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.

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.

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

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.

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

October 30th - November 8th | 4th Annual Online Fall Silent Auction

Our fourth annual online silent auction is LIVE until November 8th, 4 p.m.

View Silent Auction Items »

We can’t wait to share relaxing getaways, unique jewelry, fine art, local wines and delights just for you. All proceeds benefit the Wildling Museum.

Past Programs/EventsRuben MislangOctober 30, 2023Fundraiser, Silent Auction, Fall Silent Auction

October 14th | Upcycling Art Workshop with Elizabeth Criss

CANCELLED
Join us at The Wildling Museum on Saturday, October 14th, 1 – 3 p.m. for a memorable afternoon with exhibiting artist Elizabeth Criss, whose work is currently featured in Message in a Bottle in the Michele Kuelbs Tower Gallery. Criss will guide attendees in an upcycling art workshop transforming household plastic discards into an eco-friendly fridge fishscape inspired by her own underwater creations on view at the Museum.

Workshop participants will make two (or more!) of their own magnetic fish to take home, along with newfound skills to turn old plastics into artworks of their own creation.

Past Programs/EventsRuben MislangOctober 14, 2023Elizabeth Criss, Workshop, Art Class

August 20th | Summer Family Day

The Wildling Museum invites the public to attend its third-annual free Summer Family Day on Sunday, August 20, 2023, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Visitors are invited to bring the whole family and enjoy free museum admission during event hours, an owl meet-and-greet, mermaid visit, nature-inspired art activities for all ages, and more.

Past Programs/EventsRuben MislangAugust 20, 2023Open House, Family, Community, Summer Family Day

August 17th | Shae Warnick Virtual Artist Talk

Join The Wildling Museum on Thursday, August 17th, 4 - 5 p.m. for a special Zoom presentation by exhibiting artist Shae Warnick, one of four artists featured in Bird’s Eye View: Four Perspectives, currently on view at the California Nature Art Museum through September 4, 2023. Warnick will provide an inside look into her process and share more about her incredible work on view at the California Nature Art Museum, Aviary of the Reverend William J. Long, which features 260 stuffed bird dolls created by Warnick.

Past Programs/EventsRuben MislangAugust 17, 2023Birds, Artist Talk, Shae Warnick

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