News — California Nature Art Museum

September 24th | CalNAM Sponsored Trivia Night

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2024 | 6:00 PM–8:00 PM

At Fig Mountain Brewing Co., 45 Industrial Way, Buellton, CA 93427 | Second Floor

Join the California Nature Art Museum and Headgames Trivia for a special bonus round of trivia on coral reefs in celebration of the opening of our latest exhibition, "A Deeper Love: New Paintings Inspired by Coral Reefs." You can expect a night of colorful competition, fun and food as we test your knowledge of one of the most precious and in-need-of-protection places in the ocean. Our sponsored bonus round will include two prizes from the Museum gift store.

California Coastal Commission: K-12 Coastal Art Contest, '06-'23

September 18, 2024 - February 3rd, 2025

Third-Floor George & Barbara Goodall Education Center

The California Nature Art Museum is excited to host California Coastal Commission: K-12 Coastal Art Contest, with selected pieces spanning 2006-2023.

Every year, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) hosts an art & poetry contest for students in grades K-12, which highlights the unique beauty and importance of the California coast and ocean. In this selection of past winning pieces on display in the George and Barbara Goodall Education Center, visitors are invited to enjoy the artistic visions of twelve student artists from all over the Golden State.

Past ExhibitRachel MetzSeptember 18, 2024California Coastal Commission, Student Art, Kids, Ocean

A Deeper Love: New Paintings Inspired by Coral Reefs

September 14, 2024 - February 24, 2025

First-Floor Wildling Gallery

The California Nature Art Museum is pleased to announce its forthcoming exhibition, A Deeper Love: New Paintings Inspired by Coral Reefs, featuring new work by artists Nansi Bielanski Gallup and David Gallup.

A Deeper Love offers an artistic examination into some of the ocean’s most vibrant, ecologically productive, and fragile landscapes, worldwide. “While it may be easy for most people to walk outside and appreciate nature in the hills, forests, or meadows where they live, it is much harder to visit a coral reef fifty feet below the surface of the ocean at the edge of civilization,” state Nansi and David. “By sharing what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what has inspired us, we hope to make the world’s coral reefs a little more present in the hearts and minds of our community."

Past ExhibitRuben MislangSeptember 14, 2024Nansi Bielanski Gallup, David Gallup, Coral Reefs, Ocean

August 25th | Wild Talk: "Pollinators of Santa Barbara County" with SBWCN

SUNDAY, AUGUST 25TH, 2024 | 3:30 PM–5:00 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum), Second Floor Valley Oak Gallery

Join the California Nature Art Museum & Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network for a co-hosted Wild Talk on pollinators of Santa Barbara County on August 25th 2024, from 3:30PM-5:00PM.

Free to attend, and reservations are not required. Ticketed reception with light food and drinks to follow.

August 10th | Free Admission: End-of-Summer Family Day

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10TH, 2024 | 10:00 AM–3:00 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

Join the California Nature Art Museum for a free-admission, end-of-summer Family Day on Saturday, August 10th 2024, from 10AM – 3PM. This annual event invites visitors to bring the whole family and enjoy free admission to the Museum, and participate in a variety of art-and-nature inspired activities.

Create your own bee-themed hanging wall art, make friends with a lizard, snake, or tortoise from Mahni’s Reptiles, enjoy a free hand or cheek painting, wonder at live honeybees in an observation hive from Santa Barbara Hives, and shake paws with an adoptable pet from SYV Humane Society!

July 21st | Adult Art Workshop - Bee Baths at the Museum, with Community Clayworks

SUNDAY, JULY 21ST, 2024 | 3:00 PM–5:00 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

Join the California Nature Art Museum & Community Clayworks for an art workshop at the Museum, creating bee baths for the home garden. Participants will learn to sculpt an open, flat flower with elevated petals throughout to create safe landing spots for the bees, as well as paint their pieces with colorful underglazes. After firing and clear glazing, completed pieces will be available for pick up in-person at the Museum or can be shipped by request (for an additional fee).

Past Programs/EventsRachel MetzJuly 21, 2024Community Clayworks, Workshop, Art Class, Pollinators

California, Quilted: Wild in the Oak Woodland

July 14, 2024 – March 17, 2025

Second-Floor Valley Oak Gallery

The California Nature Art Museum is pleased to announce its 2024 summer exhibition, California, Quilted: Wild in the Oak Woodland, on view from July 14, 2024 – March 17, 2025, featuring new and recent works by artist Julia Laraway.

