The herds of horses roaming the Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary outside Lompoc may not to be able to journey past the fences that separate them from the surrounding, rolling hills, but they are free to roam their respective acres without any pesky hominids atop their backs. The sight of these untamed ungulates has served as inspiration for a number of artists, including many photographers who spend time at the sanctuary hoping to catch images of the creatures unfettered by human restraints.
The Wildling Museum in Solvang teamed up with the Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary to bring together a massive art show celebrating the strength and spirit of wild horses. The exhibit Wild Spirit: Horses in Art was conceived after Wildling staff and museum members visited the sanctuary to view the horse herds, explained Wildling Museum Assistant Director Jessica McLoughlin.
“The horses are just incredible,” she said. “You have the matriarch leading her band of horses. … They also have a band of just stallions, so you have this big group of males coexisting pretty peacefully, at least when there are no females around.”
Wildling Museum staff got excited about exhibiting a wild horse show, McLoughlin explained, but became even more excited when the Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary began connecting the museum with some of the artists who spend time at the sanctuary regularly. Several photographers from across the country make excursions to Return to Freedom during the summer with the hope of catching images of horses engaging in their natural behaviors.
Some photographers, explained Return to Freedom Education Director Connie Weinsoff, are so familiar with the sanctuary and its inhabitants, that they lead photo safaris and workshops there during the summer months. Many photographers featured in the Wild Spirit exhibit find the sanctuary an ideal place to capture images of wild horses, Weinsoff explained.
“These photographers know that this is a very unique situation, because you can go out to Arizona or Nevada and track wild horses, but you might be camping for several days and see 10 wild horses,” she said. “But out here you can spend a day and see over 200 horses.”
Wild Spirit: Horses in Art includes more than just photography, with sculpture, paintings, and drawings also inhabiting the Wildling’s large main gallery space. One piece by Elissa Kline titled Ghost Herd actually includes photographs of horses printed on fabric panels. Each panel is life-sized and includes images of wild horses arranged in two rows, creating a kind of corridor, eliciting the feeling of being among the herd.
Several of the stallions and mares in Ghost Herd ended up at Return to Freedom after the Bureau of Land Management captured them. The exhibit will include information about how wild horses are managed by the BLM and nationwide efforts to preserve wild horse herds provided by Return to Freedom, explained McLoughlin.
“Return to Freedom is really helping inform our understanding of wild horses,” she said. “They will also be presenting programs at the museum and at the sanctuary as the exhibit progresses.”
The exhibit will be on view until June, and a reception event is scheduled for Jan. 24. Both organizations hope that Wild Spirit will help raise awareness of the work being done to preserve and protect herds of wild horses, as well as expose horse fans to new artists and the possibility of visiting Return to Freedom.
“When you encounter that image by Nancy Holly of that horse charging at you, you feel something, you feel a connection with that wild being that is pictured by that artist,” McLoughlin said. “Having that feeling, we hope, inspires you to care more about the wildlife and wild places all around us.”
Catch the show
The Wildling Museum and the Return to Freedom wild horse sanctuary present Wild Spirit: Horses in Art, an exhibit showing at the museum Jan. 17 through June 1. An opening reception event is Jan. 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Wildling Museum, 1511-B Mission Drive, Solvang. More info: 686-8315 or wildlingmuseum.org.
Arts Editor Joe Payne is champing at the bit for art. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 15-22, 2015.