The "Going Wild" exhibit at the Museum of Ventura County features the work of writer Melina Sempill Watts, author of Tree and Ojai plein air painter Jeff Sojka. Inspired by the novel’s lush prose, Sojka has created a luminous series that explore the plants and animals that make up Tree, while celebrating the living ecosystem of the California landscape. Through text and image, both writer and painter invite audiences to explore the intimate visceral experience of going wild. The emotionality of re-integrating ourselves within the living natural world makes for a deep emotional journey. As Watts states, “Sometimes the adventure outside is on the inside.”

The show starts on Friday, August 26, 2022 and runs through October 2, 2022. The exhibit is held in tandem with an event series.

The opening reception is Saturday, August 27 from 3-5 p.m.

ArtsVentura is pleased to be the principal sponsor of this wonderful show, blending the best of literature, painting and environmental principles.

A Local History Happy Hour with the author is also scheduled for Sept. 8 from 5-6 p.m. at the Museum. The Ventura Land Trust will hold its first Oaktober event on Oct. 1 at the Museum to coincide with the closing of the show.

"If trees have standing before the law, as many argue, then they might very well also have standing in historical fiction as Melina Sempill Watts demonstrates in this intriguing new novel ... Blending environmentalism, magical realism, social history, and arboreal science, Tree challenges ... readers to regard the natural world with new respect." — Dr. Kevin Starr, USC professor of California history 

“Watts writes in an elegant, highly detailed prose. Even more impressive is her ability to wring narrative from the most common interactions, reminding readers of the Homeric drama unfolding all around them, at every level of life. An ingenious and satisfying tale”. — Kirkus Reviews