Presented by Teranga Ranch and Partners: Saturday, October 11, 2025
Amanda Leigh Smith is a LA based artist and naturalist. She grew up in Orlando, FL and moved to LA in 2008 having never visited the West prior.
She moved to Los Angeles to attend grad school at CalArts and was completely blown away with the landscapes she drove through on the two week roadtrip out here. She was hooked on spending more time outdoors to learn about her new home.
Within her first few years she had traveled to Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, and more visiting National Parks like Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and many more public lands. But when the pandemic put a pause to bigger trips she had the opportunity to learn more about the nature of LA and a deep appreciation for the urban wildland interface was born.
As many outdoor enthusiasts do, she eventually moved past just wanting to hike and wanted to know what she was hiking through. So in 2021 Amanda took the UC California Naturalist Course to become a certified California Naturalist.
LA Is Not A Desert was born from this class and was created to make art that helps continue Amanda’s curiosity of the natural world around her and to continue learning from others doing work to promote, conserve, and connect the unique nature of Los Angeles County to its ten million residents.
See more of her work at www.losangelesisnotadesert.com
You’ll enjoy a self-guided driving tour, exploring private catios of all shapes and sizes!
Map and details will be provided before the event. Virtual-only tour tickets are also available.
Teranga Ranch / Teranga Wildlife is a local non-profit dedicated to educating people about native California wildlife. Our mission includes promoting coexistence and keeping backyard pets safe without resorting to harmful methods. We wish to humanely reduce and prevent free roaming cat populations in the Los Angeles area by integrating a range of strategies that are good for both cats and wildlife.
We will continue to work with partnering organizations to expand and bring awareness to these efforts.