June 2, 2005
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SUPERSIZING
North Coast Open Studios
by BOB DORAN
IT BEGAN WITH A SIMPLE
IDEA. LOCAL ARTISTS SASHA PEPPER and Susan Fox joined forces
in 1999 to produce a map showing the locations of workspaces
for 43 artists in Arcata and Eureka. Everyone agreed to open
their doors on a particular day, and North Coast Open Studios
was born.
The event grew slowly over the
years; by 2001 there were 65 artists, 15 more joined up in 2002.
In 2004 there were 92 studios on the tour in an area ranging
from Trinidad to Fortuna, and the ad-hoc group of artists was
working under the Ink People's umbrella with some institutional
assistance from the Humboldt Arts Council. But, as in the beginning,
the artists still arranged the tour themselves and pooled their
funds to pay for the essential tool, the map that guides customers
to the artist's doors. By last year what began as a simple one-page
newsprint fold-up map had grown into a thick booklet, a catalogue
of painters, potters, woodworkers, weavers and creators in various
other media.
This year the event took a great
leap forward, expanding its range to the southern border of the
county, bringing in almost 30 new artists and turning the black
and white catalogue into a slick full color 32 pager filled with
ads and glossy photos of artist's work.
Last year's Open Studios was
when Angie Schwab got involved as a volunteer helping with promotion.
Schwab is a creative person, but not a working artist. She calls
herself "an artist's enabler." Her business, Humboldt
Artworks, is "an arts marketing and event production business
featuring art and artists of Humboldt County."
Schwab was a part of a group
of arts organization leaders who gathered for a year as the "arts
and culture cluster" under the auspices of Prosperity!,
the economic development program that grew out of the Headwaters
deal. One of the ideas that Schwab brought forward was using
Headwaters money to help expand Open Studios.
Schwab ended up writing and
overseeing a $23,000 Headwaters grant supporting this year's
expansion, money that had to be matched by fundraising, including
sales of advertising in the brochure.
Some of the grant money went
to pay salaries for Schwab as project director and Pepper as
artist coordinator. The rest went to the ramped up version of
the guidebook. Last year's run of 2,000 books was upped to 6,000.
"We paid for guidebooks
along with posters, postcards and postage," said Schwab,
who mailed the catalogues to interior designers throughout Northern
California and Southern Oregon and to media outlets all over
the state and sent postcards to Humboldt State alums and realtors
throughout the state.
It's all part of a larger, grander
plan "to create a destination, a regional, national, even
international reputation for local artists that will attract
people to our region to buy art," said Schwab. "We're
also trying to develop a branded image for Humboldt County around
art."
Schwab sees the grant as "an
excellent investment for the county, because the artists who
make money selling their art spend it here."
Schwab admits that the transition
to a more ambitious Open Studios was not without problems. Drawing
in new artists in Southern Humboldt was complicated by the event's
timing. An artist who was helping to recruit others in the Garberville/Redway
area was not happy when she learned that the first SoHum Open
Studios would be on the same weekend as the Mateel's annual Summer
Arts and Music Festival. As a result she encouraged a number
of artists to pull out and there are only four locations south
of Rio Dell.
"It will continue to grow,"
said Schwab. "It will take planning and cooperation. We
need more communication, but we're starting to meet with the
artists to put together an action plan for the future. We're
hoping to experience record numbers of visitors in the next two
weekends. We're hoping the artists will see this transition as
a good investment. My hope is they will sell a lot of art."
Open Studios guidebooks are
available in the same places you find the Journal, grocery
stores and coffee shops throughout Humboldt County or at local
art museums. The maps and artist's listings are also posted online
at www.northcoastopenstudios.com.
North Coast Open Studios 2005
runs from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. two weekends with studios from
Eureka south to Redway open Saturday and Sunday, June 4 and 5,
and studios north of Eureka open Saturday and Sunday June 11
and 12. (Note that some artists have opted to open both weekends.)
Plan for your own Open Studios
tour by attending the Central Show on Friday, June 3, 5-8 p.m.
at the Ink People Center for Arts at 411 12th St., Eureka
(442-8413) where many of the artists will show samples of their
work.
Artists' work can also be viewed
at "Hot Spot" receptions including one on Friday, June
3, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Art Cheese and Wine Festival
at the Morris Graves Museum of Art, 636 F St., Eureka. (442-0278).
Tickets are $20 and are available at the door.
Curly's Grill, Open Studios Artists' Reception 5:30 p.m. Saturday,
June 4, at 400 Ocean Ave., Ferndale, (786-9696) .
Westhaven Center for the
Arts, Sunday, June 5, 1- 4 p.m.
at 501 South Westhaven Dr. Artists' Reception Celebrate Open
Studios with artists from Trinidad, Westhaven and Orick. (677-9493)
Arts! Arcata: Open Studios Celebrations on Friday, June 10,
6-8 p.m. at Arcata Artisans, 883 H St. and HSU Sculpture Garden,
883 9th St. (825-9133) And at the Arcata Co-op, 8th and I sts.
with an artist's preview in the Good Food Gallery; artists painting
onsite, theatrical revelry from Dell Arte students, music by
the Pan Dulce steel drum orchestra and locally-produced organic
snacks. (822-5947)
For more information about North
Coast Open Studios, go to www.northcoastopenstudios.com
or call 825-9039.
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