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.
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."
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.
"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."
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Instagram @JFumikoCahill.