Organized from most recent to oldest. You can see the images currently on display on the Opera Alley Exhibit main page.
Highlighting our two current exhibits, paired together showcase the handicraft of women across Humboldt County. Seeing the geometric designs of quilting and basket designs makes you aware of the similarities between the two. Following these two interacting timelines of crafting and cultural history explores great moments of communities coming together and cultural survivance. Showcased here on Opera Alley are items from When Designs Escaped Baskets and quilt squares colored by the community. Be sure to visit inside the museum to see the full exhibitions!

​Sewing Circles: Stitching Together Community +
​When Designs Escaped Baskets 

​Photos from Humboldt Rephotographed
​ Incorporating images from the extensive photography archive housed in the Special Collections at the Humboldt State University Library, these student artworks are experiments in "rephotography.” Blending historic images with contemporary photographs, the collages offer glimpses into Humboldt County’s architectural and economic past and present. Humboldt Rephotographed is a project assigned in ART 395: Art & Place, a course that brings together students from the Art and Environmental Studies departments to examine the ways photography can be used as both a documentary tool and the means for personal expression.  The exhibition is curated by Nicole Jean Hill, Professor of Art. Artists participated include Guliana Sarto, Shana Bishop, Blake Hildabrand, Rae Medina, Tyler Boydstun, Rae Medina, Pedro Uribe-Godoy, Ryan Sendejas, Gianna Orozco, Nich Graham, and Cecilia Carabez.

Photos from Humboldt County Industries

Winter in Humboldt and Victorian Christmas Cards

Fortuna High School Photography and Design

Fortuna High School photography students created photographs creating visual interpretations on what the Redwood National and State parks represent to them. Photography and design is an elective course taught by Daniel Holmes at Fortuna High School. ​

​Arcata High School: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Redwood National and State Parks

The Clarke Historical Museum is proud to present a new exhibition on our Opera Alley Art Wall created by Arcata High School Digital Photography students.

Artist Statement

Arcata High School photography students created photos reflecting on what the Redwood National and State Parks mean to them. Digital Photograph is an elective class taught by Johanna Mauro and Emily Evans at Arcata High School

For more information, email [email protected]
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As part of the display, the public was encouraged to contribute their redwood story through words or drawings that were then wheatpasted to the wall. 
The first comments were wheatpasted during the opening night for the main hall exhibit "The Redwoods Provide(d)". The second round was added during the Eureka Street Art Festival in August. See photos from the Street Art Festival installation below!

​Infrared Photography by Johanna Mauro, Arcata Art Institute

Artist Statement

I teach visual and media arts at Arcata High School and am the Director of the Arcata Arts Institute. I bought an infrared camera in 2007 on a whim and have been amazed by it ever since. I love how images taken in infrared seem to reveal a hidden universe that is right in front of us. The ordinary becomes extraordinary and the extraordinary becomes other worldly. I love the high contrast black and white images that emphasizes dramatic light and composition. 

For more information, email [email protected]

Installing the Exhibit

Humboldt State Art Curriculum Development and Service Learning Classes, featuring the work of Cecily Chavira and Sam Fabian

​Over the course of the Fall Semester of 2017, students enrolled in the Curriculum Development and Service Learning classes in the Art Education area of Humboldt State University’s Art Department, with instructor Jim Woglom, worked to paint a 12’ by 40’ mural of Pleistocene Era megafauna on the exterior wall of the Educational Trailer at HSU’s Natural History Museum. The students toiled through weeks of mercurial weather patterns, diligently working to illustrate realistic interpretations of animals that roamed the American West over six thousand years ago, so that the experts at the museum could use the piece as an interpretive aid for their instruction of visiting school students. The images in this series depict our Art Education cohort making and emerging landmark become a culturally impactful and educative reality.

Fortuna High School Photography and Graphic Design

Displayed from December 1, 2017 to Feb 1,  2018
Digital photography is booming these days with people having 24-7 access to cameras. Daniel Holmes’s class at Fortuna High is about learning to see the world’s compositions through a lens. Students take pictures on any device that will record a thought, moment, or design and then add their creativity while editing them in Photoshop. Students learn about digital photography, graphics, and editing, as well as photographic terminology and the history of photography. 
Artists featured in this exhibit include: 
  • Ben Pavloff
  • Isabella Vonglakhone
  • Jaedyn Hamilton
  • Jesus Cruz Pimental
  • Jesus Garcia Herrera
  • Marrissa Morrison
  • Miisa Maki
  • Rose Murley

Inaugural Exhibit: Arcata Art Institute

Displayed from September 1 to December 1, 2017
​These images were created by students in the Arcata Arts Institute, a school within a school at Arcata High School for the advanced study of the arts. The Arcata Arts Institute offers Master Classes in a variety of topics. These images were created in an Intermediate Photoshop Master Class taught by Johanna Mauro. You’ll notice that some of these images had slight adjustments made to them which altered the value and contrast, while others were heavily manipulated in Photoshop. One of AAI’s core beliefs is to collaborate with our community. We are pleased to partner with the Clarke Museum in this way. It is the first time we have participated in an outdoor gallery space! To learn more about AAI, please visit our website, artsinstute.net.