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• Photo by Mark Larson
• Marble Weekend featured live “torch working” and marble-making by local glass artists including Marcose Walton (left), of Eureka, and Matt Kelley, of Willow Creek, on Saturday at the Glass Garage.

Event-organizer Topher Reynolds, a Eureka marble maker at Copious Glass and the Glass Garage Studio, said action actually got underway Friday night at the Glass Garage, where more than 20 glass artists each donated pieces that were assembled into a 3.5-inch mega marble by artist Seth Bickis. The one-of-a-kind 4-pound marble will be going into the permanent collection at the Clarke Museum after the end of the event, according to Reynolds, who said, “I want them to become known in the future for their marble collection.”

The event also featured live “torch working” and marble-making by local glass artists at the Glass Garage and “hot shop” glasswork demonstrations by in-house artists at John Gibbons Glass. See highlights of the event in the slideshow below.

Reynolds also created major excitement among attendees on Sunday with 12 marble prizes for finders of tokens hidden around Old Town that morning and 40 more marbles for winners of a digital-camera scavenger hunt with 25 tasks to be completed in Old Town. Visiting marble artists had been commissioned to craft 50 marbles to be awarded as prizes and were paid for their pieces with a $10,000 grant from the Eureka Lodging Alliance, which also donated funds for the Tourist Prizes and the People’s Choice awards.

“The People’s Choice was voted on by the crowd of amazing people who came to enjoy the show and see incredible marble art,” said Reynolds. “The voting was close, and every artist in attendance got votes, but the winners are: first place and $2,000 to Seth Bickis; second place and $1,000 to Kristi and David MacDonald; and third place and $750 to Geoffrey Beetem and his son Nick Beetem.”

Slideshow Marble Weekend 2024

18 slides

Marble Weekend 2024

By Mark Larson

Click to View 18 slides

The Tourist Prize was a random drawing among attendees who had stayed at a Eureka hotel or motel and presented their hotel receipt at the ticket table when entering the show. Winners who came from the Redding area, Fargo, North Dakota, and Bandon, Oregon, picked up one $2,000 prize, two $1,000 prizes and two $500 prizes.

“I would like to say how thankful I am for all the friends, neighbors, artists, collectors and marble hunters who helped make Humboldt Marble Weekend a massive success,” said Reynolds late Sunday. “I also want to thank the event sponsors including the Eureka Lodging Alliance, Eureka Oxygen Co., the Glass House, and the Clarke Historical Museum. They are a huge part of bringing the show back, and with their support I can continue to grow Humboldt Marble Weekend into an even-larger world-class event next year.”