The Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture will host a closing reception for Post-Wild: Nature in the 21st Century, 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 at Betteravia Art Gallery, 511 Lakeside Pkwy., Santa Maria.

Free to attend, the reception offers a final opportunity to experience the exhibition and celebrate the work of 34 emerging and established Santa Barbara County artists, organizers said.

Featuring 54 works in painting, ceramics, photography, digital media and mixed media, Post-Wild examines how contemporary artists depict, interpret and challenge ideas of nature.

Through traditional and conceptual approaches, the artists address environmental change, urbanization and humanity’s evolving relationship with the natural world.  

The juried exhibition was co-curated by the Office of Arts and Culture and Laura-Susan Thomas, professor of fine arts at Allan Hancock College.

Works were selected through a countywide open call, bringing together a broad cross-section of local artists and artistic practices.

“Nature is fragile and powerful, familiar and difficult to define,” said Tom Pazderka, curator for the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture.

“The artists in Post-Wild: Nature in the 21st Century explore these complexities through individual perspectives that connect local experiences to global environmental concerns,” Pazderka said.

The closing reception offers a final opportunity to celebrate their work and reflect on how each artist’s unique form of expression can inform local responses to major global issues,” he said.

For more, visit the Office of Arts and Culture’s exhibition page.