Description text Sculptures are made with as few, as-found pieces of driftwood as possible. Minimal shaping may aid assembly or recognition. Some oil paint may camouflage distracting elements. Paintings are sprayed on canvas. Pen, brush or sponges used on occasion. The simplified images are drawn/designed in a square, iconic format.

Thank you to Holly Yashi and Crestmark Millwork for their generous support!goes here

Lisa Marie lived for several years in the San Francisco Bay Area before beginning a professorship at University of Wisconsin-Parkside. She is currently a full professor there, teaching ceramics and leading interdisciplinary academic programs. She has exhibited in over 50 solo exhibitions across the country, and has served as an Artist-in-Residence at multiple notable venues, including the City University of New York, Hunter College; Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis; Watershed Center for Ceramic Art, Newcastle, ME; and Clay Studio of Missoula, Montana. She has received numerous honors and led workshops from New York to California.

Lisa Marie lived for several years in the San Francisco Bay Area before beginning a professorship at University of Wisconsin-Parkside. She is currently a full professor there, teaching ceramics and leading interdisciplinary academic programs. She has exhibited in over 50 solo exhibitions across the country, and has served as an Artist-in-Residence at multiple notable venues, including the City University of New York, Hunter College; Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis; Watershed Center for Ceramic Art, Newcastle, ME; and Clay Studio of Missoula, Montana. She has received numerous honors and led workshops from New York to California.

Alegrías brings together a group of Lisa Marie’s figurative ceramic sculpture, mixed media quilts, and playful functional vessels. Alegrías—Spanish for “joys”—is an ode to the play and happiness Lisa Marie hopes to communicate through her process of making.

This exhibition features various styles of visual artworks in both traditional and communication media created by Humboldt County pre K-12 students in their public and charter classrooms during the school year. The exhibition highlights the promise of equity and access in quality arts education for all students preK-12, in every school, every day, made real by Humboldt County’s Arts Education Plan. The festival itself is the living portfolio, where all who attend may see for themselves the inspiration and creativity inherent in all of Humboldt County’s Youth. We welcome students, parents, teachers, artists, and community members to see, hear, and feel what has been taught and experienced in so many classrooms across Humboldt. Become the beneficiary as you stand in wonder at what our children are capable of; the enormity of their creative dreams becomes immediate and evident, viewed in the context of a historical museum. Join us in this annual culminating event that celebrates the creative power of all students of Humboldt County.

Drawing on the rich textures and organic forms found in natural materials—whether sourced from forests, quarries, or oceans—Dana integrates these elements with pigments and pastes to highlight the inherent beauty of the weathered, the worn, and the ephemeral. Through her thoughtful exploration of materials and color, she evokes a sense of reverence for the simple yet profound details that are often overlooked: the crumbling bark of a tree, the fading edge of a stone, the soft fall of autumn leaves. At the heart of Dana’s work lies a deep reflection on our fragile relationship with the earth. Each piece is an invitation to see beyond the surface, to contemplate the subtle rhythms of the natural world and the marks of time and use that bind us to it. By honoring the often-overlooked imperfections, she encourages a broader awareness of the environmental connections that shape our lives and challenges us to consider the ethical implications of our impact on the planet. This exhibition embodies a dynamic and intuitive process where abstraction meets the spiritual sensibility of wabi-sabi. Dana’s paintings are more than visual compositions; they are a dialogue between color, texture, and material, a manifestation of the delicate interplay between human existence and the natural world. Whispers of the Earth seeks to deepen our understanding of the beauty found in transience and to foster a renewed appreciation for the ephemeral world around us. Dana’s work has been featured in over fifty juried museum exhibitions across the U.S., as well as numerous solo and invitational shows.