Starting in 1975, the Humboldt County Children’s Author Festival has brought 25 authors from all around the country to Humboldt County every two years. These authors inspire, delight, and encourage a love for books and reading for thousands of children while visiting approximately 60 schools during their four days in Humboldt County. In addition to providing the school visits, the Author Festival hosts a popular book sale and author event at the main library on Saturday, where students and their families can meet the authors and have books signed. The library buzzes with excitement as students interact with the author celebrities.

Funded primarily by the generous support of local businesses and organizations, the biennial festival is produced by a dedicated group of librarians, educators, and community members who volunteer their time, talent, and energies to bring this fun, upbeat event to enrich our local schools.

William Pierson, in this exhibit, is celebrating over 50 years of being an artist who uses a camera. This presentation chronicles an intense period of creativity in Pierson’s work that began in August 2024 with the creation of Raven Returning from the North Star. In the ensuing two years, over 60 works were created, 22 of which can be seen in this show entitled Transcendence.

Anderson Gallery

In Earthquake Trauma: My Path to Recovery, ceramicist Conrad Calimpong presents a deeply personal and visceral body of work that maps the journey from devastation to healing. Utilizing the raw, unpredictable nature of clay, Calimpong explores the psychological and physical aftershocks of trauma. The exhibition serves as a physical metaphor for the shattering of stability; vessels are intentionally fractured, warped, and torn, mirroring the chaotic upheaval of a seismic event. Yet, rather than leaving the pieces in ruin, Calimpong meticulously reconstructs them. Through the visible mending of cracks and the fusing of jagged edges, the artwork transcends destruction to celebrate resilience. This collection is not merely an archive of survival, but a profoundtestament to the slow, deliberate process of piecing oneself back together—proving that there is a distinct, enduring beauty in the scars we carry.

Anderson Gallery

Portraits and Vessels from the HAC Permanent Collection, is a compelling exhibition curated by Alexa Keller that explores two of the most ancient and enduring forms in art history. By bringing these seemingly distinct subjects into conversation, the exhibition invites visitors to consider how we capture, contain, and express the human experience. The connection is both metaphorical and deeply felt: we physically describe crafted vessels using anatomical terms like "neck," "shoulder," and "belly," while the portraits on the walls act as vessels themselves, holding the memories, emotions, and identities of their subjects.

Knight Gallery

The Mirror and the Window: Self-Portraits and Selected Works, 1970–2025 celebrates the vibrant life and restless creative spirit of Walter Pence (1942–2025). This eclectic, high-energy retrospective charts over five decades of Pence’s artistic evolution, using his own changing visage as an anchor for a lifetime of bold stylistic experimentation. While the self-portraits act as an intimate mirror into his shifting identity across different mediums and vivid colors, the exhibition introduces three vital departures: a singular landscape, a still life, and an abstract piece. Serving as windows into his broader mastery, these distinct works reveal how Pence engaged with the external world, objects, and pure form. The result is a kaleidoscopic, joyful tribute to an artist who never stopped looking—both inward at himself, and outward at the world.

Thonson Gallery

Blueprints to the Wilderness is an ongoing body of work created in direct collaboration with remote wilderness landscapes. Made primarily on location in the backcountry of California's Eastern Sierras, the work investigates the profound connection between human experience and wild places, and the ways in which those places shape our emotional, spiritual, and ancestral identities.

FLOYD BETTIGA GALLERY

Lowtrip’s ceramics are the product of a 12-year tenure at Canvas + Clay Studio, characterized by a meticulous approach to texture and form. Through the use of specialized tools, Lowtrip creates hundreds of individual incisions to simulate the organic appearance of plumage and fur. This collection of whimsical, Humboldt-inspired animals and creatures represent a landmark moment for the artist and the regional community.

ANDERSON GALLERY

Twin Flames celebrates a rare milestone: thirty-five years of shared inspiration and mastery between ceramicist Peggy Loudon and glass artist George Bucquet. Like two flames dancing in tandem, their distinct mediums—clay and glass—converge in this exhibition to explore the harmony of form, light, and texture. This collection is more than a display of technical brilliance; it is a visual dialogue between two lifelong friends who have spent decades pushing the boundaries of their respective crafts while remaining anchored in a shared artistic soul.

Thonson Gallery

Pulses of Experience functions as a metaphor for contemporary life. It reflects the realities that so many people and communities face in constantly being in the attentive immobility state. The artist addresses the violence of consistent tensions between movement and the absolute stillness that is emblematic of this physiological state. The flickers of consciousness that persist in these moments contain fear, awareness, and endurance, and they all coexist in a single suspended instant. Yoo’s practice questions “the boundaries of self... determining where personhood and identity begin and end, asking fundamental questions about belonging and purpose.” In this exhibition, attentive immobility emerges as both a psychological state and a shared cultural condition.

