In My Place in My Time: Brian Tripp Archive Exhibition – 2 Upcoming Events

This is a press release from the Reese Bullen & Goudi’ni Native American Arts Galleries:

Scans from the Brian Tripp Archive at Cal Poly Humbolt Library Special Collections.

In My Time, In My Place: Brian Tripp Archive in the Goudi’ni Native American Arts Gallery, explores the artist’s dimensions of time and place created within and without. It will focus on his overlaying of personal texts, symbols, and geometric language. This exhibition opens Thursday, April 2nd, and runs through May 16th, 2026.

Brian D. Tripp (1945–2022), or BDT, was a famous Karuk artist, poet, singer, and dancer whose work and life were very connected to his culture and community. Tripp was up in Klamath, California, where the land, river, and traditions that molded his identity and art inspired him. He became a key character in bringing back Indigenous cultural practices throughout his career, utilizing his paintings to explore themes of identity, strength, resilience, and history.

Tripp’s legacy lives on in the generations he inspired and in the lasting effects he had on Native art and cultural preservation. In 2022, Brian’s papers, including notebooks, sketches, and posters/flyers, became a part of the Cal Poly Humboldt Library Special Collection as part of an external project organized to get California Native artists’ archives into collections for research. Finding Aid for the collection can be found here: https://www.humboldt.edu/…/brian-d-tripp- papers-finding…

The exhibition will feature works and archival materials, including selected documents that have been carefully reproduced and reprinted. Please join us for this filtering of the archive, and see some of Brian Tripp’s papers, notes, and thoughts.

We are hosting 2 events as part of our Spring 2026 programming:

Artist on Artist Talk with Bob Benson; Wednesday April 29th 5:30pm-6:30pm at Goudi’ni Native American Arts Gallery, BSS 104. Overview of the artists work from an artists perspective covering thematic elements and history of BDT as an artist.

Archivist Talk: Thursday May 7th, 4:00PM-5:00PM, Goudi’ni Native American Arts Gallery, BSS 104. With Archivist Susan Gehr (Karuk) and Cal Poly Humboldt Special Collections Librarian Carly Marino. Discussing the formation of the archive, working with Brian Tripp, his legacy as an artist, and institutional archives. Gehr was principal archivist organizing the collection, and Marino worked to receive the archive into the University and shares with with our campus community.

The Goudi’ni Gallery is located on the bottom floor of the Behavioral & Social Sciences Building at Union/17th streets in Arcata, CA. on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus, in BSS room 104. The gallery is open Wednesday/Thursday 12pm-6pm, Friday/Saturday 11am-2pm. Closed Sunday- Tuesday. Also open via appointment, please contact the Gallery Director at [email protected] call 707-826-3629. Admission is free, and all are welcome. Parking is available through the City of Arcata at meters along Union Street or at the campus lots near the BSS building. See https://parking.humboldt.edu/ for current campus parking information.

In My Time, In My Place: Brian Tripp Archive was installed by the Art + Film Dept Museum & Gallery Practices class under the direction of Berit Potter and Gallery Director Brittany Britton. For more information contact the Gallery Director Brittany Britton at [email protected] or 707- 826-3629.