Chautauqua Revue
September 4-7, 2019 at 7:30pm
Come and be part of this 17th annual extravaganza of community celebration. With elements of storytelling, vaudeville, and circus, the Revue is a show like no other. Each year is a unique mix of physical daring, poignant stories, cutting satire, incomparable musicians, and whatever else we find to add to the stew. Laughter gives way to tears, clearing the way for a moment for everyone involved to look around and see that we are all in this together. Anchored by Mistress of Ceremonies Wysteria McBrylcreem, the virtuosic sounds of our stage band Big B and his Cityslickers, and the irreverent interludes of Clowns On A Stick, the Revue is then joined by guest performers from near and far. Read more about Chautauqua here.
Please note that this year, for the first time, seating is assigned. You will be able to select your seats when you buy your tickets so get ’em early in order to secure the best possible seats. All shows last year in sold out well in advance.
Buy Tickets! (NOTE: Tickets available for Wed, Thurs, Sat matinee - Fri & Sat evenings are SOLD OUT)
Chautauqua Revue – Children’s Matinee
September 7, 2019 at 2:00pm
A special one-act show just for the little ones, their grown ups, and anyone else who would like to spend a magical afternoon in OAEC’s North Garden. Sing-a-longs, circus performers, clowns, and storytellers are the stars of this show. It’s a wonderful time, full of laughter and merriment. Bring a picnic to enjoy beforehand, take a walk in the garden, or simply enjoy the show. The Theater awaits your arrival.
ARTIFISHAL movie screening
Monday September 30, 2019
Artifishal is a film about wild rivers and wild fish that explores the high cost—ecological, financial and cultural—of our mistaken belief that engineered solutions can make up for habitat destruction. The film traces the impact of fish hatcheries, and the extraordinary amount of public money wasted on an industry that hinders wild fish recovery, pollutes our rivers and contributes to the problem it claims to solve. Artifishal also dives beneath the surface of the open-water fish farm controversy, as citizens work to stop the damage done to public waters and our remaining wild salmon.
OAEC WATER Institute and Patagonia Films present
ARTIFISHAL
Movie screening with introduction by Brock Dolman
followed by Q&A with filmmaker Josh Murphy
Monday September 30th
6 – 8:30 pm
Occidental Arts & Ecology Center
Oak Hall
15290 Coleman Valley Rd*
Proceeds benefit the OAEC WATER Institute’s salmon recovery efforts. Please consider paying at the highest end of the sliding scale you can afford.
*We encourage carpooling! Park in the upper parking lot, second entrance up the hill by the large greenhouses.
Buy Tickets! (Note: Tickets will be NOT available at the door.)
Farming While Black: an evening with Leah Penniman
Wed, May 8th 6:30 - 8:30pm
Join us for
An evening with Leah Penniman
Author of Farming While Black
at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center
Wednesday May 8th, 2019 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Sliding scale tickets start at $20. Please consider paying at the highest level of the sliding scale for you. Ticket sales benefit Soul Fire Farm.
Spanish translation will be provided.
Some of our most cherished sustainable farming practices – from organic agriculture to the farm cooperative and the CSA – have roots in African wisdom. Yet, discrimination and violence against African-American farmers has led to our decline from 14 percent of all growers in 1920 to less than 2 percent today, with a corresponding loss of over 14 million acres of land. Further, Black communities suffer disproportionately from illnesses related to lack of access to fresh food and healthy natural ecosystems.
Soul Fire Farm, cofounded by author, activist, and farmer Leah Penniman, is committed to ending racism and injustice in our food system. Through programs such as the Black-Latinx Farmers Immersion, a sliding-scale farmshare CSA, and Youth Food Justice leadership training, Soul Fire Farm is part of a global network of farmers working to increase farmland stewardship by people of color, restore Afro-indigenous farming practices, and end food apartheid. And now, with the new book Farming While Black, Soul Fire Farm extends that work by offering the first comprehensive manual for African-heritage people ready to reclaim our rightful place of dignified agency in the food system. Join us to learn how you too can be part of the movement for food sovereignty and help build a food system based on justice, dignity, and abundance for all members of our community.
FulaMuse (MaMuse + Fula Brothers)
Thursday, May 30th, 2019 at 7:30pm
The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center is pleased to present a night under the stars with Fula Muse, a collaboration of MaMuse and The Fula Brothers. They will bring their mix of beautiful melodies and harmonies, and great dance rhythms. The venue is the OAEC’s North Garden Theater, situated between gardens and forest.
Advanced Sale General Admission: $25 - No tickets available at the door.
Living with Lions: co-existence with an iconic American carnivore
Audubon Canyon Ranch and OAEC present
Living with Lions: co-existence with an iconic American carnivore
December 4, 2018 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, Meeting Hall
15290 Coleman Valley Rd
*Please park in the upper parking lot (2nd driveway).
This event is FULL. Due to extremely limited parking, we ask you to PLEASE CARPOOL!
$5 suggested donation at the door. RSVP required.
In California, mountain lions are at the top of the food chain and play critical roles in the maintenance and functioning of our natural ecosystems. Yet mountain lions themselves live a fragile existence as more of us choose to live and play in wild places. Audubon Canyon Ranch is studying our region’s mountain lions to identify priority habitats and key wildlife corridors and to promote ecosystem conservation throughout our region. Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Wildlife Ecologist, Dr. Quinton Martins, will provide an update on the research results of Living with Lions, ACR’s mountain lion research and education project. Join us in OAEC’s new Meeting Hall for an evening of learning and discussion around co-existing peaceably in lion country.
Please RSVP.
Click here to RSVP! Living with Lions - public talk at OAEC 12/4 6:30-8:30
Being Salmon, Being Human: The Performance
Wednesday, August 15th 7-9pm
On-line ticket sales have ended. Tickets will be available at the door.
BEING SALMON, BEING HUMAN is a unique storytelling performance from Norway combining traditional tales, original music, and contemporary philosophy.
Inspired by Martin Lee Mueller’s award-winning book by the same name, with salmon stories from Sami and First Nations peoples of Scandinavia and North America, we go on a journey through the extraordinary lives of wild salmon – sentient beings who are born in rivers, traverse the oceans, and return towards the end of their lives to their birth rivers to spawn and gift forward more life. The performance explores what becomes of this awe-inspiring creature and her journey in the face of an expansive, profit-driven feedlot industry.
The life-cycle of the salmon has been celebrated in human cultures since time immemorial. How does the story of separation affect our age-old relationship with this extraordinary creature? Who are salmon, and who are we?
By interweaving stories old and new against a powerful backdrop of traditional song and contemporary sound art, BEING SALMON, BEING HUMAN offers surprising and evocative insights into the ancient relationship between humans and the larger living world.
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Created and performed by Norwegian-British storyteller Georgiana Keable, philosopher Martin Lee Mueller and renowned Sami joiker and composer Torgeir Vassvik.
Illustration by April White, with permission from Chelsea Green Publishing.
Storytelling Chautauqua
July 8-9, 2016 (7:30-9:30pm)
Stories are key to human understanding. In our experience as a social change-focused organization, a message can fall flat without an accompanying story to help people remember it. Join us this year for our Storytelling Chautauqua variety show (now two nights)! From the irreverent to the poignant, enjoy tales that will make you laugh, make you think, and even call you to action on social and ecological issues. Tickets coming soon.