From butterflies to bullfrogs to bobcats, Oak Woodland habitats support thousands of animal species all over California. Inhabitants might find shelter in the open grasslands between trees, scattered shrubs, fallen logs, streams, and tree canopies. The wonders of this important habitat – its creatures, colors, and lines of the land – all inspire Julia Laraway’s collection of fabric collages and quilts featuring flora and fauna of the coastal oak woodland.

Past ExhibitRachel MetzJuly 14, 2024Julia Laraway, California, Textile Arts, Quilting

June 30th | Pollinators Panel: Monarch Butterflies

SUNDAY, JUNE 30TH, 2024 | 3:00 PM–4:30 PM

*** EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES

Film-making, advocacy, education and outreach, art and photography, habitat restoration, volunteer work, and efforts in citizen-science collide as leaders in monarch conservation Ole Schell, Audrey Fusco, Elizabeth Weber, and Ray Kolbe talk monarch butterflies during this exciting panel on one of California’s most famous pollinators. While each is a monarch expert in their own right, the four speakers all approach their passion for monarch butterflies in different ways.

Join us for an inspirational and educational panel on monarch butterflies in the Second Floor Valley Oak Gallery. Tickets are $5 for members, and $10 for non-members.

June 9th | Kid Craft Art Workshop - Bee Baths at the Museum, with Community Clayworks

SUNDAY, JUNE 9TH, 2024 | 3:00 PM–5:00 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

Join the California Nature Art Museum & Community Clayworks for an art workshop at the Museum, creating bee baths for the home garden. Participants will learn to sculpt an open, flat flower with elevated petals throughout to create safe landing spots for the bees, as well as paint their pieces with colorful underglazes. After firing and clear glazing, completed pieces will be available for pick up in-person at the Museum or can be shipped by request (for an additional fee).

June 8th | Kid Craft Art Workshop - Story-Time and Watercolor Garibaldi

SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH, 2024 | 11:00 AM–12:00 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

Celebrate World Oceans Day with a free-with-admission Kid Craft mini-workshop. Young guests will get excited about one of our ocean’s most fearsome and fantastic marine creatures during a short group book reading, use watercolors to paint our iconic state fish, and make a pledge to be a friend to the sea.

Past Programs/EventsRachel MetzJune 8, 2024World Oceans Day, Kid Craft

May 19th | Wilderness Spirit Award Brunch

Honoring the Community Environmental Council and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians

SUNDAY, May 19, 2024 | 11 AM - 1:30 PM

Grand Ballroom, Marriott, Buellton

Tickets are on sale now! Join us for our biggest bash of the year - the annual Wilderness Spirit Award Brunch!

Join us for a delicious brunch , mimosa and bloody marys, live and silent auction, artist demonstrations and art auctions, wine pull, & more!

Past Programs/EventsRuben MislangMay 19, 2024Brunch, Fundraiser, Wilderness Spirit Award

April 21st | Native Plant Sale

SUNDAY, APRIL 21ST, 2024 | 10:00 AM–3:00 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

Celebrate Native Plant Appreciation Month with native plants, coffee, and used books. Enjoy a large variety of native plants for sale from Yes Yes Nursery and Manzanita Nursery, be inspired by educational materials from Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden and Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, cozy-up to a cup of coffee from Coffee a la Cart, peruse a selection of used books benefitting Museum education, and get creative with a free planter-painting activity.

April 12th | Lecture and Book Signing: "California's Changing Landscape: The Way of Water" by George Rose

Lecture & Book Signing: "California's Changing Landscape: The Way of Water" by George Rose

FRIDAY, APRIL 12TH, 2024 / 4:30 PM–6:30 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

Over 140 stunning photographs capture George Rose's expansive documentation of California’s complicated and dramatic water story. George began this project during the Covid-19 pandemic, just as the effects of drought were becoming increasingly visible. Then suddenly, California was hit with record-setting rain and snowstorms in early 2023. This onslaught of water effectively filled reservoirs and – at least temporarily – ended the drought.

