SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND, 2024 | 3:00 PM–5:30 PM
At the California Nature Art Museum (formerly the Wildling Museum)
Our silent auction returns this autumn with relaxing getaways, unique fine jewelry and art, local wines and dining experiences, and more! All proceeds benefit the California Nature Art Museum.
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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.
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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).
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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.
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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.
Read MoreFRI. 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.
Read MoreTUESDAY, 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.
Read MoreSeptember 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.
Read MoreSeptember 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."
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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.
Read MoreSATURDAY, 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!
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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).
Read MoreJuly 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.
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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.
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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).
Read MoreSATURDAY, 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.
Read MoreHonoring 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!
Read MoreSUNDAY, 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.
Read MoreLecture & 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.
Read MoreSATURDAY, 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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