Posts in Past Programs/Events
October 20th | Short Film Screening: “The Santa Barbara Channel: Three Examinations Into Life Offshore" with Mimi deGruy

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20TH, 2024 / 2:00 PM– 3:30 PM
At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

CANCELLED, due to unforeseen circumstances. A collection of footage taken from three films aired on National Geographic, the BBC, and PBS highlights the importance and untamed beauty of marine life just beyond the coasts of the Channel Islands, and in the Santa Barbara Channel.

Join us for an inspirational and educational short film screening and Q&A with Mimi deGruy in the Second Floor Valley Oak Gallery.

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October 13th | Kid Craft Art Workshop - Woodland Wind Chimes at the Museum, with Community Clayworks

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13TH, 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 oak woodland wind chimes. Participants will create a wind chime featuring falling oak leaves and/or tiny woodland creatures, and then 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).

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October 6th | Artist Meet-and-Greet with Julia Laraway

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6TH, 2024 / 10:00 AM– 12:00 PM
At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)

In celebration of the midway point through the sensational “California, Quilted: Wild in the Oak Woodland” textile exhibition, Julia Laraway will be at CalNAM on Sunday, October 6th 2024 from 10:00AM-12:00PM for a free artist meet-and-greet.

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September 29th | Kid Craft Art Workshop - Story Time & Scrub Jays

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2024 | 2:00 PM–3:30 PM

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

Join the California Nature Art Museum for a Kid Craft art workshop on Sunday, September 29th 2024 from 2:00PM- 3:30PM. Young participants will enjoy a special story time reading with artist Julia Laraway, whose work is exhibited in the Second-Floor Valley Oak Gallery from July 14th 2024 - January 13th 2025, and will also create their own “quilted” scrub jay with colorful felt pieces.

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September 27th - 29th | Santa Cruz Island, 2-Night Stay at UC Field Station

FRI. SEPTEMBER 27TH - SUN. SEPTEMBER 29TH

At the UC Field Station on Santa Cruz Island, with the California Nature Art Museum

Join the California Nature Art Museum for a two-night trip to Santa Cruz Island on Friday, September 27th 2024 - Sunday, September 29th 2024. Guests will be staying in the dorms at the UC Field Station, which cannot typically be accessed by the general public.

Throughout this trip, guests may enjoy fully-included, structured activities such as hiking, species identification, nature journaling, swimming, and travel through the use of the on-island vehicles.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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).

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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