Dr. F.G. Hochberg has been printing natural subjects for over 45 years. Eric’s studies capture and isolate in space the elegant and delicate beauty of nature. The works presented here have been selected to demonstrate a wide range of subjects and techniques used to create images of nature. Shane & Genny Anderson were first introduced to the art of nature printing when they took a workshop from Eric Hochberg at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Since then, they both have been captivated with the art form.
Read MoreThis Wildling curated exhibition explored the changing landscape of the tri-county area (Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo) through both historic and contemporary artwork. The Santa Barbara Region is beautiful, historic, and ever changing. Artists have been recording it for decades–some use their work to inspire a conservation ethic in hopes that specific open spaces will be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
Read MoreEvery year the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum hosts a juried competition of the finest bird art in the world. After they debut the final selections at the Woodson Art Museum in September, they begin traveling the show for the next year. In 2014, we hosted Birds in Art. The artwork was amazingly diverse: sculpture, watercolor, acrylic, block prints, and oil were all included.
Read MoreRay Strong was born in 1905 in Corvallis, Oregon. His long life spanned 101 years and so he saw tremendous technological and societal changes during his lifetime, but he never strayed far or long from his commitment to painting the landscape and in so doing recorded our natural heritage like almost no one else in our region.
Read MoreRichard Salas is a California native with a lifelong passion for diving and the underwater world. A graduate from Brooks Institute of Photography, he was mentored by Ernest Brooks II. In this show you swam along with Salas as he traveled from the Equator to Alaska visiting the creatures that call the Pacific Ocean home.
Read MoreThe Wildling Museum collaborated with Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary to produce an exhibition of the art of wild horses, and celebrating the wild spirit in all horses. The exhibition featured historic and contemporary art of horses in a variety of mediums: paintings, drawings, mosaics, photographs, sculptures, and prints. Both local and nationally regarded artists were featured in this unique exhibition.
Read MoreCharley Harper infused much of his work with a delightful sense of humor, and although he reduced animal forms to abstracted, geometric shapes, he never lost the essence of whichever species he was highlighting. His simplified forms and bold color belied his careful study of animals. Not only did the show feature 30 of his amazing artworks, but also several hands-on, interactive stations were included, which made this a very family friendly show!
Read MoreJeff Jones’s love for and understanding of the natural world, coupled with decades of experience in remote back country and wild places, form the foundation for his exceptional landscape photography. His highly detailed large-scale panoramic images combine a compelling sense of place with an immediacy of experience. Jeff’s work opens up for us a world not of our making and far greater than our own creations.
Read MoreThe Wildling organized this exciting show celebrating art's role in helping to bring attention to the natural treasures of the West. Artist John Fery was a prolific painter of the wilderness, in part due to his commissions for the the Great Northern Railway (GNR). He painted over 300 canvases during his time with GNR.
Read MoreSelections by D. L. Engle explores the sculpture of North American native fauna created by Southern California artist D.L. Engle. The exhibition of animal sculptures includes “Puma Ways”, a beautiful bronze mountain lion in the Wildling’s permanent collection. Engle’s sculptures are characterized by an expressive emotional quality and powerful presence.
Read MoreAs part of our celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, the Wildling featured its collection of artworks by Everett Ruess (1914 – 1934?). Everett was raised in Los Angeles and was taught how to make linoleum block prints by his mother, Stella. At a young age he felt a strong calling to be in and explore the wild. He spent the last four years of his brief life exploring wilderness areas along the California coast, in Yosemite and the deserts and canyons of northern Arizona and southern Utah.
Read MoreThomas Paquette's paintings in On Nature's Terms were inspired by his journeys to federal wilderness areas all across the country. The great diversity and vitality of environments that comprise the National Wilderness Preservation System – from southwest canyons and high peaks, east and west seashores, to lowland swamps and deserts – are reflected in these gouache and oil paintings.
Read MoreThis was a showing of original watercolors commissioned to be in the style of John James Audubon, who never did the birds of the islands. This was the first showing of this beautiful work by Hawaiian artist Marian Berger on the mainland. The original exhibition also brought awareness to the San Diego Zoo’s Conservation Research Institute and their work with endangered Hawaiian birds and other species.
Read MoreThe Wildling hosted an exhibition about Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez River graced with artwork by the amazing Oak Group. With its headwaters at the border with Ventura County and its mouth draining into Surf Beach in Lompoc, the river is a vital natural resource for our county and is also a cultural treasure.
Read MoreFor the Grand Opening in August of 2013, the Wildling organized a retrospective of its amazing history of 40+ exhibitions. We felt this would be a fitting way to acknowledge our history of quality art exhibitions, as well as reach out to former lenders and let them know about our exciting future. Perhaps most importantly it was a diverse show that was appealing to a wide audience as new visitors came to find us in Solvang.
Read MoreOrganized by the Wildling Museum in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG), the exhibition featured a series of watercolors of California native plants commissioned by SBBG, as well as two delicate porcelain sculptures. O'Hara is an Irish artist known for his detailed ceramic botanical sculptures and watercolor paintings.
Read MoreThe Wildling Art Museum’s exhibition Milford Zornes: An American Artist celebrated the remarkable career of one of California’s most notable artists. A proponent of the California Style of watercolor painting, Zornes gained national acclaim with his vivid colors, expansive brushstrokes, and abstract interpretations of the American landscape. With the assistance of scholar Gordon McClelland, the exhibition consisted of Zornes’ paintings borrowed from various private collections.
Read MoreMuseums form their collections both by design and by accident. They should all have a Collections Plan, so that they can purchase works, as they become available, that relate to their mission and complement their collection. Most, however, are the happy recipients of unexpected gifts. As a fledgling museum, the Wildling Art Museum is still developing its Collections Plan and raising funds necessary to realize its objectiv es. For some years, the Museum was able to put aside 5 percent of every $1000 donated for general operating support into an Acquisitions Fund. We have purchased a few works using those funds, but many desirable art works are being sold at prices beyond our means.
Read MoreFrom the depths of the sea to the dizzying heights of the Sierra Nevada, the Wildling Art Museum covers exceptional wilderness art wherever it appears. For the many who have not experienced the Southern Sierra, the four artists in this exhibition, Jeff Jones, Tom Killion, Zenaida Mott, and Matthew Rangel, give us that gift through their paintings, prints, photographs, and drawings. Those of us who have experienced the high country will understand their dedication to seeking out the vistas of the Southern Sierra that few of us see, translating them skillfully through their brushes, paints, carved wood, inks, cameras, pencils, pens, and plates – allowing us to consider anew our relationship to and appreciation for nature.
Read MoreDiving into the undersea world for the first time, the Wildling Art Museum showcases the work of three exceptional photographers in the exhibition Wildlings from the Deep. With a cast of ocean-going personalities, both micro and macroscopic, each artist captures unique aspects of the diverse and elegant watery world that comprises an amazingly complex ecosystem.
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