Good Fire, Living Water: The Gifts of a Marsh Economy  

Public Invited to New Exhibit on Native Californian Stewardship

(From press release) Over 90% of the Sacramento Valley’s wetlands have been destroyed over the past 150 years, contributing to today’s interrelated extinction, climate and water crises. Naturalist, artist, and Maidu/Wintun Cultural Practitioner Diana Almendariz is working diligently – with plants such as tule and cattail, and with artists, youth, land managers, and scientists  – to reverse this significant loss.

 A leader in revitalizing Native Californian stewardship through cultural burning and Native plant restoration, Almendariz brings to life indigenous knowledge that was once targeted for erasure and genocide. In a sign of changing times and attitudes, the Sacramento Bee recently recognized Almendariz as one of the region’s top change makers. She praises tule – a keystone wetland species — for renewing her cultural traditions.

“Tule has been my creative muse for 30 years. This important reed is at the heart of the marsh economy – drawing down carbon from the atmosphere, creating rich soil, cleaning water, and cultivating the valley’s rich food web. By restoring wetlands, we can revitalize the  natural systems that are key to a livable future,” explains Almendariz.

A new exhibit, Good Fire, Living Water: The Gifts of a Marsh Economy, opening on September 20th at the Davis Art Center, showcases Almendariz’ multifaceted eco-cultural practice that spans the arts, education, Native homeland culture, and environmental stewardship. The exhibit highlights how she is passing on this vital  knowledge to the next generation of Native cultural practitioners – her daughters Ooti Maxine and Christina Almendariz.

“Good Fire, Living Water: The Gifts of a Marsh Economy uplifts an older way of knowing and relating to wetland environments. For thousands of years, indigenous communities have actively cultivated the abundance of life in the Yolo bioregion,” shared ecomedia artist, exhibit curator and co-founder of YoloSol, Anuj Vaidya. 

This interactive, multimedia exhibit offers viewers an opportunity to engage with Wintun Homeland ecological knowledge and experience the marsh as a living economy. “As long as this essential ecosystem is properly cared for, it provides wildlife habitat, food, clean water and valuable resources for Native lifeways including transportation, housing, basketry and clothing,” explains Almendariz.

The exhibit includes paintings, photographs, cultural objects, interviews and guides/zines. Highlights include:

• Diana Almendariz’ landscape paintings, which are ‘encyclopedia’ images containing important cultural and ecological lessons,
• Ooti Maxine’s illustrations which bring a unique urban perspective on how environmental harm impacts mental health,
• a photo display showcasing activities from Diana and Christina Almendariz’ Traditional Ecological Knowledge workshops, 
• a 14-foot tule boat crafted with participants from the Sacramento Native American Health Center,
• an interactive “Slice of the Wetlands” installation built by UC Davis Entomology Professor Geoffrey Attardo in collaboration with San Jose High School student Pranav Saran which reveals the hidden world of aquatic plants and insects,
• interviews with Diana Almendariz, City of Davis Wildlife Specialist John McNerney, and Geoffrey Attardo sharing different perspectives on wetland stewardship,
• a 25-foot representation of Liwaito (aka Putah) Creek created by Tanya Moriko Lieberman using a Japanese shibori resist-dye technique,
• handcrafted paper artworks made from Native and invasive wetlands plants, created by Ro Mottsmith, Anuj Vaidya, and Morgan Strong, and
• a Yolo Bioregional Wetlands Guide created by YoloSol co-founder Juliette Beck, with contributions from YoloSol member azade Minasian, and others.

The exhibit is free and open to the public at the Davis Arts Center from September 20 through November 13.  Public events include:

• 2nd Friday ArtAbout: October 9 and November 13
• Storytelling and Tule Workshop with Diana and Christina Almendariz: November 7 at 4pm 

YoloSol, an  arts, culture and ecology collective founded in 2022, produced the exhibit with support from the City of Davis Arts and Cultural Affairs Program, Davis Arts Center, Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life, the Attardo Lab, and the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases. 

Learn more at: yolosol.org