Summer Hummerz
Experience the Magic!
This summer, we’re celebrating one of California’s most dazzling little visitors. From June 2 through August 31, the Gardens bursts into a colorful hummingbird-inspired experience with the debut of Summer Hummerz — an immersive exhibit where nature meets imagination.
Come wander our scenic walkways, where the fragrance of our wildflowers rides on the salty Pacific breezes. Find yourself enchanted by the tiny pollinators that bring our landscape to life. Designed for visitors of all ages, Summer Hummerz combines learning, creativity and plenty of whimsical photo-worthy moments along the way.
Open All Summer!
June 2 - August 31
Garden Admission: $15 (includes exhibit). Admission is free for VBG members and children 18 and under when accompanied by an adult.
What You'll Discover
As you explore the gardens keep an eye out for these fun features:
- Giant Hummingbird-Head Scopes
Step up and take a closer look. These oversized viewing scopes with internal video displays reveal fascinating facts about hummingbirds and how they live, feed and fly.
- A Whimsical Flock of Suspended Hummingbird Sculptures
Look up! A colorful installation creates a playful canopy of humming birds overhead.
- A Walk-in "Nest"
Walk into an oversize hummingbird "nest" constructed of fiber and stained glass.
- Painted Perchers Art Collection
Twelve invitation-only artists have each designed a one-of-a-kind hummingbird-inspired garden art. These signed works will be displayed throughout the gardens and later auctioned as part of a special limited-edition collection to support the Gardens' mission.
- Kids Treasure Hunt
Young explorers follow clues throughout the gardens in a hummingbird-themed educational treasure hunt designed just for kids.
- Fun Facts & Garden Learning
Discover how hummingbirds feed, migrate and thrive in California and learn which plants support them.
Will I See a Real Hummingbird?
It's very likely! Southern California is prime hummingbird habitat, and the Ventura Botanical Gardens are filled with nectar-rich plants these tiny birds love. Anna’s hummingbirds live in the area year-round and other species like Allen’s hummingbirds are especially active along the California coast during summer.
If you spend a little time strolling the garden paths — especially near flowering plants — there’s a good chance you’ll spot one darting between blooms or hovering for a quick sip of nectar. No luck spotting one? Try listening for the sound of them zooming around!
Photos by:
- Pamela Fisher
- Kristine Behrens
- Andrew Waud
- Chris Nova
- Michelle Infante
- Samantha Mellinger-Hutchison
Painted Perchers Artists
All Painted Percher pieces are available for purchase at a future date.
Karen Kitchel
Karen is a painter living in Ventura. Her work focuses on overlooked aspects of nature, and is in the permanent collections of multiple museums, including the Palm Springs Art Museum, the Tucson Museum of Art, and the Denver Art Museum. She is currently serving as the Chair of the Arts and Culture Commission for the city of Ventura.
Andrea Vargas
Andrea merges aspects of abstract impressionism with a contemporary purpose. Signature work includes life-size paintings with dynamic compositions and bold mark-making. Vargas is included in the permanent collection of the Ventura County Museum and represented by King Galleries.
Paulo Ruvalcaba
Paulo is a California-born concept designer and illustrator whose work spans the film, video game, and toy industries. Trained at Italy's Florence Academy of Art and California’s CalArts, his fine art practice blends colorful figures with abstract compositions, informed by years of study and teaching across Los Angeles.
Barbara Brown
Barbara, a member of the California Art Club, has shifted her focus from figurative paintings to outdoor landscapes capturing the grandeur and drama of the natural world. She recently exhibited a collection of Yosemite paintings in a special exhibition celebrating the legacy of William Keith, the artist who famously trekked with John Muir and introduced the beauty of Yosemite to the world.
Gabriel Islas
Gabriel exhibits atmospheric landscapes in oil, capturing some of America's most dramatic vistas, including the Eastern Sierras, Grand Tetons and Denali in Alaska. In 2025, he was awarded the Gold Medal at the California Art Club's 114th Gold Medal Exhibition and painted his largest painting to date, measuring 2.5 feet by 10 feet. Gabriel teaches oil painting at the Santa Paula Art Museum. His studio is Pacific & Main Creative Workspace in Ventura, CA.
Kelly Myers
Kelly is a designer and illustrator at Searle Creative Group whose work draws on the clean lines and optimistic spirit of mid-century modern design, layered with subtle undertones of dark forest inspiration. Through complementary shapes, tasteful patterns, and delightfully coordinated palettes, she creates polished work that reinterprets retro influences through a contemporary lens.
Pamela Grau
Pamela is a mixed-media painter based in Ojai, California. Her work blends painting and collage to create richly layered compositions inspired by travel, nature, and personal transformation. Grau creates images that function like visual postcards from her life and journeys. Through the interplay of texture, color, and layered imagery, her work captures fleeting moments of wonder found in both place and experience.
Catherine Day Barroca
Catherine is a painter/printmaker and instructor at Ventura College. She is also Executive Director of the Art/Life Foundation. Her paintings are greatly influenced by the discipline of printmaking. Her complex art-making process reflects the layered narrative of her work as with her woodblock carving that evolved into a unique bas-relief painting technique. Most recently, Catherine has included encaustic painting to her mixed media approach.
Lisa Skyheart Marshall
Lisa is an award-winning artist living and working in Ojai. She is known for her botanical themed, highly detailed paintings. These include birds and insects and other fun elements, and have an overall feeling of magical realism. Lisa is a member of the Ojai Studio Artists and opens her studio twice yearly to visitors and by appointment.
Aimee Allred
Aimee is a designer and creative director at Searle Creative Group whose designs are inspired by the effortless harmony of nature, the vibrance of pop and modern art, and a love of the whimsically unexpected. Her compositions pair vibrant colors with refined structure, creating commercial work that balances artistic expression with thoughtful visual order.
Susan Cook
Susan's paintings are inspired by nature and experimentation with elements of figuration, color and shape. Using vibrant hues, redefining elements and obscuring details, her paintings suggest movement, energy and harmony within the composition. Susan served on local art organization boards, including Public Art Commission. She received the 2011 Ventura Mayor's Arts Award as Artist in the Community. Her paintings are in public and private collections throughout the United States.
Sherry Loehr
Sherry's paintings have been presented in solo exhibitions at local museums and featured in art publications, reflecting and ongoing commitment to wildlife as both subject and inspiration. By painting birds, she invites viewers to slow down, look closely, and connect with the world that surrounds us.
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