WiLD CiTY
CONNECT | CREATE | DISCOVER: WiLD CiTY Spring 2025 Workshop Series
WiLD CiTY is an immersive workshop series centered on connecting with the beautiful and sometimes surprising nature that exists throughout Los Angeles and beyond.
During our Spring 2025 series we’ll be guiding participants on unique, informative and thought-provoking excursions where you’ll be invited to connect more deeply with sacred plants, create photographic art through the technique of cyanotyping, and discover native butterflies and how you might protect dwindling local populations.
In keeping with tradition, following each workshop there will be an optional opportunity to further engage with workshop leaders at nearby restaurants, breweries and tasting rooms.
Check out full descriptions for each upcoming workshop below and reserve your spot for the one(s) that you connect with most!
Book Your Adventure Today!
All tickets are on a “pay-what-you-can” scale with a minimum donation of $10, but if you’d like to help us cover our costs, tickets are valued at $50 per workshop.
Workshop I: Connect – Sacred Plant Relationships
Led By: Tina Orduno Calderon, Native Culture Bearer
Date: March 15th | 9-11am
Location: Amphitheater at Woodley Park
Description:
- Join Tina Orduno Calderon as she shares Tongva knowledge and ways to connect with native plant relatives. Participants will even have an opportunity to make their own natural teas with several of the featured plants.
Post workshop hang out: The Stand
Workshop II: Create – Cyanotype Printing
Led By: Steve Meier, Photographer & Naturalist
Date: April 5th | 9-11am
Location: Tapia Park Public Use Area
Description:
- Want to learn one of the oldest photographic printing techniques? Join Los Angeles photographer, Steve Meier, for a special camera-less cyanotype workshop where you’ll be able to capture the great outdoors using a bit of science and creativity.
Post workshop hang out: Tavern 101 Grill & Tap House
Workshop III: Discover – Blue Butterfly Lab
Led By: Jana Johnson, Butterfly Scientist
Date: May 3rd | 9-11am
Location: The Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College
Description:
- Join Jana in her lab as she shares her extensive knowledge and work in butterfly conservation. Learn what’s happening to our local populations and discover ways you can protect and preserve this delicate garden dweller.
Post workshop hang out: Enegren Brewing Company
Purchase Access to the Entire Series
Interested in our entire Spring ’25 Series? Easily purchase access to all three workshops using the button below!
About the Environmental & Creative Professionals Leading WiLD CiTY:
Tina Orduno Calderon
Tina Orduno Calderon is a Culture Bearer of Gabrielino Tongva, Chumash, Yoeme, and Chicana descent. She is wife, mother, grandmother, sister and auntie to many. Tina is a singer, song keeper, traditional dancer and storyteller who also enjoys creative writing and composing poems and songs. To date she has composed over two dozen songs in her ancestral languages of Tongvé and Chumash.
Steve Meier
Steve Meier was introduced to the world of photography at a young age thanks to his father. Whether it be faraway landscapes from his weekend adventures or spooky conceptual projects, Steve enjoys capturing moments that would have otherwise been lost. Some of his favorite places to explore and capture are the Sierra Nevada’s, Death Valley, and Red Rock Canyon.
Jana Johnson
Jana was born and raised in Austin, TX where she spent most of her childhood running around the hill country. She received her PhD from UCLA specializing in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Jana’s scientific lab at the Moorpark Teaching Zoo involves studying and rearing endangered lepidopterans, and each year her team releases captive reared endangered butterflies to the wild. Her research focuses on sharing knowledge of and conserving the Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly.
Marilyn Brody French, RCD's Director of the Education
Marilyn Brody French joined the RCD in 2020 as a Conservation Biologist, and in 2021 decided to further serve the RCD’s mission by taking on the role of Education Programs Supervisor. She began community education program development in 2017 while simultaneously achieving a masters from Cornell University in Conservation and Community Development, bringing real-world perspectives on earth stewardship and sustainability to environmental education programs. Throughout her 10 years of conservation research, her passion has always centered on sharing with local communities the reciprocity we share with nature.
Jelly Kahler, RCD's Community Engagement Manager
Angelica Kahler (pronouns: she, her), better known as Jelly around the office, is the RCD’s Education and Engagement Supervisor. Jelly started with the RCD in October of 2018 as a Watershed Stewards Program (or WSP) Member. She graduated from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA in 2016 with Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology. As the Education and Engagement Supervisor, Jelly leads environmental education field programs as well as classroom science programs, develops education and outreach materials, helps expand upon current education programs and develop new opportunities for environmental education, develops and coordinates community-based science programs, and coordinates RCD outreach through social media, newsletters, blog posts, virtual fundraising campaigns and annual reports.
Past Series
- Tending Urban Greenspaces with Carolyn Day at Growing Hope Gardens
- WiLD & Batty with local bat expert Joey Curti
- Pictures & Places at the iconic Bronson Caves with Filmmaker Pavli Serenetsky
- A Hike Through History at Santa Susana Pass with Conservation Leaders Wendi Gladstone & Teena Tanaka
- Native Plant Landscaping at Theodore Payne Foundation with On-Staff Native Plant Specialist
- Paper Making & Plant Dyeing at Will Rogers State Historic Park with Artists/Naturalists Ashley Meier and Amy Stewart
- Marine Science at Malibu Lagoon with Marine Biologist Jelly Kahler
- Oak Woodland Stewardship in Topanga with Oak Expert Rosi Dagit
- Creative Writing at Griffith Park with Creative Nonfiction Writer Dr. Liz Stephens
- Native Bird Walk at Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve with Local Bird Expert Dr. Dan Cooper
- Invasive Crayfish Removal in Topanga Creek with RCD Stream Team
- Watercolor in Nature at Debs Park with artist & botanist Margaret Gallagher
- Secret Wonders of Nicholas Flat with local restorationist John Luker
- A Walk on the WiLD Side (of the LA River) with local bird expert Dr. Dan Cooper
- Canyon Songs – A Practice in Reciprocity with artist Stacy Villalobos
- Beyond Landscaping – Reconnecting with Native Plants with plant enthusiast Antonio Sanchez
