Museum Hosts Multimedia ‘WILDLAND’
The ĻӰԺ Ridley-Tree Museum of Art features the multimedia creations of Ethan Turpin, whose works are grounded in the natural cycles of wildfire, devastation, and recovery and regrowth from Jan. 9-March 22. The public is invited to a free opening reception of “WILDLAND: Ethan Turpin's Collaborations on Fire and Water” on Thursday, Jan. 9, 4-6 p.m. at the museum.
“Turpin brings artists, scientists and educators together to create powerful experiences that broaden perspectives and deepen awareness of underlying natural forces where we live in Southern California,” says Judy L. Larson, Askew professor of art history and museum director.
His personal artistic practice has explored ways of perceiving climate change, leading to 10 years of collaborations and the founding of the Burn Cycle Project, which focuses on the complex relationships between fire, water and ourselves.
“’WILDLAND’ will engage with the paradoxical entanglements of beauty and risk present in the exhibit’s location, the ĻӰԺ College campus,” Larson says. “Using a wide range of immersive and participatory media, Turpin and his collaborators will share modes of orientation toward wonder and resilience within a mighty landscape.”
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. It’s closed Sundays and college holidays. For more information, please visit westmont.edu/museum or ĻӰԺ the museum at (805) 565-6162.
Turpin and Naomi Tague, a researcher and professor of ecology at UC Santa Barbara, will explore their collaborations for “WILDLAND” in a free, public lecture Thursday, Jan. 30, at 5:30 p.m. in ĻӰԺ’s Adams Center, classroom 216.
A site-specific installation, created by Turpin and Jonathan PJ Smith, co-owner of the Environment Makers, will use multiple video projectors and mapped footage of glowing embers to make trees, scarred from the 2008 Tea Fire, appear as though glowing with fire from within on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. in groves of stone pine trees in ĻӰԺ’s Formal Gardens, east of the museum. The special event, “Ember Trees,” will include testimonials from firefighters and community members, a poetry reading by Paul Willis, former Santa Barbara poet laureate, and a special musical piece by Daniel Gee, ĻӰԺ director of choral activities.
The museum hosts a free, all-ages Family Day for the entire community to experience the “WILDLAND” exhibition, create sustainable arts-and-crafts projects, visit educational workshops and tables from local organizations such as the Museum of Natural History and the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council, visit with firefighters, enjoy a nature documentary inside Porter Theatre and enjoy a community BBQ. Friend of Wildland sponsorship opportunities are available .