ruess
American, (1914-1934)
Untitled, ca 1933
Watercolor
Gift of Marlene and Warren Miller
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2014.1.1
Edward Borein
American, 1872-1945
Black-Tailed Deer, 1920’s
Etching and drypoint on paper
Gift of Marlene and Warren Miller
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2004.4.1
Diane Orr
American
Navajo Horse Panel, n.d.
Photographic Print Gift of Diane Orr
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2005.1.1
Russell Chatham
American
Storm Across the Prairie, 2006
Color lithograph
Gift of Marlene and Warren Miller
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2007.4.1
D.L. Engle
American
Puma Ways, 2007
Bronze
Museum Purchase
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2008.2.1
D.L. Engle
American
Drawing for Puma Ways, 2007
Graphite on paper
Gift of the Artist
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2008.3.1
Bruce McCurdy
American, 1930-2003
Oceano Dunes III, n.d.
Photographic Print
Gift of Beverly McCurdy
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2009.1.2
Jeff Jones
American
Winter Willow, 2002
Photographic Ink-jet Print
Gift of Jeff Jones and Laurie Hoyle
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2012.1.1
Stephen Berry
American
To Yosemite Falls, n.d.
Watercolor
Gift of the Artist
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2016.2.1
Lockwood de Forest
American, 1850-1932
Lompoc Flower Fields, 1920
Oil on board
Gift of Gift of Robert Henning and Brian D. Stenfors
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2018.3.1
Howard Warshaw
American, 1920-1977
Bird of Prey, n.d.
Ink and wash on paper
Gift of Penny Knowles
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2018.2.1
Ellen Jewett
Canadian
a feral antiquity III, n.d.
Mixed Media
Gift of Suzanne Mellichamp
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2017.3.1
Tom Killion
American
Mt. Tamalpais from Ring Mountain, n.d.
Blockprint on paper, framed. Edition 119 of 185
Gift of Alexander M. and Heloise Power
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2019.1.1
Patti Jacquemain
American
West Wind, n.d.
Original Woodcut, Edition of 45
Gift of the Artist
Wildling Museum of Art & Nature Permanent Collection 2019.2.1