April 6th | Free Admission: California Poppy Day

SATURDAY, APRIL 6TH, 2024 | 10:00 AM–3:00 PM

At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

Celebrate California Poppy Day with free admission to the California Nature Art Museum. Create your own flower crown or boutonniere, marvel at Leslie Franklin's collection of poppy vintage items & collectibles, enjoy poppy-inspired treats from Lindsay's Little Bakery. Be one of the first fifty guests to arrive to secure your free collectible sticker!

March 10th | Lecture: “Attracting Pollinators to the California Native Landscape; An Introduction to Pollination Ecology” with Richard Merrill

SUN. MARCH 10TH, 2024 / 3:00 PM– 4:30 PM
At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum), Second Floor Valley Oak Gallery

While the topic of pollination in Santa Barbara County is both engrossing and essential, few are familiar with the actual processes of the phenomenon and the major pollinators behind it: bees, of course, but also hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, and beneficial insects.

Join us for an inspirational and educational lecture with Richard Merrill at the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum) in the First Floor Wildling Gallery.

The Birds and the Bees and More: Pollinators

March 2, 2024 – September 2, 2024

First-Floor Wildling Gallery

We are excited to bring the important topic of pollinators to our California Nature Art Museum gallery featuring original art by Ava Roth, Elizabeth Weber, Susan McDonnell, Cynthia James, Sara Woodburn, and John Gould. Each artist brings a unique perspective to their pollinating subjects.

We are delighted to also be collaborating with the Cheadle Center For Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration at UC Santa Barbara. The Cheadle Center's contribution is focused on native bees, including high-resolution images of rare, local bees from the UCSB Natural History Collection and images of bees visiting flowers of native plants for an up-close look at their beauty and biodiversity.

February 13th | CalNAM Sponsored Trivia Night

Headgames Trivia at Fig Mountain Brewing Co. Buellton | Bonus Round on California National Parks, Sponsored by the California Nature Art Museum

TUES. FEBRUARY 13, 2024 / 6:00 PM–8:00 PM
45 Industrial Way, Buellton, CA 93427 | Second Floor

On February 13th 2024, the Museum will be sponsoring a bonus round of trivia on National Parks in California in celebration of the last week of our juried show, "California National Parks: Stories of Water."

Join us for a night of colorful competition, fun and food as we test your knowledge of some of the most beautiful natural spaces in our golden state. Our sponsored bonus round will include two free gifts from the Museum gift store, and will not affect players' overall trivia score.

January 26th | Lecture & Book Signing: "Paddling Into a Natural Balance: "Stories of Kayaking & Conservation Around Channel Islands National Park" by Chuck Graham

Chuck Graham’s Paddling Into a Natural Balance: Stories of Kayaking & Conservation Around Channel Islands National Park

FRI. JANUARY 26TH, 2024 / 4:30 PM–6:00 PM

Ten chapters and 170 photographs vividly describe conservation efforts observed from Chuck Graham’s kayak. In February 2021, after photographing a bald eagle on the cliffs surrounding Scorpion Anchorage, Graham was inspired to create this pertinent and breathtaking ode to Channel Islands National Park.

Past Programs/EventsRuben MislangJanuary 26, 2024Artist Talk, photography, Chuck Graham

December 3rd | Holiday Marketplace

Mark your calendars and kick off the holiday season at The Wildling Museum’s 12th Annual Holiday Marketplace! We look forward to welcoming you back to this favorite museum tradition on Sunday, December 3rd, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Enjoy one-of-a-kind shopping featuring talented local artisans and unique gifts that celebrate wildlife, nature, and the outdoors.

Past Programs/EventsRuben MislangDecember 3, 2023Holiday Marketplace, Holidays

California's Changing Landscape: The Way of Water | George Rose

November 18, 2023 - July 8, 2024

Second Floor Valley Oak Gallery

The California Nature Art Museum is pleased to host California’s Changing Landscape: The Way of Water, a solo exhibition by renowned photographer George Rose on view November 18, 2023 through July 8, 2024.

Featuring more than 20 large-format documentary inkjet photographs of the Golden State, the exhibition showcases Rose’s recent expansive documentation of California's dramatic water story. His vast exploration of the state and its fraught relationship with water will culminate with the release of his forthcoming book of the same title, now available on our website and in the Museum gift shop.

Past ExhibitRuben MislangNovember 18, 2023George Rose, Photography, Landscape Photography, California, Drought

Museum Hours

contact

Land Acknowledgment

Major Sponsors