The Solana Beach City Hall Gallery currently hosts the work of the Working Women Artisans from the Amazon region of Peru, who create multi-colored baskets with the indigenous chambira palm. This program is one of many offered through Nature & Culture International, NCI, a non-profit dedicated to the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. Their mission is to conserve Latin America's most extraordinary yet highly threatened ecosystems and cultures by saving endangered habitats, strengthening local capacity and helping communities preserve their way of life. To learn more about the NCI programs visit their website at: www.natureandculture.org.

Included in the Gallery exhibition are photographs of the region by award winning photographer, Alexander (Sasha) Vasiljev, who has an important collaborative history with NCI. His images of the Amazon, tropical rain forests, and Peru, home to the Working Women Artisans portray the extraordinary beauty of the region and offer a visual imperative for sustaining these natural treasures.

A reception for the Nature & Culture International exhibition will be held on Wednesday, August 3, 2011, from 5:30-7:30 pm at the City Hall Gallery, located at 635 So Highway 101, in Solana Beach. Everyone is invited to attend and see the striking baskets created by the Working Women's Artisans, enjoy the powerful photographs of Mr. Vasiljev and learn how to preserve cultural diversity.