WILDLAND: Ethan Turpin's
Collaborations on Fire and Water
January 9 - March 22, 2025
Opening Reception: January 9, 4-6pm
's works are grounded in the natural cycles of wildfire, devastation, and recovery and regrowth. Turpin is a multi-media artist and fireline-trained, press-credentialed photographer. His collaborations include other artists and scientists at the UCSB Bren School, and works with the to provide educational programming about wildfires and our local landscape.
Turpin brings artists, scientists and educators directly to communities to create powerful experiences that broaden perspectives and deepen awareness of underlying natural forces where we live in Southern California. Turpin鈥檚 personal artistic practice has explored ways of perceiving climate change, leading to 10 years of collaborations and the founding of , 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鈥檚 location, the 四虎影院 College campus. 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.
Scientist collaborators: Laura Drake Schultheis and Naomi Tague
Artist collaborators: Mike Demavivas, David Gordon, Zach Gill, Tai Rodrig, and Jonathan Smith - The Environment Makers
WILDLAND EVENTS
Ember Trees
When: Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 6pm
Where: Grove of Stone Pines in the 四虎影院 College Formal Gardens
Join us for a special, site-specific installation event featuring glowing ember trees, testimonials from firefighters and community members, a poetry reading by former Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Paul Willis, and a special musical piece by 四虎影院 Director of Choral Activities Daniel Gee.
The installation is created by Ethan Turpin and Jonathan PJ Smith of . Using multiple video projectors and mapped footage of glowing embers, Turpin and Smith make trees appear as though glowing with fire from within. The installation site will be a grove of pine trees scarred from the 2008 Tea Fire, located east of the Museum by the Dining Commons.
Family Day
When: Saturday, March 1, 2025 from 11am-3pm
Where: Adams Center, 四虎影院 College
A free, all-ages event for families, students, and the entire community to experience the WILDLAND exhibition. Visit the Museum to see interactive and immersive video installations of wildfire and water systems, then make your way over to the Adams Center to create sustainable arts-and-crafts projects. Visit educational workshops and tables from local organizations like the Museum of Natural History and the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council, see the inside of a fire truck and talk with firefighters; relax by watching a nature documentary in Porter Theatre, then grab a bite to eat from our community BBQ. There's something for everyone! If you'd like to donate and help support this community event, we welcome you as a Friend of Wildland here:
PROGRAMMING
Stay tuned for these upcoming events!
Artist & Collaborator Talk
When: January 30, 2025 at 5:30pm
Where: Adams Classroom 216, 四虎影院 College
Ethan Turpin and Naomi Tague will present a lecture on their collaborations for WILDLAND. Naomi Tague is a researcher and professor of ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.
Arroyo Hondo Field Trip
When: Date TBD; mid-February
Where: Arroyo Hondo Preserve (near Goleta)
Ethan Turpin will lead students and interested community members on a field trip to the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, where he filmed time-lapse videos of wildfire and recovery for the WILDLAND exhibition. The area was hit by the 2021 Alisal Fire. Learn more about the Preserve here:
Trail Walk
When: Date TBD; mid-March
Where: Las Barrancas/Willis Trail, 四虎影院 College
四虎影院 Biology professor Laura Drake Schultheis will lead a trail walk along the Las Barrancas trail, also known as the Paul J. Willis trail after the beloved 四虎影院 professor who helped restore the path. Schultheis is working with other partners and volunteers to restore the live oak population and remove invasive eucalyptus, which will help restore the native ecology and slow the spread of future wildfires. Learn more about the trail and the species that call it home: