Calistoga is nestled in the most northern corner of Napa Valley. In the fall of 2024, we experienced earlier and much heavier rainfall than we had in many years. On one of our dog walks, my daughters excitedly pointed to the Napa River, and wondered what all the fish were.
Where we live, the Napa River is little more than a slight stream, and even with the rains there wasn’t that much water in the river, but there were dozens of Chinook Salmon, working their way as far as they could make it to spawn.
We stood and watched in amazement as fish weighing 20lbs and more worked their way through stretches of the river where the water barely covered ½ their height. They would then rest in the deeper pools, before they continued their journey.
They seemed to take a liking to the spot in the river near our house, and for the next few weeks we could watch them during the day, and then hear them at night.
I think it was the combination of seeing so much life and vibrancy in the river, and sharing it with the kids, that sparked my desire to restart a combination art project and environmental from many years ago.
It was a little over 20 years ago, and working with more people than I could ever list or thank, I helped with a fundraiser for the Friends of the Napa River and The Calistoga Art Center. I designed and crafted over 30 fish “wind sculptures”, and then artists from Napa and beyond used their creativity and talents to craft their own versions of the sculptures. The fish were displayed throughout Napa Valley to help raise awareness for the environmental needs of the Napa River and the associated Napa River Flood Control project. After this educational and awareness campaign, the fish were auctioned off and the entire proceeds were donated to the FONR and Calistoga Art Center.
This new iteration of the “flying fish” will be a longer running project with hopefully many different waterways and fisheries benefiting from the combination of raising awareness and funds to help support habitat restoration and on-going maintenance and protection.
To start, the initial programs and fish sculpture collections are a direct fundraiser for the FONR. 20% of all proceeds for a specially selected school of 20 fish sculptures will be donated to the FONR for their on-going conservation and educational programs.
Speaking of starting, that's what we're doing, just getting started. You'll see some missing pictures, and references to products that are perhaps not quite ready yet, so we appreciate your patience. As importantly, we apprecaite your ideas and feedback, so please contact us.
From there, we hope to work with other groups and their associated environmental causes. This will take the art work and related messaging into different habitats and associated fish species. Please contact us if you have any questions, or ideas about worthwhile organizations and projects we can support. We hope you join this journey and we truly appreciate all the support!
Cheers!
Paul D’Antilio