Brushes down, everyone. Time is up. After seven vibrant years bringing much-needed color to often-neglected sections of the city, the organizers of the Eureka Street Art Festival have decided to quit while they’re ahead, meaning the 2024 edition will be the last in its current form. Ta-da!

“I would like to normalize good things coming to an end in a healthy way,” festival organizer Jenna Catsos told the Outpost while painting her mural on the side of Lima’s Pharmacy. “I think that we often hope that good things will last forever but, in this case, seven years is a really great long time to have done this.”  

ESAF founder and organizer Jenna Catsos

Few Humboldt events leave such a tangible legacy. In its seven years, ESAF has managed to aid in the creation of over 100 murals throughout the city, providing work and experience for artists both local and foreign, some of whom were painting their first major work. Catsos, who, along with her fellow organizers, all volunteered their time to produce the event over its duration, is proud of what they were able to pull off.

“I think we’ve have reignited this excitement for public art in Eureka and hopefully in Humboldt in a broader sense,” she said. Still, she said, staging the festival had grown more difficult over the years, especially raising the funds required for paying artists, purchasing materials and jumping through the various bureaucratic hoops. “We kind of read the room and checked in with ourselves and our own energy levels. We feel like we have had a good run and we are ready to call it quits, at least for now.”   

That is unless some other person or group is feeling ambitious… *nudge, nudge*. Ever wanted to run a small town street art festival? Catsos and her team are open to handing the thing off if others are interested in taking the reins.

“We are happy to share the processes that we’ve created and the strategies that have worked well for us – we are happy to share all of that knowledge because it took us a couple years to figure things out. One of the sadder things about stopping something like this is feeling like, wow, we are a well-oiled machine now. So if folks want to make murals happen in their community in any capacity please reach out. We are happy to to share our artist list, our application process – anything and everything.”

Just know what you’re in for. To make murals happen in a small, rural setting, ESAF organizers have had to get creative over the years, Catsos said. Unlike similar events in larger cities, where corporate sponsors are willing to dole out big bucks to cover big walls, the Eureka-sized version deals in smaller numbers. Generally, it’s property owners who foot the bill, but that often means they also want to be part of the design process. And sometimes the collision of art and commerce gets messy. 

“Getting everyone on board and moving in the same direction has been a uniquely difficult challenge,” Catsos said. “But we’ve figured out how to set boundaries and create procedures that really have worked to streamline this process for us.” 

Well, the process worked fine enough. In its time, the Eureka Street Art Festival managed not only to produce inspiring and welcoming imagery throughout the city, it also spurred discussion and debate around the need for public art and showed people that, if they want, they can change the face of their city through sheer will. And Catsos can’t wait to see what her community opts to put energy toward next.

“I hope that people look at the festival and look at the murals and then turn around and look at their community and what they think that Eureka needs and see this as an inspirational moment to do something great for Eureka. I always love to remind people that we are not a program of the city. I am not a city employee. I am just a lady who lives here, who put my time and energy into doing something that I think would better Eureka. And sometimes we hear people complain: Oh, we shouldn’t be doing murals. We should be doing XYZ instead. And I always say, that’s great, you go do XYZ. There are plenty of things for us to do in this community, and there are plenty of us in this community to do the things, and I hope that people see this as an inspiration to go out and make Eureka better in any way that they see fit. Boom… and stop telling me what to do.”

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And now… a look at your 2024 Eureka Street Art Festival entries:

The roll down doors of the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center now celebrate the rowing prowess and school colors of Cal Poly Humboldt thanks to Tony Diaz — one of the county’s most prolific muralists — who was assisted, as he often is, by his wife Kalynn Cossolotto.

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Good news! There’s now a redwood forest tucked away in Old Town for when you need it. Just take a quick turn off F Street to find Lucas Thornton’s Opera Alley old growth when you’re feeling the itch for a brief nature escape from Humboldt’s urban core. 

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Nestled amongst the aforementioned trees is a little bonus of sorts. In advance of this year’s festival, Eureka artist Kati Texas took great care refurbishing a landscape painted by the late Larry Laitman. 

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Pulling double duty this year, festival regular Blake Reagan added to his extensive portfolio of Eureka color bombs with a seek-and-ye-shall-find Art Deco flourish atop the Eureka Theater. Also, a side door of the Clarke Museum now celebrates the recent-ish return of Prey-go-neesh to Humboldt’s skies. It’s a con-door! Get it?

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You might feel a slight shrinking phenomenon should you wander by Alder Grove Charter School, where towering mushrooms and berries now grace the wall. Credit goes to festival veteran Mir de Silva, who worked with a pair of local artists working outside their usual mediums, Megan Phillips and Violet Crabtree.

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Artist and Yurok Tribal member Melitta Jackson thinks you’re special enough to warrant some hang time with some friendly otters and condors. Should you need the little mental health boost they promise you can find them on the backside of the Eureka Municipal Auditorium.

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Keep going, growing and glowing at the WIC Parent’s Nutrition Center on Summer Street. Shoppers can now enjoy eternal spring there, thanks to a popping floral design by Sacramento-based muralist Haley Titus.

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Not all murals are vertical! The pavement of the intersection in front of Food For People is now emblazoned by the nonprofit’s logo thanks to local artist Ben Funke’s Rebound program.

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Because we could all do more to be good stewards of the planet we find ourselves plopped upon, the mural on the rear-approach to Eureka Natural Foods reminds you to “Think Global” and “Act Local,” This li’l something to ponder comes courtesy Eureka artist Kay Lopez. Aye aye, Kay! 

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Humboldt has a new drive-thru tree that you might have to visit in the event you drive into something else. Yes, Quality Body Works gets their own redwood treatment thanks to Ben “The Mural Man” Goulart and crew.

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Can colorful ocean views calm your soul? Festival veteran Laci Dane invites you to give it a shot with her bright entry over at the Eureka Center for Spiritual Living on Buhne Street. 

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It is often said that Henderson Center is Eureka’s most up-and-coming neighborhood. Muralist Ellie Gainey has helped strengthen that argument with this soon-to-be-iconic blooming marker on the side of The Discovery Shop.

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You’ll henceforth have company on your journey down the dipped section of Eureka’s S Street, where local muralist Jose Moreno has brought to life Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent deity of the Aztecs.

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Get doubly healed on your next trip to Lima’s Pharmacy on Harrison Street. As you fill your prescription you’ll also be surrounded by the floral designs of festival founder Jenna Catsos (at no extra charge).

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They purposefully never called it a mural festival. In addition to this year’s painted entries, be on the lookout for some new, slimy friends in the form of 16 ceramic “Slugs of Eureka,” which you can find installed on buildings around town. Our new ‘nanner buds come to us courtesy local ceramicists Shannon Sullivan and Jessica Swan. 

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And that’s that. If you somehow need even more public art in your life today, feel free to take a walk down mural memory lane by reliving the Outpost’s visits to previous Eureka Street Art Festivals.

PREVIOUSLY: 

• (PHOTOS) 2023 Eureka Street Art Festival Artsits
• (PHOTOS) 2022 Eureka Street Art Festival Artists
• (PHOTOS) 2021 Eureka Street Art Festival Artists
• (PHOTOS) 2020 Eureka Street Art Festival Artists
• (PHOTOS) 2019 Eureka Street Art Festival Artists