Out in the Street

At best, public art enriches the daily lives of the people in the community by beautifying the world around them, providing inspiration in unusual places, sparking dialogue about the merits of particular work. At worst, attempts at creativity remain an improvement over existing in sterility — right?

When I spoke to Bown-Crawford, she was presiding over an AAI show at the Morris Graves Museum of Art; when I talked with Clark, we were surrounded by a new graffiti installation in the E2 space. In the span of less than a mile, both Eureka’s art establishment and established boundary-pushers can be found. Spinning outward from this nucleus, a creative mindset blankets the county, resulting in walls lined with art, both inside and out.

Back to the Beachcomber. Imagining anyone missing the butt on the door is nearly impossible — but given the need for caffeine and drive toward acquiring whatever delectable goodies await, even those of us who like to think we’re clever and observant may forget to look anywhere other than the display case — and, sadly, our laptop screens. Fortunately I’d lost my laptop charger and, once bagel and beverage were acquired, had nowhere else to look but up. Wow. Nice. In an instant, Bjorn Lundeen’s painting, “Metro, Lisbon Portugal,” slipped between the colliding thoughts in my head — you know, the ones about what needs to be done, what should be done, what I want to do, what I haven’t done yet, how can I possibly get all this done — and brought me right into this particular moment, goat cheese and jam on my lips, sun glowing through the window, me through another window altogether, the one that let me, for a moment, stand upon a train in another country. Like books, art can be quick and cheap transportation — we should all indulge more often. Don’t forget to look around.

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