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September 2019
Opening Night Reception and Exhibition Opening
Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
734 Marin St, Vallejo, CA 94590
Opening Night Reception and Exhibition Opening – Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
Smokey Bear show
Food and Drink
Guest Speakers
King-Swett Hike – Bay Area Ridge Trail
Blue Rock Springs Park
650 Columbus Parkway in Vallejo
From there we will carpool to the trailhead
Friday September 13 9AM – 1PM
Join us for a hike on the King-Swett Ranches. This Solano Land Trust property is a protected expanse of hills and valleys between the cities of Vallejo, Benicia and Fairfield. This nearly 4000 acre expanse is only open on docent led hikes and includes a section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Learn about the wildlife that call this area home and the human history of the Ranches. Jasmine Westbrook, Project Manager for the Solano Land Trust, will join us for the hike to talk about range management, including the use of prescribed fire.
REGISTRATION: Bay Area Ridge Trail
WHAT TO BE PREPARED FOR: There is no drinking water on the property. Shade is limited and most travel is off trail on rocky, uneven ground. The hike will be up to 6 miles up and down potentially steep and rugged hills.
WHAT TO BRING: A daypack with plenty of water and snacks, boots or sturdy closed toe shoes, long sturdy pants and layered clothes to be prepared for any type of weather, Optional items: trekking poles and binoculars.
WHERE TO MEET: Meet at Blue Rock Springs Park parking lot, 650 Columbus Parkway in Vallejo. From there we will carpool to the trailhead.
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Culture of Fire Art Exhibit Opening
5pm-10pm (during 2nd Friday Art Walk)
Culture of Fire Art Exhibit Opening (2nd Friday Art Walk)
Temple Art Lofts
707 Marin St, Vallejo, CA 94590
The exhibit has three elements:
• Labyrinth
This labyrinth was built by the VCAF Summer Camp participants from used mop-up fire hoses donated by the US Forest Service. The baskets with fire spirits were built from materials gathered in the Tahoe-Truckee National Forest, Sagehen Creek Field Station, near Truckee, California. The fire spirits were created by the children and their teacher, Sophia Othman . This display will also be shown at the Visions of the Wild Festival in downtown Vallejo from September 12 – 15, 2019. After the festival, it will go back to Sagehen as part of a fire art controlled burn ritual called the Culture of Fire sometime in the Fall.
• Tools of the Trade
A display of firefighting tools used by the U.S. Forest Service.
• Todd Gilens’ “Reading Forest”
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Film screenings: California on Fire & Wilder Than Wild
Film screenings – Empress Theatre
330 Virginia St, Vallejo CA 94590
Doors open 6:30PM | Show starts 7:30PM
California on Fire – with director Jeff Frost.
Wilder Than Wild – with producers Stephen Most and Kevin White. Elizabeth Azzuz will also be joining us for the post-screening discussion of Wilder than Wild.
Nature Discovery Zone
Nature Discovery Zone – Farmers Market, 300 block of Georgia Street
Explore the natural world with fun activities for children and adults. The Nature Discovery Zone features a wide array of people and organizations that help conserve forests, rivers and animals.
This year we will feature the role of fire on our landscapes and also celebrate the 75th birthday of Smokey Bear
FREE !
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Film screenings: Wild Child – 12 Short Films
Film screenings – Empress Theatre
330 Virginia St, Vallejo CA 94590
Doors open 2PM | Show starts 3PM
Wild Child is a curated program for kids and families. Join us on an educational and inspirational journey from the cold Alaskan North, to the remote Karnali River in Western Nepal. We will learn about the importance of wolf and bison in our ecosystems and culture, and how anyone, regardless of age, can have a positive impact on our planet through conservation efforts, such as planting milkweed.
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Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Tour
Film screenings – Empress Theatre
330 Virginia St, Vallejo CA 94590
Doors open 6:30PM | Show starts 7:30PM
SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival inspires environmental activism and a love for nature–through film. Wild & Scenic shares an urgent call to action, encouraging festival-goers to learn more about what they can do to save our threatened planet.
Featuring 10 short films.
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Kayak Adventure – Cullinan Ranch, San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Kayaking at the Cullinan Ranch Unit of San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge co-sponsored by Visions of the Wild, Steve Souza’s Kayaking & Biking Vallejo group, the Refuge and the Friends of San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge from 9:30 am to 12:30 on Sunday, September 15th.
Bring your own kayak or reserve one of the 14 spots provided by Steve Souza’s group. All the gear and vessels are provided for 14 kayakers.
Site Amenities
• Paved parking for 9 vehicles and grassy spaces for approximately 10 more.
• ADA accessible vault toilet.
• Dock with two launch slips (see photo) for kayaks, canoes or other hand launched boats
• Interpretive kiosk (see photo); in addition Refuge Friends will be on hand to briefly tell the Cullinan story.
• 1.3 mile walking trail from the parking lot to South Slough. The trail lies between Cullinan Ranch to the east and California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Pond 1 to the west. The trail offers views of both areas may have numerous waterfowl and shorebirds foraging and resting.
Directions
To access the site you must be traveling west-bound on Highway 37. The parking lot (see photo) is located 3.4 miles west of the Mare Island Highway 37 overcrossing (see photo).
Reserve your spot
Due to limited parking at the site, you must sign up on Eventbrite for this event (Insert link). When signing up, state if you will bring your own gear and kayak.
Please note
• High winds will necessitate a venue change to Lake Chabot in Dan Foley Park
• Bring sunscreen, water and do not wear cotton clothing.
Talk by artist Todd Gilens
2PM-4PM
The McCune Collection
505 Santa Clara St, Vallejo, CA 94590
I am a visual artist and designer working with people, places and ideas. Trained in landscape architecture, I use drawing, photography and writing as ways to engage sites and subjects. I look for projects that can be shaped in dialogue with communities and clients, developed through historical research, cross-disciplinary learning, and the unique conditions of the places they will inhabit. My focus is on large-scale processes like water systems and ecological change, and how critical but largely invisible processes can be meaningfully encountered. The graphic work through which I develop these projects become their own record of discovery, portable images for intimate viewing. Together, site- and graphic work express the complementary relationships of private and public life.
In artwork, I look for something I haven’t yet seen, but once appearing, feels familiar as if it had always existed. Materials and how they are worked express traditions and moods, images associate to other images, and boundaries can be converted to bridges. Whether a garden design, art installation or sketch, each part of experience reflects a whole, a whole that is everywhere, with an artwork temporarily at its center.
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