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• Ink People Purchases Vacant Building in Downtown Eureka With Plans to Create a ‘Regional Cultural Hub’

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For months, boarded up windows have obscured a renovation. People have been hard at work transforming a moody nightclub into a bright space for artists to create and share their work in downtown Eureka.

The Ink People Center For Arts and Culture will open their 9,000-square-foot building to the public this weekend, kickstarting an expansion in art programming inside 535 5th Street.

On Tuesday, people were bustling about in preparation: wrapping up construction tasks, painting a massive mural or carefully moving a spider outside in a glass jar.

“We really see this space as a third place,” said Leslie Castellano, executive director of the Ink People.

American sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third place” in his 1989 book, The Great Good Place. Oldenburg argues that social hubs, like coffee shops, bars or libraries, are the backbone of human connection. 

After gathering spaces shuttered during the COVID19 pandemic (and society plunges further into the widespread social isolation of the internet age) there’s a growing push to bring back urban spots that can serve as a sort of home away from home.

For artists, it’s good to have a place to work removed from the worry of household chores.

“We all kind of learned during the pandemic that home is not always the best place to get our projects done,” said Monica Topping-Adams, administrative director of Ink People. She said artists in the DreamMakers program, which supports over 100 self-directed projects, can come to the building to work on their ideas.

It’ll be a place to attend classes and workshops, take part in group exhibits in the Brenda Tuxford Gallery space, or come to art and cultural events, said Sage Juarez, Ink People’s marketing director. There’s a space (the Milton “Kusch” Kuschner Community Classroom) with workshops planned the week after opening, they said.

People who may not consider themselves artists can walk in and check out a kit with art supplies, and “develop a greater understanding about their own lived experience” and culture through art, said Castellano.

The organization, which started in 1979, has sought to own a building like this for over a decade. In 2010, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake damaged the Eureka Municipal Auditorium building where the Ink People was located long-term, displacing the nonprofit.

This is the fifth location they’ve moved into since.

“This is a historic moment for us because we’ve never had our own location that we knew that we could plan to be in,” said Castellano.

The building is at least a century old. Greta Fennelly, administrative coordinator/project manager, has found it’s historically been home to a sanatorium and the Meyer Bistrins clothing store. It’s also held nightlife venues Club West, Indigo, Aunty Mo’s, the short-lived Eureka Alibi and most recently Rose’s Billiards.

But for the past few years, it’s been another vacant building along U.S. Highway 101. It was dark and gloomy, nicknamed “the cave” when renovations began.

“I think it’s important to renovate these old buildings because they really have so much historical value, and we really need to bring downtown back to life,” said contractor Bill Lenhoff, who’s taken on the renovation project. (“I’m a sucker for a challenge,” he noted.)

Since January, they’ve gutted a loft area, tore out a smoking room, changed the floor plan for the organization’s office space and made some open areas for folks to work.

Plus, over the past 10 days, a bright mural has gradually appeared outside.

Lucas Thornton designed the mural, and was painting it along with artist Kyle Sanders on Tuesday — they’ve battled wind tunnels and foggy mornings this October.

Thornton said he was inspired by an approach described by Keith Haring, allowing the lines to drive your work, bringing up symbols and shapes from your subconscious.

“If you let go of doubt and just let the line go free, then you’re creating more spontaneously and more along the lines of what your true hand is,” he said.

He used primary colors, partially due to time constraints, the kind that children use when they start out.

“It is something that is more of a free expression, which I think really represents what Ink People is,” said Thornton, who started mural painting in junior high in an after-school program with his mentor Duane Flatmo.

Sanders said the mural aims to be eye-catching and bold. Both artists noted a couple from Tel Aviv recently complimented the mural. It struck them as meaningful that, despite war and language barriers, people can identify symbols and find joy in the piece.

There’s still more work planned for the building ahead. Lenhoff said there’s additional ADA accessibility renovations in this phase of construction.

There’s a smattering of empty rooms. Sometime in the future, the organization aims to have a restaurant operating in the corner of the building as an Indigenous foods project, plus a youth-run coffee shop.

“Our grand opening is kind of also a humble offering to come participate and be in the space together. Do we think everything’s going to be perfect and, like, finished? Probably not,” said Castellano.

“We know that the space will evolve with the people who participate in it, and that’s part of who we are,” she said.

She said the organization’s long term goal of bringing a center downtown will boost the economy and general vibrancy of Eureka.

See event information for Saturday’s ribbon cutting and celebration event below! Stay tuned for future programs on the Ink People’s Facebook page or their website.

Get ready to get creative, a new hub for arts & culture is here!

Next Saturday, join the Ink People for a ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration of our new location in the heart of downtown Eureka!

The ribbon cutting, with support from the Eureka Chamber, will take place at 5pm on October 17, 2026. The Ink People’s location will be open to the public from 5pm - 10pm that night with an Ink People Friends and Family Gallery Show, performances by DreamMaker Projects, and light food for the community to enjoy.

Get a first glimpse of the new mural, being painted by muralist team Lucas Thornton and Kyle Sanders! They will be bringing color to the exterior of the building, highlighting this as a place where creativity thrives.

A full schedule of community activities at the new space will be announced soon.

Thank you to our community that has been generous with their time, skills, and support! This is a space where collaborative creative dreams can come to fruition- we are looking forward to welcoming folks in.

The Ink People’s new location is located at 535 5th Street (on the corner of 5th and G), Eureka. Since 1979 the Ink People has been changing lives by connecting the community with resources for cultural development. We encourage people to exercise their humanity, build civic discourse, and engage their creative potential. We are actively weaving arts and culture into the fabric of our community