Janet Sands is a California native with a degree in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a lifelong student of history, art, and the natural world, and a collector of American regional art. Her skills as a writer, photographer and watercolorist have been applied in recording her travel experiences in illustrated journals and in her book, On A Mission: The Real Story of the California Missions, just released in its 2nd edition. She has called many places home, including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Maastricht, Paris, New York, Connecticut, Santa Barbara, and Flagstaff—near the Grand Canyon, her favorite natural wonder.
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A long-time board member of both the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University (founded by "Lucy" discoverer Dr. Donald Johanson), she led efforts to organize two international symposia on human origins in Santa Barbara. As a parent, scout leader, businesswoman and philanthropist, Ms. Sands has spent many years working to improve science and nature education for children and to support scientific and history outreach for the public.
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While serving as president of the Santa Barbara Corral of Westerners International, she created a popular series of lectures on lesser-known aspects of California history. Her own program “Visions of the West” explored the connection of Western American art to discovery, science, and the preservation of native cultures and landscapes. Her program about the context and legacy of the California Missions gave rise to her first book. She is currently working on a new book, Collision of Cultures: A Southwest History for Travelers, about the history and prehistory of the Southwest.
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Currently serving as Sheriff of the Flagstaff Corral of Westerners, she is excited to have the opportunity to help bring people together to share amazing stories of the West.
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Janet and her husband Ed, an architect, history buff and ship model builder, split their time between Arizona and Quogue, New York to be near their children and grandchildren.
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