City of Healdsburg Hands Out 2nd Round of Public Art Grants

Back in April, Healdsburg city leaders handed out their second-ever round of public art grants to six local initiatives “intended to enrich the public environment for city residents and visitors.” This year’s winners split a pool of $50,000. City Councilmember Chris Herrod, who has a great newsletter of his own (you can subscribe here), published a full list of the city grant recipients in a recent issue. Here’s a summary. First, $700 will go to an adorable “little free art gallery” called Lil’ Moha — short for the Little Museum of Healdsburg Art. It will take the form of a little hut-like thing outside someone’s house near the intersection of East and North streets, where “anyone can contribute or take home small pieces of art” as a way to “democratize art and foster a community of creativity and sharing.” Next, we have $10,000 going to programming at The 222 live music and performance art venue, which lives inside the giant Paul Mahder Gallery hangar building on Healdsburg Avenue. In particular, the money will go to events “highlighting culture and traditions of indigenous communities in Northern California” and “a program on the fictional depiction of Martin Luther King Jr’s last night at the Lorraine Motel on the eve of his assassination,” which actually happened already. Next up: $5,000 for a river art project that involves, as I understand it, a waterproof camera attached to a platform with a manmade beaver hut on it. This contraption will float on the Russian River (and/or other local creeks) and record footage that will then be streamed into local hotels and other Healsburg hotspots. The project, called called “Your River, Downtown,” debuted at Climate Fest and is being spearheaded by Healdsburg High School art teacher Linus Lancaster — who seems to have his hands in pretty much everything cool that happens around here — as well as some of his students and local artist Hugh Livingston. The goal being to create “a sense of community around the Russian River and its vital role in Healdsburg, demonstrating how artwork can connect audiences to important ecological issues,” according to the project’s website. “Currently confirmed participants hosting a video display are: Cartograph tasting room, Craftwork co-working space, Livingston Projects @Loft120, Harmon Guest House. Future participants would likely include high-traffic locations such as City offices, tasting rooms, coffee shops, real estate agencies, hotels, gyms, Chamber of Commerce visitor center.” Next, we’ve got $2,500 for an interactive, tree-like sculpture called “Infinity Mirror” inside the Healdsburg Library. The art piece will be “crafted using reflective materials to create mesmerizing illusions of depth and dimension,” the city says, and will “allow visitors to engage with the artwork on multiple levels, encouraging them to contemplate their own place within the vast universe of knowledge housed within the library’s walls.” The next and largest grant of the bunch — at a cool $19,000 — goes toward a temporary mural on the windows of the Harmon Guest House hotel along Healdsburg Avenue. “Over a six-month timeframe, the mural would allow for the light to transform the artistic image from both within and outside of the hotel, giving viewers a daytime and nighttime experience,” the city says. “The artist would engage the community in ‘Community Workshops’ and begin the installation in June 2024.” And last but definitely not least, $7,300 is going to Yolanda Girón’s wildly popular ballet folklórico group, which practices at the Healdsburg Community Center and can be seen doing their thing in elaborate costumes at any local celebration worth its salt. (Source: Chris Herrod via Mailchimp & City of Healdsburg & Healdsburg Tribune & Livingston Sound & Your River Downtown via Instagram)