RIPE AREA: THE ART OF NATIVE PLANTS FESTIVAL
CELEBRATING CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS THROUGH THE ARTS, ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2025
American River Conservancy and Myrtle Tree Arts are partnered once again to host the RIPE AREA: The Art of Native Plants Festival at Wakamatsu Farm in Placerville, CA on Sunday, September 21, 2025, 10 AM to 4 PM.
Our collaborative project brings together the wider community to celebrate connections between California native plants, local ecosystems, environmental conservation, land stewardship, and artistic expression. This lively, family-friendly event will feature local artists expressing the benefits and uses of native flora in many art forms, including the culinary arts, storytelling, musical performance, poetry, painting, dance, traditional crafts and knowledge, and much more.
Building on the success of last year's RIPE AREA Festival, this 2025 RIPE AREA Festival will extend a wide range of artistic and cultural experiences. It will explore local Indigenous practice and perspectives. It will illuminate Wakamatsu Farm's native plant gardens, adjacent pond, and riparian areas. Artists and audiences alike will experience innovative ideas and artistic expressions with the goal of inspiring all to become informed land stewards and advocates for environmental protection and preservation.
ART TO ENGAGE COMMUNITIES WITH SUSTAINABLE PLANT USE & RELATIONSHIPS
"Ecosystems are so similar to human societies—they're built on relationships. The stronger those are the more resilient the systems.." –Suzanne Simard, Finding The Mother Tree
Myrtle Tree Arts is working at the intersection of art and science to create ways of experiencing creative expression, innovative experimentation, traditional wisdom, and restorative practices that are accessible to all participants.
"Scientists now argue that some plants are affected by the sounds of insects eating their neighbors and increase nectar production after hearing the sound of pollinating insects, and that underground roots might detect and move toward the sound of moving water. " –Michael J. Hathaway, What A Mushroom Lives For
In Partnership
RIPE AREA is a collaborative project of Myrtle Tree Arts and American River Conservancy (ARC). ARC has been serving our communities since 1989 by preserving healthy ecosystems within the upper American River and upper Cosumnes River watersheds through land conservation, stewardship, and education. RIPE AREA is funded in part by the ARTS IN CALIFORNIA PARKS
