Glenn Berry: A Lifetime In Art

Through January 16

A founding father of Humboldt State University’s Art department and a nationally recognized painter, Glenn Berry is the creator of a distinctive and prevailing geometric style of painting in which faceless figures shift and explore the landscape, symbolizing the process rather than the end result. This exhibition will highlight Berry’s career achievements and illustrates his unique style. A full color book is available for purchase in the Museum Gift Shop.

The Iconic Image, Fine Art Photography from the Humboldt Group Collection

January 19 through March 6

The Iconic Image will feature fine art photography from the Humboldt Group Collection by several different photographers including: Berenice Abbott, Ansel Adams, Ruth Bernhard, Wynn Bullock, Imogen Cunningham, Judy Dater, Walker Evans, Lewis W. Hine, William Henry Jackson, Dorthea Lange, Marc Riboud, Herb Ritts, Arthur Rothstein, Edward Steichen, Brett Weston, Edward Weston and Minor White.

Len Davis, A Thousand Words

January 19 through March 6

Len Davis is an assemblage/installation, collage and works-on-paper artist who uses an array of found materials and objects to complete his drawings, collages and assemblages. Davis’ background stems from graphic design. Most of his work consists of materials that include text and numbers in them to invoke thought and mood in these visual stories.

A Thousand Words is a series comprised of 100 8" X 5" collages incorporated with drawings of peoples' faces. Like the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words." This allows the viewer to make their own interpretation of each piece. Abstract in concept, illustrative in execution. Len Davis is a member of the Los Angeles Art Association and has exhibited in galleries in Los Angeles, Houston and New York. He has visited schools teaching students about collage and art in general, he has had his work included in television shows and in several private collections, both domestic and international. “I work with assemblage, collage, mixed-media and works on paper. I use lots of found objects, drawings, print outs, text usage, graphite, color pencil, gouache, acrylic, pastel, etc.” Davis says “My pieces deal with life itself, i.e., the people we are, what we create, our capabilities and the issues with which we deal. My premise is to lure the viewer in. Once they’re in, they will be placed in a position to reflect on and question their ethics, be it disquieting or placid.”

Masks From Around the World-Youth Gallery

January 15 through March 15

View a selection of masks from the Humboldt Arts Council Permanent Collection paired with masks from the private collections of Lucy Quinby and Donvieve.

25^th Annual Images of Water-California Statewide Photography Competition and Exhibition

February 3 through March 13

Celebrating 25 years of creative visions of water, this annual photography competition highlights the inspiring beauty of water. From photos of lakes, streams, ice-cube trays and snow, Images of Water is a fun, theme-based show to take part in or to just take a look at. Open to all Californians, this is an exciting opportunity for the residents of California to become involved in the arts on the North Coast.

Sponsored by the City of Eureka

Anthony Johnson: Timeworn

February 5 through June 30

“I have always been fascinated by old rusty things, i.e.cars, tractors, disc plows etc, and how they interact with the surrounding landscape.The context and state in which these objects lie are commonplace. However, when I use rusted old tools and found objects in my sculpture, they become dynamic and alive. Familiar objects used in everyday life are transformed. I seek to simplify forms in my sculpture while creating a balance in space. Not only am I concerned about the space it occupies, but especially the unoccupied space. Achieving this balance gives my sculpture energy. The use of steel is paramount for my working method. Not only do I admire steel for its permanence, but it also allows me to work on several sculptures at a time. The structural characteristics of steel are used to physically connect and “float”sculptural elements. The adding and subtracting of various components with a touch of a torch or welder is very satisfying. Completing a sculpture is not of utmost importance. The “struggle” or “process” is the most important part of creating my art. It is an adventure that has its own rewards. Welding, cutting, bending and grinding are a form of meditation that transports me to a different place.”

-Anthony Johnson

Redwood Art Association

March 17 through April 24

Annual juried spring exhibition from Humboldt County’s oldest artist’s association. With over 210 artists, members, and supporters, the Redwood Art Association is a community of artists who value art as an essential component of every aspect of our culture.

