Bill Owens, We're really happy. Our kids are healthy, we eat good food and we have a really nice home (from the series "Suburbia"), c 1970. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the John Berggruen Gallery

Why are mountain lions roaming the backyards of Cupertino? Can Tiburon keep out Habitat for Humanity? Is California going to run out of water?

In The Edge: Where California Culture, Critters, and Environment Collide, the Oakland Museum of California takes a timely look at the competition among the state’s occupants—human, animal, and developers—for California’s legendary good life. The exhibition opens June 2 and continues through October 14, 2007.

Through an inspired mix of artwork, natural specimens, and historical artifacts, The Edge tells the provocative history of California’s use of its natural resources. Produced by the museum’s art, history, and natural sciences departments, the three-part installation explores the changing boundaries between Californians and the natural environment:

"Grizzlies Ate Salmon at the Oakland Museum of California” reveals the topological roots of the land now occupied by the museum. In the 1700s salmon swam and bear dined in the San Antonio Creek, the estuary adjacent to the museum and Laney College. The spawning streams have become storm drains, and the estuary’s level is now controlled by a tide-gate pump station at 10th Street.

Robert Dawson, Private Property, Lake Tahoe, California (Farewell, Promised Land project),1988. Oakland Museum of California, gift of Steven and Sandra Wolfe.

"Just Add Water"explores the state’s steep increase in water use and the history of its water distribution systems. The need and search for water have changed the face of California, from the early settlements near the Los Angeles River to the damming of Hetch Hetchy in 1923 to provide water for San Francisco.

"Which Side of the Fence Are You On?" presents opposing views on suburbia—idealized human habitat or source of irreversible environmental damage? Bill Owens’s and Bob Walker’s indelible photographs of American suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s capture both sides of the story.

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