There is something awe-inspiring about standing in front of a beautiful landscape painting and knowing the place it depicts has been permanently protected.
Earlier this month, I attended the opening of The Oak Group’s 40th anniversary exhibit, Abiding Legacy, at the Santa Barbara Library’s Faulkner Gallery. The show is a collection of 110 paintings and photographs of 10 Central Coast ranches conserved by the California Rangeland Trust. Through this collaboration, 27 plein air artists had the opportunity to experience these working landscapes firsthand and share them with the public through their art.
For me, the exhibit offers something special: a chance to see these ranches through another person’s eyes, while reflecting on the families and conservation stories that will shape their future.
I recognized Arturo Tello’s painting of Rancho San Lorenzo right away, from a virtual ranch tour we recorded back in 2023. Sharon Tate Kline, owner of Rancho San Lorenzo, was also at the opening reception, sharing memories of this and other places captured in the paintings. Jeremy Harper captured the glow of the richly blooming yellow fields, while Ray Hunter’s photorealistic watercolors had me looking closely. Bill Dewey’s photographs are so idyllic they could almost pass for paintings.
And then there was John Iwerks’ depiction of the iconic rock outcropping on Spanish Ranch. I recognized it from the image we used as part of our fundraising campaign that engaged more the 150 private donors in helping conserve the Ranch, which we did earlier this year! Now, those donors can see more of the landscape they helped to protect through these beautiful works of art.
As you move through the exhibit, the paintings begin to tell a story beyond the beauty of the landscape. You see how these lands are well-managed through grazing, providing habitat for wildlife and supporting a diversity of native plants. You see the stewardship, done by the ranchers, day in and day out, often going unnoticed. And you realize that, because of the families’ decisions to conserve, those lands will always look as they do in those paintings!
This collaboration has been especially meaningful because it brings together two parts of my own life. Before spending more than a decade in conservation, I studied art history and worked in museums, cultural centers, and an arts college. My husband is an artist, too, and continues to keep me connected to that world.
Bringing art and conservation together through our partnership with The Oak Group has reminded me that protecting the land is about more than safeguarding acreage. It is also about preserving the places that inspire us, sustain communities, and connect us to the landscapes around us.
If you are in the Central Coast, I hope you’ll visit Abiding Legacy at the Faulkner Gallery before the end of October. If you can’t see the show in person, the artworks are available online through the end of November.
You can also enjoy these works forever in your home! All the paintings are for sale, and half of the proceeds will be donated to the Rangeland Trust to further rangeland conservation.
I hope you’ll come away from the exhibit seeing these landscapes a little differently—and understanding why protecting them matters.
California Rangeland Trust is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 31-1631453) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
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