Ink People Celebrates 40 Years of Weaving the Arts Into the Fabric of Our Community

This is a press release from the Ink People:

There’s a story that gets repeated in the Ink People office a lot.  It’s the story of some art students, and the equipment they couldn’t afford.   When visitors go into the unassuming Art Deco building on 7th Street, for one reason or another, they are often surprised by how much other stuff is also going on there.  Maybe they came in to meet with a teacher, and found that there was also a gallery. Maybe they are pitching a DreamMaker idea to the Board of Directors, and found out about the MARZ Project free digital media lab for youth.  “Wow, I didn’t know all this was here too.” they’d say, then inevitably ask “What does ‘Ink’ have to do with all of this?”

No, the Ink People does not do tattoos.

The story goes like this:  In the late seventies, a group of printmaking students were graduating from Humboldt State University when they realized that none of them could afford the one piece of equipment none of them could work without; a printing press.  Not to mention the space to keep such a beast, lights, running water … then there was what to do with the Art once it had been wrought into existence. Art school taught them many things about color and composition, about form and texture, but it didn’t teach them how to live as artists.  So, they did what lots of Artists do when they have a big task in front of them, they banded together.

The Ink People was born from that group of students including co-founders Libby Maynard and Brenda Tuxford.  They pooled their resources, meeting in coffee shops and living rooms to plan, holding office hours in Tomaso’s, then a pizza parlor in Old Town, Eureka. They organized shows, including the first one in what is now Mazotti’s on the Arcata Plaza, and in the “Wacko Building,” now the C Street Galleries.

After around five years, the Ink People finally landed its first dedicated working space in an old Theater on F Street, Eureka.  “There was a bar downstairs,” remembers Libby Maynard, “Willie T’s. Upstairs where we were, was an old dance club. Shag carpeting, pigeons in the rafters.  We set the litho press up on the wooden dance floor because it was the only uncarpeted spot.”

Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, the Ink People grew and evolved, adding more resources and skills to their shared toolbox.  By 1988, they were settled in the familiar Municipal Auditorium Building in Eureka where collaborative projects included studio space, classrooms, and the Gallery.  Printmakers worked side by side with painters, sculptors, and photographers. Then came the looms, the musical instruments, and eventually the computers loaded with software for audio, video, and graphics.

On top of the shared resources for creation now all under one Ink People roof, Maynard and Tuxford found that their skills in administration, bookkeeping, grantwriting, and nonprofit incorporation we’re also valuable resources to share.  They started the DreamMaker Program then, to share what they had, learned and help other community projects get off the ground. When Brenda Tuxford passed away in 2004, she left a thriving community Arts space including dozens of active programs serving artists of all ages and abilities.

In January of 2010, a 6.5 earthquake shook the foundations of the Muni, and the now iconic Ink People space was shuttered.  Big red tags warned people away at the door. At first the evacuation was temporary, then it became clear that the City would not be able to continue donating space to this valued community resource.

Though the building was damaged, the foundations of the Ink People proved more robust.  The offices, Gallery, and youth programs bounced around from 2010 to 2017, landing temporarily in the pre-renovation Carson Block Building as guests of NCIDC, on 5th Street next to Bless My Soul Cafe, and finally where they are today on 7th Street.  “We’ve formed an Arts trifecta here with RAA and the Arts Council,” says Maynard, but the reach of the Ink People stretches well beyond their art covered walls.

As of today there are over 100 active DreamMaker Projects around Humboldt and other places in California.  They are performers, teachers, culture bearers, creators, makers, and mentors. Everywhere you look there are DreamMaker Projects weaving the arts into the fabric of our community.

The Ink People will be celebrating their 40 years with Tapestry of Dreams, an evening of entertainment featuring the Ink People’s eclectic and prolific DreamMaker Projects.  Saturday January 26th at Forever Found in Eureka, the event will include music, dance, comedy, tarot readings, food, drinks, and stories from cofounder Libby Maynard and old friends.  Find more information about the event on inkpeople.org.

As the Ink People celebrates its 40th year, they look forward to the new ideas that pour through their doors on a regular basis, to seeing the impressed faces of guests as they realize how vibrant and connected the DreamMakers are, and to answering the question “What does ‘Ink’ have to do with all of this?”

More about the breadth and depth of Ink People:

  • JUMP StArts – Through funding from the California Arts Council, the Ink People sends artists into local youth correctional facilities to provide creative opportunities to youth involved in the Juvenile justice system.
  • Eureka Arts & Culture Districts – State wide recognition of Eureka’s Arts corridor
  • Public Art – Art benches on the Waterfront trail, painted utility boxes, murals
  • The Brenda Tuxford Gallery – Opening new community arts shows each month
  • Artists in Schools and Artists in Communities – California Arts Council providing teaching and community engaging artists to schools and community settings.
  • DreamMaker Projects – Over 100 self directed Arts, Culture, and Education Projects throughout the County.  (Here’s just a few…)
    • Institute of Native Knowledge – Local Native American culture and language classes
    • North Coast Open Studios – Yearly Artists’ Studios crawl
    • North Star Quest Camp for Adolescent Girls – Empowering Girl’s Camp
    • Outer Space – all ages music and education venue in Arcata
    • The MARZ Project – free drop in digital arts and media studio where at risk youth work one on one with professional artist mentors

Cofounders Brenda Tuxford and Libby Maynard at the Beaux Arts Ball (pronounced “bow-ZAHR ball”)

DreamMaker Project: Synapsis (aerial dance)

MARZ Project studio

Redwood Arts and Education

MARZ Project Music show

DreamMaker Project: Making Access

Libby Maynard, Printmaker around 1981

DreamMaker Project: Camp Picture from North Star Quest Camp for Girls

DreamMaker Project: Circus of the Elements

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Willie Caso-Mayhem
Guest
5 years ago

🕯🕯Vert nice read Oliver, thank you.