Capturing California's ecology

The Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art's latest exhibition will showcase over 40 artworks from the museum's permanent collection and loans from The James Irvine Swinden Family Collection. These artworks will provide a glimpse into a pivotal period in California's ecological history, spanning from European settlement to the dramatic transformation of the state's landscapes due to urban growth.

Habitat: Making the California Environment will be on view from Sept. 20 to Jan. 10, 2026, at Langson IMCA's interim Irvine gallery.

Habitat offers a lens into California's environmental past while forging connections with contemporary ecological concerns, from the spread of invasive species to the urgency of preservation. Ultimately, Habitat invites viewers to consider how art, plants, and history have long been connected in shaping the California we know today. Organized into thematic clusters, the works are grouped by subtle yet connective threads - encouraging unexpected juxtapositions and inviting viewers to place California's habitats and ecosystems in new dialogue.

"This exhibition isn't about illustrating a science lesson but about unpeeling visual and historical layers - revealing how landscape paintings made in California a hundred years ago reflect a complex interplay among colonial, ecological, and aesthetic forces." said curator James Nisbet, professor and chair in art history at UC Irvine.

Exhibition themes and highlights

Habitat will explore topics such as the coexistence of native and non-native plants and the ecological impact of the latter, introduced species; shifts in the appearance of landscapes over the last century; and the ways landscape painting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries enacted a lens created by European artistic traditions for viewing and impacting California's varied terrains. The exhibition is organized into distinct themes: Native Blooms, Orange County, California Missions, Mountains and Arboreal Landscapes.

To deepen the exhibition's interdisciplinary approach, Nisbet brought on Justin Felder, a California Certified Field Botanist and graduate student in UC Irvine's Master of Conservation and Restoration Science program, as a consulting expert. This interdisciplinary partnership enriched Habitat with botanical identifications and ecological context, offering insight into the geopolitical histories of the environments depicted.

About UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art

UC Irvine's Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) houses two significant gifts of California art from The Irvine Museum and Gerald E. Buck estate. The permanent collection, spanning over 4,700 works from the late 19th century to the present day, continues to grow through acquisitions and gifts. For more information, visit imca.uci.edu. Follow Langson IMCA on Instagram @langsonimca.