Jason Marak

Ten pink flamingos? Check. Thirty-nine large pink donuts? Check. Space Ghost, Batman, Wonder Woman and a dancing Big Foot? Check. This might sound like a laundry list of images from that dream you had the night you ate way too much Thai curry, but it’s not. It is a partial list of the objects and […]

  If you read the headline of this article and your first thought was, “I didn’t even know HSU had a permanent art collection,” you are not alone. The university has largely kept its works on campus, so outsiders haven’t had the chance to learn that HSU not only has a collection, but it’s a […]

Local artist Deborah Burke’s current show of silkscreened prints and fabric wall hangings at the Upstairs Art Gallery in Arcata, aptly titled “Progression,” exemplifies the movement and change in her work over the last 25 years. The progression is marked not just by stylistic changes, but by a dramatic shift in medium in her most […]

For over 20 years, photographer Alan Dismuke has been taking self-portraits. No, he’s not the world’s most narcissistic artist. In fact, he is often difficult to identify in his portraits. The figures in Dismuke’s work appear as male, female, young, old, rich, poor, nude and clothed. But behind the costumes, wigs and makeup, they are […]

Love it or loathe it, everyone has to agree that the Arcata Plaza is an eclectic place: from the people to the shops and restaurants, the Plaza runs the gamut. On the Plaza’s west side, there is a shop that embodies the spirit of its location. Arcata Artisans has been displaying and selling the work […]

Looking for a good conversation starter? Try this the next time you walk into a crowded room: “I just bought a really cool deck of tarot cards!” People will react — some with interest, some with disdain. Today, just about everyone knows what a tarot deck is. Tarot’s archetypal, iconic imagery and symbolism is ingrained […]

Most would agree that art has the ability to enrich our lives: Great works of visual and performing art can make us keenly aware of what is possible beyond the whitewash of typical daily experience. When we think about where we come into contact with this art, many of us picture austere gallery spaces, venerated […]

What do you get when you cross 10 gallery/performance spaces, an outdoor sculpture garden, tons of good food and drink, a broad spectrum of activities and more bands than you can shake a drumstick at? If you said a really great time, you’d be right. But where does one have to go to find an […]

When most people pull off southbound Highway 101 into the parking lot shared by Mr. Fish and a pawn shop, they’re probably looking to bring home a few pounds of fresh crab or make a few bucks off that old guitar that’s been taking up closet space — but not local artist and gallery owner […]

 Living in Humboldt County, it’s easy to become desensitized to our beautiful surroundings. Majestic redwoods, dramatic seascapes and an abundance of wildlife are all right outside our windshields during just about any local commute. But rushing through our daily lives, filled with appointments and deadlines, it’s often hard to appreciate the magnificence of our coastal […]

There is something appealing about doing things the way they’ve been done for centuries — sailing, leavening bread, celestial navigation — they offer us a connection to the past, contact with tradition. They help us to place ourselves, to feel part of a continuum. There is also something inexplicably attractive about activities that incorporate primary […]