Featuring Nansi Bielanski Gallup & David Gallup

The California Nature Art Museum is pleased to announce its forthcoming exhibition, A Deeper Love: New Paintings Inspired by Coral Reefs, with large-scale artwork by artists Nansi Bielanski Gallup and David Gallup.

A Deeper Love offers an artistic examination into some of the ocean’s most vibrant, ecologically productive, and fragile landscapes, worldwide. “While it may be easy for most people to walk outside and appreciate nature in the hills, forests, or meadows where they live, it is much harder to visit a coral reef fifty feet below the surface of the ocean at the edge of civilization,” state Nansi and David. “By sharing what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what has inspired us, we hope to make the world’s coral reefs a little more present in the hearts and minds of our community. We humans protect what we love. We hope this show will help us all fall in love a little more with the beauty of our coral reefs.”

In addition to the intrinsic beauty of coral reefs and the equally breathtaking underwater communities that they support, it is important to note that coral reefs also have a powerful impact on human existence as well. In fact, it is estimated that up to one billion people currently rely on tropical coral reefs as their primary or sole source of food and income. Many of these reef-reliant peoples are among the world’s poorest, and suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate degradation primarily inflicted by industrialized nations. Already, rising sea levels and intensified hurricanes have dramatically reduced or even eliminated the inhabitable land of some island nations. For the sake of all life on our blue planet, it is clear that we must better know, love, and steward coral reefs and other seascapes.

Artists Nansi Bielanski Gallup and David Gallup are motivated by these challenges, working collaboratively and individually as artists to highlight the beauty and importance of coral reefs and their need for protection.  

Admission:
Museum Members: FREE
General (18 years +): $5.00
Children (17 & younger): FREE
Active Military with ID: FREE
Museums for All (see details below): FREE
Museums for All: Visitors receiving CalFresh/SNAP benefits are eligible for free admission for up to 4 adults upon presentation of a valid CalFresh/SNAP EBT card and photo ID at check-in.