The Community Environmental Council and Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians will be celebrated for their history of conservation efforts during the 18th Wilderness Spirit Award Brunch, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Sunday, May 19 at the Buellton Marriott Hotel.

The 2024 honorees were announced by the Board of Directors and staff of the California Nature Art Museum.

The event will feature auction items including a six-night stay in Oahu, Hawaii; a sunset cruise; an animal encounter at the Santa Barbara Zoo; and a one-night staycation in Santa Ynez.

Live artist demonstrations will be provided by Jeremy Harper, Clare Carey, and David & Nansi Gallup, who will preview their upcoming exhibit, A Deeper Love: New Paintings Inspired by Coral Reefs coming to the museum this fall.

Other activities on tap are a wine pull, raffle, food and drink, and a unique chance to support the museum’s mission to inspire stewardship of nature through art and education.

Each year, the California Nature Art Museum presents the Wilderness Spirit Award to a person or group that strives to bring awareness to natural places through various platforms.

For the first time, this year there are two honorees — Community Environmental Council (CEC) with the Wilderness Spirit Award, and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians with the newly announced Sustainability Award.

The board chose CEC due to its success in creating and opening the HUB facility, as well as for its focus on tackling local climate change issues, training climate change activists, and their commitment to diversity and inclusion in their programming.

The museum uses solar energy thanks to a CEC program, which helped conservation-minded nonprofits convert to solar, which would not have been affordable otherwise.

“We are so proud to present this year’s Wilderness Spirit Award to the Community Environmental Council,” said Stacey Otte-Demangate, executive director for California Nature Art Museum.

“With the recent opening of their new Environmental HUB in downtown Santa Barbara, we felt it was the perfect time to honor their many efforts to offer a facility for like-minded groups and individuals to gather and collaborate,” she said.

“We admire their outstanding efforts to tackle local climate change concerns, help the region to be more sustainable, and raise awareness through impactful events such as the annual Earth Day Celebration,” Otte-Demangate said.

CEC’s mission is to build on-the-ground momentum to reverse the threat of the climate crisis and to transform the systems that fuel it. CEC opened the region’s first Environmental Hub, a 10,000-square-foot epicenter for climate action, in downtown Santa Barbara.

Since opening in July 2023, the Hub has hosted more than 5,000 community members at 120-plus educational lectures, workshops, and community-led events.

They also trained and certified 154 CEC Climate Stewards, equipping local residents to play an active role in their community to advance rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis.

In 2020, CEC was recognized as a California Nonprofit of the Year, and in 2022, CEO Sigrid Wright was honored with a Congressional Woman of the Year Award.

“More than 50 years ago, we answered an urgent call to protect and preserve the health and integrity of the Central Coast,” said Wright. “We strongly believe that by embracing fierce hope, taking collective action, and harnessing a proven blueprint that draws on the best of people and nature, we will ensure our region remains a treasure for future generations.”

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is being recognized with a new Sustainability Award, spotlighting the tribes efforts to minimize – or even eliminate in some instances – waste from their casino and hotel operations.

The Chumash also support other tribal communities in their efforts to operate more sustainably, and the Chumash’s new Cultural Center and Museum has achieved Silver LEED Certification.

“As the original stewards of this land, our tribe understands the importance of prioritizing sustainability measures and conserving resources at our local businesses,” said Kenneth Kahn, tribal chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

“It’s an honor to be recognized for our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment, and we greatly appreciate being the first recipient of the California Nature Art Museum’s Sustainability Award,” he said.

Click here for tickets are to the Wilderness Spirit Award Brunch, sponsored by Schiele Family Foundation, Allan Hancock College, and Louise Clarke and John Carbon.

All proceeds from the event support the museum to provide art exhibits and educational programs for the community and visitors.