Public Invited to Celebrate Legacy of Victor Thomas Jacoby, 2019 Award Winners on Friday

This is a press release from the Humboldt Area Foundation:

Everyone is invited to don funny hats and celebrate the legacy of local artist Victor Thomas Jacoby at an award ceremony to be held on Friday, Dec. 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka. Three artists – Susan Bloch, Amy Fowler and Jimmie Nord – were chosen by committee as the 2019 award winners. Refreshments will be served and each artist will give a brief presentation on their work.

Jacoby, an internationally recognized Eureka visual artist whose chosen medium was French tapestry, established the Victor Thomas Jacoby Fund with Humboldt Area Foundation before his death in 1997 at age 52. This trust fund is dedicated to supporting Humboldt County visual artists and craftspeople, and to encourage the exploration of new ideas, materials, techniques and mediums. The Fund distributes annual cash awards to artists or craftspeople selected by a review panel of leading arts representatives. Due to an additional contribution from Rosaland Novick, the fund is able to grant $10,000 each to three individuals. The award ceremony is held annually on or near Jacoby’s birthday of December 14, and it is traditional to wear a silly hat in honor of his irreverent spirit and love of life.

About the artists:

Susan Bloch is a commission and exhibiting artist whose primary medium is glass. Bloch’s carved glass has been featured at the Westhaven Center for the Arts, London’s Morley Gallery, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts and the Richmond Art Center.

Amy Fowler started decorating pre-made hat bases in 2012, pursuing hat making as a hobby until 2016, when she left her career in operations and e-commerce to pursue millinery full-time. She completed an online millinery certification course with Hat Academy in 2017 and the Millinery Intensive summer course at London College of Fashion in 2018. Amy’s bespoke millinery is sold under the brand Millinery by Amy Fowler.

Jimmie Nord is a sculptor whose work is a “playful look into construction and the tools and equipment that are used.” Nord is a lecturer at Humboldt State University teaching 3D and 2D Foundations, Professional Practices, Ceramics, and Special Topics in Sculpture. He is also a board member of Morris Graves Museum of Art.