William Alexander Griffith In Laguna Canyon, 1928, Oil on canvas, 30 1/4 x 40 1/4 in. UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art. Gift of The Irvine Museum from prior gift of Josephine N. Milnor
Habitat: Making the California Environment
September 20, 2025 – January 10, 2026
Curated by : James Nesbit
Habitat: Making the California Environment considers landscape painting from the late 19th and early 20th century as a time capsule of California’s ecological world. The works in this exhibition reflect a time when the state’s natural environments were in flux— after European contact, but before California’s landscapes were dramatically changed by urban growth.
Habitat offers a lens into California’s environmental past, while connecting it to present-day concerns about invasive species and ecological preservation. Ultimately, Habitat invites viewers to consider how art, nature, and history have long been connected in shaping the California we know today.
About the curator:
James Nisbet is Professor and Chair in the Department of Art History and Ph.D. Program in Visual Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and Director of the Environmental Humanities Research Center. He has published widely on the history and theory of ecocritical visual art and aesthetics from late modernism to the present. His recent book projects include Second Site (Princeton University Press, 2021), and, as editor with Lyle Massey, The Invention of the American Desert: Art, Land, and the Politics of Environment (University of California Press, 2021).
Public Programs
Check back soon for details on upcoming public programs—more ways to connect, create, and explore are on the way!