Bonny Doon Art, Wine, and Brew Festival Art Exhibition

The Bonny Doon Art, Wine, and Brew Festival Art Exhibition is a temporary exhibition of selected artists for the patrons of the Festival being held on September 19th, 2026 at Crest Ranch Christmas Tree Farm at the top of Bonny Doon located in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

This exhibition is not for artists who only wish to apply to be a vendor at the festival. Those artists are invited to apply through our vendor application process. Accepted vendors and vendor applicants may apply for this call in addition to their vendor application but acceptance to the vendor application is not decided through this call.

“Wildly Connected” explores the visible and invisible relationships that bind people, environments, systems, technologies, histories, and species together. The theme invites artists to consider connection not as something stable or harmonious, but as something messy, entangled, ecological, emotional, and constantly evolving. Set within the context of the Bonny Doon Art, Wine, and Brew Festival, the theme also encourages reflections on local landscapes, community networks, food systems, agriculture, ritual gathering, and the interconnectedness of rural and creative life.

Artists might interpret “wildly” as untamed, excessive, unpredictable, organic, emotional, ecological, celebratory, or even chaotic. The exhibition can embrace works that examine both the beauty and tension of connection: collaboration and conflict, nourishment and extraction, intimacy and distance, growth and collapse.

Inspiration & Interpretive Directions

• Interdependence between humans, animals, plants, fungi, insects, and ecosystems

• Mycelial networks, root systems, pollination, migration, and environmental exchange

• The Santa Cruz Mountains as an interconnected ecological and cultural landscape

• Food, wine, brewing, agriculture, and communal gathering as systems of connection

• Family traditions, local histories, and intergenerational knowledge

• Wildness versus control: cultivated landscapes and untamed environments

• Social networks, digital connectivity, and emotional isolation

• Community resilience after environmental change, fire, drought, or displacement

• Rituals of gathering: meals, celebrations, festivals, harvests, and shared labor

• Invisible systems that shape daily life: supply chains, labor, infrastructure, ecology

• The relationship between the body and the natural world

• Collaboration, collectivity, and participatory experiences

• Hybridity, mutation, entanglement, and transformation

• Maps, pathways, webs, constellations, and relational structures

• Soundscapes, shared memory, and overlapping narratives

• Chaos, abundance, and unexpected forms of togetherness

• The emotional experience of belonging, dependence, care, and vulnerability

• Local flora, fauna, weather systems, and mountain environments

• Sustainability, stewardship, and coexistence

• Moments where connection breaks down, mutates, or reforms into something new

We accept both traditional and non-traditional art forms.

• All visual art mediums accepted unless otherwise specified

• Selected artists are responsible for delivery, shipping, and return shipping costs unless otherwise noted

• Installations or media works must include clear installation instructions and necessary equipment details

• Artists grant permission for submitted images and artwork to be used for promotional and educational purposes

• Work containing hazardous materials, open flames, perishables, or unsafe components may be restricted

• AI-generated work, reproductions, or copyrighted material may require disclosure or may be ineligible depending on the exhibition guidelines

• The organizing committee reserves the right to reject work that differs significantly from submitted images or does not meet presentation standards

• Open to emerging, mid-career, and established artists.

• Artists must be 18 years of age or older

• Open to artists who are not currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program

• Open to local, regional, national, or international artists. Bonny Doon artists are encouraged to apply.

• Submitted artwork must be original and created by the applying artist.

• work must be completed within 3-5 years. New proposal work must be completed by the exhibition date.

• Collaborative works are permitted if all contributors are listed.

• Artists may submit between 5-10 images, links to video works/documentation are also accepted.

• Artists must agree to exhibition timelines, installation requirements, and participation policies

• Late or incomplete submissions may not be reviewed

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