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Meet the Voices of RIPE AREA 2025: Where Art and Ecology Converge

Featured Artists and Contributors

Voices from the Literary and Visual Arts

The festival's exploration of human-plant relationships extends into the realm of words and images through the contributions of Lara Gularte, Kate Marianchild, Jessica Carew Craft, Andie Thrams, Corina del Carmel, and Susan Hayne. These and other accomplished writers, poets, and visual artists bring decades of experience exploring the intersections between environmental awareness, creative expression, and community building.

Gathering of Indigenous Voices and Wisdom This year's festival promises to be an extraordinary convergence of traditional knowledge, contemporary artistry, and ecological awareness, featuring Stan Padilla, Kimberly ShiningStar Petree, Christina Almendariz, Sara Raskie and Tony Cervantes, Marcela Tayaba, Phillip Moore, Mignon Geli, Chuck Kritzon, and Nathan Kuan Salazar-Uhlmeyer. These diverse artists bring a rich tapestry of cultural perspectives and creative disciplines, from Indigenous storytelling and traditional crafts to contemporary visual arts, music, and movement. Their combined expertise spans generations of plant knowledge, ecological wisdom, and artistic innovation. 

Adding to this cultural celebration, Quetzacoatl Ocelotl brings traditional Indigenous knowledge and ceremony to the festival grounds, while Comedor's Chef Rene Medina will nourish attendees with thoughtfully prepared food that celebrates local and native ingredients, connecting our palates to the very landscapes we're honoring through art.

Pigments and materials from nature

A Full Day of Wonder Awaits Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 21st, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at American River Conservancy's historic Wakamatsu Farm in Placerville, CA. This free festival (with a $10 parking donation) offers something for everyone:

  • Live music performances on the Big Oak Stage, including the premiere of The Botanist: A Plant-Based Song Cycle, Melinda Velasco, Grayson Howard, and Hither & Yon

  • Interactive workshops exploring traditional arts and ecological connections

  • Art and science activities for all ages

  • Nature walks through native plant gardens and riparian areas

  • Storytelling and movement sessions that blend cultural wisdom with environmental awareness

  • Visual art installations celebrating the beauty and complexity of native ecosystems

  • Local food vendors featuring native and organic ingredients

  • Kids' art and science zones designed to inspire the next generation of earth stewards

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS HERE!

Where Ecosystems Meet Art As forest ecologist Suzanne Simard reminds us, "Ecosystems are so similar to human societies—they're built on relationships. The stronger those are the more resilient the systems." RIPE AREA embodies this wisdom, creating a festival ecosystem where artists, scientists, families, and community members strengthen their relationships with each other and with the land that sustains us all.

Recent scientific discoveries about plant communication—how they respond to the sounds of insects, increase nectar production when they hear pollinators, and detect moving water through their root systems—find their artistic expression through the voices and visions of our contributors. Each performance, workshop, and installation invites us to listen more carefully to what the land is telling us. 

Each performance, workshop, and installation invites us to listen more carefully to what the land is telling us. This theme of deep listening comes alive through Zack Dowell's Sound Lab, Paul Godwin's Sound Garden, and Myrtle Tree Arts' debut of The Botanist—three unique experiences that invite us to tune into the acoustic world of plants and discover the conversations happening all around us.

The festival's commitment to ecological restoration is embodied through partnerships with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Species, and learnings with Angela Laws, their conservation biologist; ARC's restoration efforts of oak woodlands and bird nesting led by Cathy Mueller; mushroom foraging chats with Elizabeth Standeven; and author Mia Andler on sustainable foraging of edible plants. The event features collaboration with the El Dorado Chapter of the CA Native Plant Society and their annual native plant sale--all in celebration of environmental stewardship, creativity and ecosystem health. 

Join the Conversation - Reserve Your Spot!

RIPE AREA isn't just about observing—it's about participating in the ongoing conversation between human creativity and natural intelligence. Whether you come for the music, the workshops, the nature walks, or simply to spend a day surrounded by the beauty of Wakamatsu Farm's historic grounds, you'll leave with a deeper appreciation for the intricate relationships that make life possible.

-Ameera Godwin, Artistic Director, RIPE AREA


Image Credits/Details: 1) Chuck Kritzon, natural pigments and tools: "The white (kaolin clay AKA porcelain clay) red and yellow (ocher AKA iron oxides) pigments were gathered in Northern California. The black is charcoal. There is also a shell full of hand made drawing charcoal sticks. The feather composite brushes are from wild goose and turkey wings. The short fiber brushes tied in the middle are made from the local soaproot plant fibers bound with handmade milkweed string and stiffened with an application of hide glue (gelatin glue). The composite brushes on the far left are bird radius bones with the ends removed and then horsehair hanks are pulled tightly into the bone with more hand made string. Warm hide glue is then drizzled into the opposite, open end of the brush to further secure the horsehair into the handle"; 2) Elizabeth Standeven, fungus foraging: "This one is a waxy cap, possibly a Hygrocybe genus."

Free registration is open! Visit myrtletreearts.com/ripe-area-2025 and go to bit.ly/RIPEAREA25 to secure your spot and learn more about this unique celebration of art, ecology, and community. 
 Come early, stay all day, and prepare to experience the profound connections that emerge when we truly listen to the land and to each other. The plants have been waiting for us—and now, through the voices of these remarkable artists, we're finally learning to hear their songs.

RIPE AREA 2025 is a collaboration between Myrtle Tree Arts and American River Conservancy, supported by the Arts in California Parks Program of Parks CA, CA Arts Council, and CA State Parks, and the Latrobe Fund.




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