TOM KNIGHT GALLERY

This painting series, Artemis: Vision of the Universe, reflects Seongmin Yoo’s long-standing exploration of imagined cosmic worlds. The artist creates spaces beyond immediate human experience, presenting unknown planets, shifting landscapes, and life forms that may exist somewhere beyond Earth. Through color, light, and atmosphere, each work opens a sensory landscape that invites viewers to move beyond the familiar and interpret the unknown through feeling and imagination.

YOUTH GALLERY

History and art have collected at the Morris Graves Museum of Art, where the Youth Gallery is currently transformed into a glittering hall of ancients. Students from Freshwater Elementary have unveiled an evocative exhibition of Egyptian Death Masks, showcasing a deep dive into the archaeology and artistry of a civilization long past.

FLOYD BETTIGA GALLERY

The paintings shown, Group of 8 Indian Miniatures, were part of Morris Graves own personal collection. He gifted these to the museum in 1991 to be part of its permanent collection. Graves was a known traveler who often collected artworks on these trips. These paintings are believed to be made by the Master of the Court of Mankot, also known as Menju (1680 - 1730).

ANDERSON GALLERY

Jack Mays (1938-2014) began his journey as a sculptor, navigating the art world before eventually finding his niche in sketching lively, everyday scenes. He became a Ferndale icon, beloved for his deep devotion to both his craft and his community. Mays was a fixture of the local landscape, often found perched in his white plastic chair for up to 18 hours at a time. There, he meticulously captured the world around him, freezing the smallest details of Ferndale life in time.

Youth, Floyd Bettiga, Rotunda & Knight Gallery

The Humboldt County Youth Arts Festival (YAF) is an annual celebration of student creativity, presented in partnership with the Humboldt County Office of Education and the Humboldt Arts Council. Held in the month of March during Art Education Month, the festival showcases the work of students from across the county at the Morris Graves Museum of Art.

THONSON GALLERY

As an artist deeply inspired by Buddhism and nature, Leslie Kenneth’s work explores the interplay between these forces through color, and transparent layering techniques in abstract painting. His practice involves using thin layers of acrylic glazes and washes that vary in translucency to create pieces that evoke depth, luminosity, and the contemplated experience for the viewer.

Rotunda

Inspired by the living Giants, hollowed out by fire and growing strong, I bring remnants of an exhibition that first set sail on the AVONTUUR cargo schooner—en route from Germany to Colombia in 2025. Since this project’s inception, the exhibition aimed to create a bridge between Western and Indigenous knowledge for biodiversity recovery. The bridge is shown here with films from my fellow environmental artists, whose art originally voyaged aboard. The exhibit, in its entirety, sailed on the schooner (shipped with zero carbon) from Germany to the Caribbean and back again. The art is currently stored in our Captain's
warehouse, awaiting the next chance.

ANDERSON GALLERY

In 2023, we traveled to Germany and Poland, returning just when the Israeli kidnappings and subsequent horrific Gaza war began. We reflected on the mass killings of the holocaust, genocide, war and devastation in Gaza; and atrocities that are now occurring and have been throughout history, including the current threats on democracy. These events simultaneously inspired us to make work to mark collective grief. We were awarded an artist residency in January 2023 in Urubumba, Peru to begin exploring construction of small paper sculptures that reflect devastation and atrocities, historical and contemporary — a means of witnessing loss and channeling sorrow into material form.

TOM KNIGHT GALLERY

I  understand my own art practice to be a process of discovery; a practice that helps me uncover who I am as a maker and as a sentient being. Creative practice reveals the parsing of mind—the focus of thought, the untangling of culture, the push to make the unseen seen. Rarely do my investigations take me where I thought I  might be going. They often show me what is important, where my magic lies, and who I am at core.  

The works in finding and seeking reveal my journey as a printmaker on an uncharted path. 

Anderson and Knight Galleries

As always, this exhibition is eclectic, surprising, and enjoyable. The Annual Humboldt Arts Council Member Show is a juried exhibition that highlights the fabulous art produced by HAC Artist Members. We were truly impressed by the volume and quality of the submissions we received from all our artist members. The juror selected work from 101 entries; this was the largest turnout for this exhibition in the history of the HAC!

Thonson Gallery

10th Street Studio features work by four like-minded artists, Carol Andersen, Laura Corsiglia, Peggy Rivers, Van Shields, who recently entered into a shared studio space dedicated to creativity and mutual support. With 110+ years of art making between them, Anderson, Corsiglia, and Rivers have all enjoyed successful careers. They each have works in significant public and private collections and have substantial exhibition records. Joined by emerging artist Shields, the exhibition represents each of their respective bodies of work.

