Eureka Street Art Festival's Last Splash 

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• Photo by Mark Larson
• Mural artist Mir de Silva (right) and Violet Crabtree (left), ) explain the backstory of "The Lost Pages" mural design on the side wall of Alder Grove Charter School: "They wanted it to look like a page from a story book, given their love of reading at the school." She also explained the that she enlisted Crabtree, currently working on her feature film "Wildfur," to help with the mural featuring Wildfur's protagonist, Finnea Wildfur the sasquatch lady. (Team members included Emily Rune, Violet Crabtree, Mir de Silva and Megan Phillips.)

If there's a drab, gray concrete wall in Eureka, it's not the fault of Jenna Catsos, Michelle Cartledge or Swan Asbury. The three women have been the driving force behind the annual Eureka Street Art Festival for the past seven years.

"It got started in 2018, when Michelle Cartledge was on the Economic Development Commission and she wanted some way to uplift the community," says Catsos, adding Cartledge's co-ownership of Humboldt Cider Co. and background in art led to the suggestion of "an art festival where people could appreciate art and have a drink."

With Asbury, Eureka's economic development manager, handling the permitting and other red tape, the trio has coordinated with sponsors, building owners, volunteers and muralists from near and far to bring color and imagination to buildings all over the city. From poignant to playful, the murals created during the festival have adorned Opera Alley, Sixth and Seventh streets, Henderson Center, Downtown Eureka, the U.S. Highway 101 corridor, the pillars of the Samoa Bridge and South Broadway, including a highway overpass.

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• Photo by Mark Larson
• "The Lost Pages" mural on the side wall of Alder Grove Charter School.

• Photo by Mark Larson
• Mural artists Lucas Thorton and Kati Texas teamed up while painting on this side wall of Talisman Beads in Opera Alley in Old Town. Thornton's mural was his image of "Sequoia Sunrise" and Texas did a creative and careful re-working of an existing Larry Laitman landscape.

This year's festival — the last, for a while, anyway — doesn't focus on a single neighborhood, says Catsos, "because we wanted to make sure any folks who wanted a mural could get one." And with the exception of a pair of Sacramento artists, "We really wanted to focus on our local Humboldt artists this final year."

While proudly ensuring participating artists are paid, the trio volunteer their time "on top of busy jobs and lives" for the year-round effort, which ramps up in the spring. "At the end of the day, we're tired," says Catsos with a huffed laugh. With more than 100 murals added to a town that already boasted a collection of public-facing works via the Rural Burl Mural Bureau youth program that started in the 1990s. "We feel really accomplished with what we've done," enough take a break, Catsos says. "I'm a believer in the idea that something can be wonderful without having to last forever."

This year, the festival goes 3D with the "Slugs of Eureka," 16 ceramic Banana slugs by artists Shannon Sullivan and Jessica Swan, curving and slithering at 13 locations. Originally, Catsos was looking for a metal artist, "then I realized we have so many incredible ceramic artists." Planning began in January and slug making started in May. While it's tough for her to pick a favorite, Catsos says, "I love the one that is on the Mendenhall Studios because it's kind of poking up over the roofline."

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• Photo by Mark Larson
• Mural artist Blake Reagan was adding the final details to "The Condor Returns" on this side entrance to the Clarke Museum. He has been involved in the Eureka Street Art Festival multiple times.

Among this year's 15 murals, Catsos finds Melitta Jackson's "Chpaana'r" (in Yurok, "Stay a Long Time") at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium particularly moving. Funded by the county Department of Health and Human Services and the Humboldt County Suicide Prevention Network, it depicts local species that struggle to survive, as well as the message: "Tomorrow needs you, call or text 988 for crisis support."

Asbury, a painter herself, contributed "Plants are Medicine" at Lima's Pharmacy on Harrison Avenue. "I don't think people realize how physical mural painting is," she says, adding some of the artists are "out there 13 hours a day in the sun." Some of what she's enjoyed most has been the community building among those artists, with meals and gatherings behind the scenes.

• Photo by Mark Larson
• Mural artist Melitta Jackson paused for a moment while painting wildlife murals on the inside side panels of the entrance on the E Street side of the Eureka Municipal Auditorium.

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• Photo by Mark Larson
• Mural artist Melitta Jackson's "Chpaana'r" ("stay a long time" in Yurok) mural on the drab exterior on the E Street side of the Eureka Municipal Auditorium included this message from her sponsor, the Suicide Prevention Network. Her art is inspired by her Indigenous culture and the natural environment.

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• Photo by Mark Larson
• California condors in Melitta Jackson's "Chpaana'r" mural.

"It's been wonderful," says Asbury. "I wouldn't wanna do this festival with anyone else," though she and her partners would be happy to pass along what they've learned to anyone who'd like to take the festival on in some form or another. Art-related projects of all kinds make an impact, she says, in terms of reducing vandalism and blight, and in how a community sees itself. "There's other things that we can do. We don't have to saturate every wall with murals."

Asbury knows, too, that not everyone loves murals, and reminds that the vast majority of the festival's pieces are on private property. "And it's just paint. You can always paint over it. It's not forever."

• Photo by Mark Larson
• A close-up of the larger-than-life ceramic banana slug high on the wall at Mendenhall Studios created by ceramic banana slug artists Shannon Sullivan and Jessica Swan.

• Photo by Mark Larson
• Ceramic artists Jessica Swan (left) and Shannon Sullivan led a walk through Old Town to view their "Slugs of Eureka" starting at the Inn at 2nd & C, where the first of 16 larger-than-life slugs was installed. Sullivan is an artist faculty member in the Art Department at College of the Redwoods. Swan is her former student.

Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram @JFumikoCahill.