Schoolhouse Odyssey: Exploring Remote Location Ghost Schools and Voices from the Past- A Literal and Metaphorical Journey-Photographs by Diana Schoenfeld

March 23 through May 8-Thonson Gallery

March 23 through May 1-Youth Gallery

Photographer and arts educator Diana Schoenfeld will present an exhibition of black and white photographs from “Schoolhouse Odyssey,” her extended photographic study of remote location “ghost” schools and the oral histories and stories she has gathered along the way. Through photography, literature, and colorful spoken memoirs describing bygone one-room schooldays, and a display of vintage textbooks dating from the 1840s, Schoenfeld will share the discoveries that make “Schoolhouse Odyssey” a metaphorical as well as physical journey. Visitors to the exhibition will see photographs of old one-room schoolhouses as they appear in unique landscapes from Vermont to California. Some are nearly forgotten, in a state of ghostly decay, others preserved as tiny museums occasionally open to the public. The photographs show old reading scrolls, bulging cardboard blackboards, fragile, dusty schoolbooks, lunch boxes, slate boards and other schoolhouse memorabilia scanning the century from 1840 to 1940. Abandoned   playgrounds, hand pumps, melancholy flagpoles and outbuildings are sometimes all that’s left to remind us that these humble structures were once places full of life and imagination. Generations of students and teachers nourished the life of the mind in these simple schoolhouses, the remains of which still grace the American landscape. Visitors to the exhibit will be able to sit down and browse through transcribed oral memoirs compiled during the years that Diana has been working on this project. Included will be portraits of elderly former students, teachers, and protectors of these now mostly forgotten schools.

Click here to download Exhibition Announcement

Sponsored partially by Gale King Insurance, Arcata, CA • Art and Old Things, Fortuna, CA • Dan Harbour Insurance, Eureka, CA • A & I Roofing • Alberto Taylor, D.D.S., Arcata, CA • Sequoia Gas Co., Fortuna, CA • Etter’s Victorian Glass, Ferndale, CA • Jackson & Eklund , McKinleyville, CA • The Ingrid Nickelsen Trust

Mia Semingson: 39+ What Comes Around, Goes Around

May 4 through June 19

Prior to Semingson’s 39^th Birthday, she had confronted herself many times with the concept of living in the present moment instead of looking to the past or the future as the present moment ticked by. She has since decided to change her thought process, to slow time down with the aid of a digital camera, and become sensitive to the present moment by literally seeing and photographing what is in front of her each day. As part of this project, each day’s image references the previous day’s either visually or conceptually.

Cathy Locke & Tracy Grubbs, Motion & Meaning

May 4 through June 19

Today women in the U.S. have a greater capacity to control the direction of their lives than ever before. We must navigate a shifting set of unprecedented choices regarding childbirth, careers, marriage, family, and identity. Many of us are opting away from the traditional roles as mothers and searching for a new meaning with our lives and our new found liberation. The work of artists Tracy Taylor Grubbs and Cathy Locke explore the idea of liberation from two slightly different perspectives, both grounded in the basic teachings of Buddhism. The ancient philosophy charts a path to liberation based on the clear-eyes acceptance of impermanence and change.

10^th Annual Northwest Eye Regional Photography Competition & Exhibition

May 19 through June 12

The Northwest Eye is a five-state regional fine art photography competition and exhibition highlighting the current trends in the art of photography. This exhibition showcases the creativity and beauty caught by some of the finest photographers in the Northwest.

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Sponsored by the Pierson Building Center

Youth Gallery-Jacoby Creek School

May 7 through May 29

California Fiber Artists, Fiber Enriched

June 22 through August 21

California Fiber Artists (CFA) is a group of independent fiber artists who have joined their collective works together forming exhibitions of exciting and diverse fiber art.. California Fiber Artists describe their work as fusion art using fiber as well as other mediums to develop texture, shape, design and color. The members are a unique combination of artists with skills ranging from sculpture, basketry, mixed media, art quilts and other fiber related mediums. The artists reconstruct fiber with dye, paint, and wire to name a few, to develop their images. Collage and other three-dimensional work have been created to inject their exhibits with some sculptural elements as well as to showcase their versatility. CFA has exhibited in many different venues such as: the Huntsville Museum of Art, in Huntsville, Alabama, and at a gallery in Finland. CFA was established in 2004 and is a partnership of diverse independent fiber artists working together by consolidating their talents for the purpose of successfully educating the public and promoting fiber art through public exhibitions throughout California.

 Sponsored by Philip & Sally Arnot

James B. Thompson, The Vanishing Landscape

June 29 through August 14

The Vanishing Landscape is a series of 38 abstract pieces; 14 acrylic paintings on canvas and 24 mixed-media prints on paper dealing directly with the transformation of the rural west. James B.Thompson is a practicing artist who has shown extensively in the region as well as throughout the United States and abroad. Thompson is a professor of Art at Willamette University where he has taught for the past 22 years.