ANDERSON GALLERY

“I remember the first time I felt beauty in the tremendous power of Mother Earth. I was sitting in an alder tree looking out toward the Eel River, although I couldn’t see it, there was too much mist and cloud and the wind was fierce. As I clung to my wind whipped perch all I could see and feel was the squall sweeping upriver off the ocean hitting me square in the face, and at that moment I was held in the breath of her mouth stunned by the beauty and sacred power of the experience. I was about seven years old then and that moment has been the guiding force through my work as an artist.

THONSON GALLERY

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! The artwork selected for this exhibition was chosen by juror Nancy Tobin.

Anderson Gallery

This exhibition emerges from our individual and collaborative explorations of resilience and regeneration. Through sculpture, mixed media, and works on paper, we document and interpret the cycles of renewal witnessed in our natural world and in traditional cultural practices. These collaborations are rooted in place and in conversation, and emerge during our visit to landscapes marked by fire, water, and ancestral significance.

Knight Gallery

This special exhibition will showcase the entirety of the Humboldt Arts Council's collection of works by the esteemed Brian Duane Tripp (1945-2022). As a member of the Karuk Tribe, Brian Tripp achieved international recognition for his multifaceted artistic practice, which included visual art, poetry, traditional singing, and dance. This will be the first opportunity for the public to view the complete HAC collection of his significant artistic contributions, all together in one place at the Morris Graves Museum of Art. This comprehensive presentation will offer a valuable insight into Tripp's artistic legacy and the collecting practices of the HAC. This exhibition promises to be quite insightful. It will delve into the enduring artistic legacy of Tripp, offering a comprehensive overview of his significant contributions to the art world. Furthermore, the presentation will provide valuable information regarding the collecting practices of the Humboldt Arts Council. We will explore the principles and strategies that guide our acquisition of artworks, offering a deeper understanding of how our collection is shaped and curated.

Thonson Gallery

Marceau Verdiere is a French-born, California-based artist whose work explored the emotional and aesthetic resonance of the passage of time. For over two decades, his practice —Abstract oil painting and photography—has focused on memory, impermanence, and the quiet beatu found in worn and weathered surfaces. Living textures of his surroundings and the emotional traces they carry. In addition Verdiere has been influenced by his extensive travels around the world and the humans and artists he encounters. In Japan, he began to engage with and study traditional Japanese transience.

Anderson Gallery

Wiedel has been living and working in Eureka, California since 1991, and his narrative paintings have been inspired great by the local community and it’s landmarks. His work also incorporated stories and landscapes in the Mojave desert region. Wiedel studied art at Shasta College in Redding, California, and at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he received his degree in painting in 1988. His work has been exhibited in many places in Humboldt, as well as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Portland and Joshua Tree. Most recently he was exhibited in London and Berlin. Wiedel’s paintings have been described by others as “a cross between VanGough, Brugel, and Mike Judge.” His imagery teeters between depictions of gleeful celebration of life and hard luck stories of failure.

Thonson, Knight and Bettiga Galleries

Beyond Photography started in the early 1970s when Suk Choo Kim experimented with Polaroid SX-70 film, manipulating the emulsion to create painterly, jewel-like images. Despite the small format limitation, the project initiated a lasting creative interest. Decades later, after a gastric cancer diagnosis, Suk Choo revisited the concept, using his studio time for therapeutic purposes. This exhibition acknowledges his 54-year journey in photography and highlights his contributions to the medium until his passing in 2024.

ANDERSON GALLERY

One of the best reasons for including access to the arts in prison is that art helps people strengthen their self-knowledge, identity, and connection to their communities and culture. All of those are fundamental to personal growth, and to being able to develop awareness of both the consequences and underlying causes of one’s behavior. Since Native Americans are incarcerated in California at twice their proportion in the state population, this potential for healing and growth is vital. 

KNIGHT GALLERY

From the moment I stepped on the tarmac of Dublin Airport in 2016, I felt the thrill of achieving my lifelong goal of visiting Ireland. I felt I had somehow returned to a place I had known from a time before, maybe a lifetime before. Soon, I was driving (on the left-hand side of the road) through Ireland’s lush countryside. I had never seen so many shades of green! For two short weeks I drove two-thousand miles around the Emerald Isle, taking in as much of the beauty as I could of this magical place. When I returned home, I painted many of the scenes I had passed through. I would return someday.

THONSON GALLERY

In 1994, Karla Kaizoji Austin and Amy Uyeki assembled the first show of Asian Artists in Humboldt County entitled Made in America at the old Ink People gallery. Fast forward 31 years and this is one of the follow up shows to the original. Over the years times have changed and artists and media have changed. However, the creativity, artistry and intent remain. The selected artists all present a strong sense of creativity, originality and their work reflects their cultural roots. The work ranges from traditional style landscape/portraits to contemporary street art. Included are painters, ceramicists, mixed media artists, digital artists, photographers and videographers.