Rita Sklar Artist Talk: Painting Birds of the Bay Area and the Impact of Climate Change on California's Bird Populations

Join us on Saturday, April 23 at 11 am for a special event with award-winning artist Rita Sklar. Sklar will talk about her creative process and discuss the impact of climate change on Bay Area birds. Her watercolor exhibition "Vanishing Birds in the Bay Area" is on view now on the second floor until May 12. Sklar is a climate change activist and member of the Ohlone Audubon Society. She lives and paints in the Hayward Area. This event and exhibition are co-sponsored by Hayward Arts Council and Hayward Public Library.

Rita Sklar Artist Statement:
I explore the dimensionality -- emotional, perceptive and symbolic -- of vanishing species and traditions. The wildlife and people are reverently depicted, using maps in unique ways to convey the importance of place. These paintings signal the fundamental dichotomy of the beauty and value of wildlife and the longing for resolution of that which is threatening them. My paintings reflect a balance between the reality of representational shapes and forms juxtaposed with abstract backgrounds. The addition of maps weaves a distinctive tapestry that adds complexity and texture. My affection for wildlife often reveals, at the same time, the violence and the tenderness of our times. I search for new ways to express the singularity and the diversity of our fragile world.

View her vanishing bird series on her website at: Watercolor paintings of Birds by Rita Sklar

This event is co-sponsored with the Hayward Arts Council.

Painting displayed here: "Tricolored Blackbird" by Rita Sklar.