Mary Farmilant, In Situ

June 29 through August 28

In Situ refers to found artifacts that remain in their original place of deposition. The examination of objects and the spaces they occupy is a predominant theme in Farmilant’s work. These are studied in order to reconstruct a picture of life in the past. Farmilant seeks out small incidental, unremarkable elements to photograph. The images explore the moment of perception that relates to memory, narrative and time. They record the impressions made on the physical space-a portrait of society, a moment in time that is at once abstract, impressionistic and surreal. Mary Farmilant’s images address the fragile nature of living institutions by examining abandoned hospital spaces. Farmilant’s background as a registered nurse is the catalyst for this interest. The hospital images explore the idea that the human presence remains a part of the history and narrative of these now uninhabited places. The images are an historic record of a moment, a place, that no longer exists. This project began with photographing the former Columbus Hospital in Chicago where Farmilant once worked. It has expanded to now include two closed hospitals in the Southeastern region of England. This project weaves photographically based artworks with the sensorial cues associated with emotional branding, that is the practice of enticing the senses to evoke a strong emotional receptiveness in the viewer. Farmilant’s goal is to expand the boundaries of photography and emotionally engage the in-between space, the space between the viewer and the artwork. This is accomplished by stimulating senses other than the visual senses, the purview of typical art exhibits. The sounds of a live hospital are played in the gallery space. Accompanying the exhibit are glass vials of antiseptic smells associated with a hospital. The viewers are invited to open and smell the contents of the vials.

Youth Gallery-MGMA Museum Art School

Taught by HAC Art Educator Janice Sharman-Hand, the Museum Art School classes focus on actively involving youth with the exhibitions at the Morris Graves Museum of Art through hands-on art instruction. Featured in the exhibition are the projects created by the students from the 2010-2011 sessions. Janice has been teaching visual arts with an emphasis on drawing to youth at the MGMA for the past seven years.

June 4 through July 31

 Sarah Whorf,  New Work

August 25 through October 9

As a printmaker, Whorf works primarily with the medium of woodcuts, and is currently working on a series which address her conceptual interest in connectedness and attraction. Depicting abstracted objects which are linked together to form mixtures that reference chandeliers, candelabras and fishing gear, she employs depictions of common objects to function symbolically, moving beyond their obvious function and serving as metaphor in a personal narrative.

Rachel Schlueter, A World of Paint

September 3 through October 22

Schlueter’s paintings manifest from a desire to experience spontaneous creativity. This desire is a fascination with melding abstract gesture with representational form. Intuition and imagination has been key in her personal and professional life, it’s a sense that has been present from her earliest memories, and most significantly represented in her paintings. The exhibition will feature new portraits in oil of varying sizes.

Sponsored in part by the Ingrid Nickelsen Trust and Joel & Lora Canzoneri

Collectors Auction

September 3 through September 25

This exhibition and auction will feature works of art from local private collections available for bidding through September 17^th.   

Youth Gallery-Author Festival Illustrators Exhibition

September 3 through October 30

As part of the Children’s Author Festival, select works from winning illustrators will be on exhibit to demonstrate the processes of illustration in children’s literature.

15^th Annual Junque Arte Competition & Exhibition

October 1 through November 27

Designed to celebrate artistic creativity on the North Coast, and heighten the awareness of renewable resources in the art making process, each artwork in this juried exhibition is made from 100% recycled materials…reclaimed, reused, recovered, secondhand, salvaged, anything un-new!

Richard Duning, Back to the Bud

October 19 through December 11

Tom Knight was Duning’s first art teacher. He taught him about seeing the ordinary, the abstract and the symbolic in black and white photography. Because of Knight’s way of seeing photographs as the intimate view—Duning feels the gallery under the dome is the perfect way to honor Knight’s work and teaching. When a student got stuck, Tom used to say, “Go back to the bud.” And so, following his advice, Duning often returns to the small, black and white, simple images that remind him of the time of first discovery and delight in symbolic mystery.

Sponsored by Betty Osborne

Rick Gustafson, Impressions of Imagination, The Art of Landscape Blur

October 31 through December 10

From Gustafson’s portfolio “A Walk in the Forest”, these photographs are of trees captured digitally using impressionist in-camera photographic techniques. The exhibition is intended for all audiences with the theme of creating painterly art from our local natural surroundings using photographic techniques.

Sponsored by Robert Fasic & Roy Grieshaber