By Wendy Frances 

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.” – Charles Schaefer

The art of play is a concept and philosophy embraced by many artists and creatives as they navigate their identities. Picasso, Matisse, and Van Gogh are among the great figures in history who share this sentiment, noting in their lifetimes that the act of play is an inherent necessity to their work. For some, it was crucial to unlearn the boundaries imposed by both their formal education and societal expectations, allowing them to rediscover their innate sense of play. This process was essential in reaching the height of their artistic mastery.

Rosebud Wild (They/Them) and Chris Mountain (He/Him) have been exploring concepts of play and collaboration for many years together through building their world, The Wilderwilds. Wild jests about how they are influenced by “tricking people into playing”, sharing their thoughts about the concepts of play as a fundamental human necessity. “What we’re doing here is so important, we have to check ourselves and not take ourselves too seriously. It’s about having fun.”‘Playing’ is a generative process in The WilderWilds. As the creator and the observer, access to  an unfiltered exploration of imagination where ideas can take shape is crucial. Not through pressure or expectation, but by dissolving boundaries and undoing the pre-conceived notions of what should, and shouldn’t, be. 

Santa Cruz, rich with nature from the redwoods to the sea, has had a long history of creatives finding themselves immersed in deep pockets of wilderness. They would embrace nature, music, community, and art into the early hours of the morning. Rosebud and Chris are long-time friends who met in their teen years through their mutual interest in playing in the woods. These formative experiences planted the seeds of The Wilderwilds, which has since grown into an expansive and ever-evolving immersive world of artworks, varying in types and mediums. Nearly 20 years later, the re-discovery of a long-lost sketchbook inspired them to reimagine their drawings in new forms and mediums, fully realizing their creative visions from another time and place.

Through their community participation, artistic expression, and exuberant drive to create for the sake of creation, Wild and Mountain were invited to showcase their work in what was the first of many artist-in-residency experiences at Idea Fab Labs in 2015. Idea Fab Labs is a member-driven workspace, a facility that offers multiple spaces  equipped with both standard and high-tech tools. These  include  laser cutters, 3D printers, and CNC routers. It also features a gallery, as well as areas for group activities, fostering a unique community of makers, designers, artists, and engineers. The first location opened in Chico in 2013, followed by a sister location in Santa Cruz’s Old Wrigley Building in 2015.

During their residency, Wild and Mountain participated in an incubator program at the Santa Cruz Fab Lab, where they received lessons and workshops to help develop their project from concept to creation. This program provided them with the necessary space, tools, and mentorship. Their efforts culminated in a showcase at the Chico Fab Lab, where they successfully debuted The Wilderwilds to the public.

Following their debut, Wild and Mountain explored separate paths, focusing on further education, careers, and relationships. This placed their shared creative aspirations on hold. Despite this, they continued to grow individually, each nurturing their creativity. As time passed, their paths converged again, reigniting their shared passion for The Wilderwilds. This reunion led to the Rose and Buds gallery installation and anniversary event in 2023, celebrating their 2015 debut and the community that supported them.

They worked tirelessly out of the Santa Cruz Fab Lab in order to bring their body of work to the Chico location. Mountain, no longer a Santa Cruz resident, made frequent trips from Oregon to Santa Cruz in order to help design and assemble the Rose and Buds gallery pieces. “This project came at the perfect time out of hardship,” said Mountain, reflecting back on the time spent outside of the project. “The world feels like it’s grown a lot. Applying the new skills I gained through my education in design has amplified the reaction from our greater communities. Their reactions help a lot with motivation to keep going.”

The success and momentum from Rose and Buds led to a new residency at the Santa Cruz Fab Lab in 2023, where they embarked on a multi-month incubator program to further expand The Wilderwilds experience. This residency evolved into a three-month series, with each month featuring a First Friday open house in June, July, and August of 2024. The lab’s walls were adorned with skateboards, large handmade fuzzy creatures, framed digital prints, and an active gift shop offering dolls, prints, stickers, hats, and more.

To culminate their residency, they held a fantastical celebration event, amassing hundreds of local and non-local attendees to come experience The Wilderwilds. The event featured local bands and DJ’s, a Goonies-inspired map of the venue with riddles to unravel, sock wrestling, carnival styled games, and bean-trading for prizes. Following the resurgence of The Wilderwilds in Santa Cruz, they ran it all back to Chico’s Fab Lab for another immersive installation with their newly expanded library of work and games.

This string of back-to-back events in 2024 left Wild and Mountain artistically fulfilled, but also needing to recharge. They each stepped back once more to focus on their mental health, jobs, and personal lives for a few months while still developing the future of The Wilderwilds behind the scenes. During this break, Wild was working at a print shop in downtown Santa Cruz, where they crossed paths with their friend Rachel Corvese, an accomplished artist and curator of the Vision Sanctuary, and a maker that Wild had been working alongside in other projects. A conversation about the potential for a residency at the sanctuary soon began, exploring how The Wilderwilds could take on a new, semi-permanent form.

These discussions led to the establishment of The Wilderwilds Gift Shop installation at the Vision Sanctuary in December of 2024. This space features an expansive collection to browse, including hats, stickers, prints, framed pieces, postcards, coffee mugs, and more. You’ll also come across a miniature version of the gift shop within the gift shop, coined the “Mini Mini Gift Shop”, a smaller space with little tins, trinkets, and treasures. “We have lots of plans for the future of The Wilderwilds,” Mountain alluded, “We have a website in development, an online shop, and plans to get into more well-known, fine art, low brow and pop-surrealism galleries on the West Coast.”

For those eager to explore, play within, and experience The Wilderwilds Gift Shop and Mini Mini Gift Shop, the Vision Sanctuary welcomes visitors every week from Wednesday to Friday, 2pm to 6pm. Address: 313 Cedar St A, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Chris Mountain is an illustrator and graphic designer, working in a variety of mediums, including wood-working, embroidery, screen-printing, and digital illustration. His contributions to collaborative world building stem from his developed understanding of technology based tools. Follow Chris on Instagram: @chris_mountain_creative

Rosebud Wild, is a multidisciplinary artist, specializing in installation art and creature making, often implementing recycled and upcycled materials in their designs. Follow Rosebud on Instagram: @rosebud_wild

Follow the Wilderwilds on Instagram: @the_wilderwilds

Follow the Vision Sanctuary on Instagram: @thevisionsanctuary & on the Web: https://www.thevisionsanctuary.com

Follow Rachel Corvese on Instagram: @rachelcorvese.art

Follow Idea Fab Labs on Instagram: @ideafablabs

Hidden tip: You can still see a giant furry pink whale, ceiling mounted between Idea Fab Labs and Trellus at the Old Wriggly Building on the west side!