Counterclockwise: California Assemblyman Jim Wood; Leslie Castellano, Ink People Center for the Arts; Jacqueline Dandeneau, Arcata Playhouse; Calder Johnson, NCRT; Peggy the pony with peg legs, dust spikes
It’s been a grueling couple of years for arts-focused organizations in Humboldt, which have had to try to find ways to survive the times of COVID despite, in some cases, a near-total loss of audiences and patrons. It turns out that pandemics are not so cheerful. Still, many cultural institutions were able to stay afloat and intact thanks to the Return Protection Program (PPP) and various grants while simultaneously trying to adapt and add some sparkle to the grim new world around them. But even now, with people more comfortable coming together, local creative types are still trying to figure out how best to pursue their shared mission of creating a vibrant and colorful Humboldt.
With that laudable goal in mind, last week a group of local stakeholders invited Assemblyman Jim Wood to tour a handful of Humboldt’s creative spaces and faces to get a better idea of the state of the assets cultural community in the hope that it could inspire ways of The state could help them in the future.
The Outpost tagged along and took some photos of the art caravan.
Above: Wood tours North Coast Repertory Theater in Eureka.
The journey began in Eureka. Sitting in the back of the North Coast Repertory Theatre’s intimate performance space, Calder Johnson, NCRT’s managing artistic director, characterized his pandemic experience as a time of constant adjustment as he and his team tried to cope to the loss of so many shows.
“We’ve really lined up,” Johnson said. “We’ve pretty much been closed for the last two years with only a few exceptions.”
To keep the theater in play while there were no plays, Johnson offered his space as a film studio to other local creators. But even if he could find ways to stay busy, he estimated that NCRT has incurred a 40 percent price hike in operating expenses. The road ahead for theaters like his looks rocky.
“Government support is really necessary because the fight is at the state level. I am in contact with many different theaters. The San Diego Repertory Theater closed indefinitely last month and laid off 23 people. They just said, we can’t do it anymore. So it’s going to be a long fight for us.”
Above and below: The group traveled down Charlie Moon Way to the site of Eureka’s historic Chinatown, where Brieanne Mirjah told Wood about the inspiration for the “Fowl” mural painted during the festival street art Eureka 2021.
Above: Marie Atkins greets Wood at the door of the Wiyot Tribe’s new cultural center
Others have used the pandemic as an incubation time. In December 2020, the Wiyot tribe finalized an agreement that would allow them to develop a cultural center in the heart of Old Town, in the Second Street space that used to be home to Restoration Hardware. After a year and a half of putting the pieces together, Marnie Atkins, the center’s manager, says the tribe is “about to” open their labor of love to the public, but acknowledged the setbacks to the member visiting assembly
Wood greets Wiyot President Ted Hernandez
“I don’t know if you know this, but the middle of a pandemic is the best time to be building,” Atkins joked to Wood before sharing a bit of the vision behind the tribe’s project.
“So this is the Da Gou Rou Louwi Cultural Center,” Atkins said. “This name in our language means ‘The continuous return of all’. And when we were brainstorming for this space we asked, what does this mean for us? And it’s about recovering and revitalizing our ways of traditional life, our ceremonial practices, our language, the health and well-being of our tribal community. These are our ancestral lands. So we hope this will be a place for people to come and learn about our culture.”
When operational, the center will provide information on Wiyot life as well as display numerous Wiyot cultural items. One of the highlights will be a stick sculpture by Wiyot artist Rick Bartow, the subject of the film The Bartow Project that premiered at the center earlier this year.
Above: A Wiyot cultural basket, or gi’y;
Below: Atkins, Wood and Hernandez in front of Bartow’s sculpture. Wood has a “I like Jaroujiji” sticker. (Jaroujiji is the traditional Wiyot name for Eureka.)
“I like Jaroujiji” stickers will be available in the center. (Please forgive how wrinkled this one is. It spent the day in the Advance pocket.)
Above: Leslie Castellano, Eureka City Councilwoman and Executive Director of the Ink People Center for the Arts, discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on local arts organizations;
Next: Wood meets Julia Finkelstein, founder of The Epitome Galley in Old Town, which still managed to stay open during the pandemic.
Above: The tour moves to the Old Town Ink Lab, which generally specializes in print art projects, but is currently used by artists participating in the annual Monster Project;
Below: Kristi Patterson, Lab Director
Above: Wood was quite taken with some model cars in the Carl’s Car World window
Above: The tour took a somber tone as it moved into the recently vandalized Jardin Santuario de Arcata;
Below: Wood met with members of Centro del Pueblo, including Executive Director Brenda Perez, who shared how her group was formed out of a need for her people to share information about how to stay safe during a period of increasing danger for immigrant and indigenous communities. .
Above: Jardin Santuario acts as a sanctuary space and urban community garden for immigrant communities;
Below: The project is by master gardener Adan Cervantes Perez, who was featured on the cover of this year’s Cooperation Humboldt Food Guide.
Above: In the Arcata Playhouse marquee!
Wood’s packed tour ended in Arcata’s Creamery neighborhood, a lifeblood of the seemingly ever-expanding community. Similar to NCRT’s struggle, the Arcata Playhouse was forced to endure the loss of live performances and struggled to figure out how to continue providing joy to its community.
“We went from $160,000 in revenue to $9,000,” said Playhouse Executive Director Jacqueline Dandeneau. “It was a massive loss.”
But as the thinking goes, limitations breed innovation. During the pandemic, Playhouse Arts fostered and launched the online community radio station Humboldt Hot Air and acquired its “Wonder Wagon,” a towable trailer that was transported across the county to help facilitate arts projects for to children in local schools. Dandeneau sought to highlight the interconnectedness of Humboldt’s arts community by displaying the 80′ by 40′ red and blue circus tent that the Playhouse was able to acquire through grants that are made available to other area organizations that could be inspired to find the need to use its cover.
“The cooperation that occurred during the pandemic between [local arts] organizations is really exciting,” Dandeneau said, before urging the assemblyman to consider how the state could increase funding for arts programs.
Having packed in a lot over the previous two hours, Wood, for his part, said he was impressed by the day’s presentation. “I have to say, I’m amazed at the talent in this community,” he said. “When you travel, you see bits and pieces of it, but having these people accompany you and explain the different interactions of the art community has been very valuable.”
Wood ended by telling his tour guides that he was open to suggestions about how his office could support local arts projects in the future. “The arts enrich people’s lives. Just think how dull our world would be without the arts. So to see the richness of it here in this region is really great. I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
After wishing everyone well, Wood hurried off to his next appointment. After completing her day’s mammoth task, Leslie Castellano, who had meticulously scheduled the day’s stops down to the minute, told the Outpost she was pleased with the effort and explained a little about why she worked because the day came true.
“I think the more leaders at all levels of government understand the relationship between arts and culture and community well-being, the better off we all are. There is real power in cultivating spaces where people can express their sense of the world and if we, as a local community and as a state, continue to focus that in our work, it will have significant and transformative impacts for us.”
Assemblyman Wood asked for some photos in front of Peggy, the Playhouse pony. “He usually has bubbles coming out of his ass,” Dandeneau informed him.
“Sorry?” Wood asked, wondering if he had heard that correctly. The group assured him that it was.
