Xavier Cortada, vincennes, 2007, Sea ice from Antarctica’s Ross Sea, sediment from Antarctica’s Dry Valleys, and mixed media on paper, Courtesy the Artist.
April 9 - September 26, 2022 | Opening Reception: Sunday, April 10, 3 - 5 P.M.
Wildling Museum
1511-B Mission Dr, Solvang, CA 93463
The Wildling Museum is proud to announce its first climate change-focused exhibition, Fire & Ice: Our Changing Landscape, on view April 9 – September 26, 2022. The public is invited to attend an opening reception on Sunday, April 10, 2022 from 3 – 5 p.m.
Curated by executive director Stacey Otte-Demangate, the immersive exhibition features ten contemporary artists depicting the opposing forces of fire and ice across a range of media, including video installations, acrylic paintings, photography, mixed media, fabric panels, an ice drill, and more.
While aesthetically appealing, these dramatic visuals also invite conversations about how increasingly frequent and severe fires are altering our landscape, particularly in the Western United States. Equally concerning is the retreat of glaciers and shrinking snowpack, and warming permafrost in our colder climes. Also included in the exhibition is “Letters to the Future,” an interactive installation by artist Xavier Cortada that invites visitors to write to future generations about their own efforts to help mitigate climate change and share their feelings about it.
Read Press:
“These extreme artworks embody the climate crisis,” by Amy Funderburk, Art & Object, September 6, 2022.
See https://cortada.com/press/2022-press/these-extreme-artworks-embody-the-climate-crisis/
“Fire and Ice,” by Marilyn McMahon, Santa Barbara News-Press, March 29, 2022.
See https://newspress.com/fire-and-ice/
“Fire and Ice Exhibit at Wildling Museum Targets Climate Change” by Lauren Sharp, Noozhawk, March 17, 2022.
See https://www.noozhawk.com/article/fire_and_ice_exhibit_at_wildling_museum_targets_climate_change
This exhibition is part of the Environmental Alliance of Santa Barbara County Museums’ inaugural project, Impact: Climate Change and the Urgency of Now. The Alliance is a collective of 12 museums, a zoo, and a botanic garden across Santa Barbara county that seeks to combine their impact to raise awareness about environmental issues through focused exhibitions, media campaigns, and educational programming.