Nature Hikes: Connecting to the East Bay Landscape - LEONA HEIGHTS

Nature Hikes: Connecting to the East Bay Landscape

Join José González for outdoor explorations in the East Bay that weave the logic of how we relate to one another and to the land within social and ecological systems. This experience connects Berkeley Art Center’s gallery exhibition, , back to the natural landscape.

These events are part of our public programming for our current exhibition on view until March 29, 2026.

LEONA HEIGHTS HIKE (Oakland)

Date: Sunday, March 15, 2026

Time: 10 am-12 pm

Location: Leona Heights Park entrance by Mountain Blvd

https://maps.app.goo.gl/sKLtCAo8TMvA6H1C7

Located in the Oakland Hills, Leona Heights Park captures the interface between urban life and nature. It is the site of a former quarry that preserves some of the “wild” landscape that once defined the area. Nearby stands the “Old Survivor,” the last remaining old-growth coastal redwood of the East Bay. This city park resonates with the exhibition installation currently on view at BAC, as it reflects on the legacy and symbolism of the pilot redwood trees.

*Please bring comfortable hiking shoes that may get a bit wet or muddy depending on the weather. Bring plenty of water, snacks, and appropriate layers of clothing. Leona Heights is a semi-rugged trail with an incline. Contact us about any accessibility questions or concerns.**

Want to learn more about this place before the hike? Check out the links below! https://www.savetheredwoods.org/blog/old-survivor-documentary-a-celebration-of-oaklands-redwoods/

https://www.maioranamusic.com/old-survivor-full-story

ABOUT

is a professional educator with training in education and conservation who also engages in a variety of artistic projects exploring the intersection of environment and culture. He plays with design, language, science, and education, engaging in interdisciplinary explorations of how we view and interact with the world. He seeks to connect with people who want to strengthen communities around education, conservation, and culture.

González is the Equity Officer at the East Bay Regional Park District and is also the founder of Latino Outdoors. He earned his B.A. from the University of California, Davis, and completed teaching coursework in the Bilingual, Multicultural Education Department at Sacramento State University. González holds an M.S. from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment. He serves on the board of Parks CA and is a Commissioner for the California Boating & Waterways Commission, among other volunteer leadership roles.

https://www.josegagonzalez.com/

EXHIBITION AT BAC (on view until March 29, 2026)

is an immersive, site-responsive installation and replica of a 19th-century Victorian “period room,” constructed by multidisciplinary artists Torreya Cummings and Sarah Lowe. Period rooms function as domestic interior spaces to present a wealthy family’s opulent, and often exotic, treasures. At Berkeley Art Center, Cummings & Lowe have fashioned theatrical backdrops, handcrafted facsimiles, props, furniture, and created a stage to play out the political dramas of natural history, colonialism, and mechanical interventions into the Northern California landscape from the time of Western expansion to the present day. These fabricated scenes challenge and question how art and artifice, photography and commercialism, have functioned as tools of both history-making and historical erasure. black point reinterpretive site explores the changes in landscape, in natural species evolution (or extinction), and in the proliferation of industry and development of the Bay Area as a wink to the near-distant past and as a potential warning sign for the future. The massive installation spans the entire gallery and includes sculpture, photography, textiles, soundscapes, and a live fountain, with the heightened artificiality of a theater stage that destabilizes the presumed authority of the museum by being honestly false. Cummings & Lowe invite us into this figurative hall of mirrors to better understand where we stand today and how quickly the tides can turn for all of us.

ABOUT BERKELEY ART CENTER

Berkeley Art Center (BAC) is a vibrant hub for artistic exploration and community building, championing the work of Bay Area artists and curators. Situated in Live Oak Park in North Berkeley, BAC makes contemporary art approachable at an intimate level while serving diverse communities through exhibition, artist-designed events, workshops, and various programs. Since its founding in 1967, BAC has exhibited work by important local figures such as Enrique Chagoya, Mildred Howard, Hung Liu, Jim Melchert, Taraneh Hemami, Lava Thomas, David Huffman, and Carrie Mae Weems, among others.

Berkeley Art Center contact: Marthe Benoit, Gallery Manager, [email protected], office: (510) 644-6893

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