The College of the Redwoods Creative Arts Gallery will present the 2021 "Art Faculty & Staff Exhibition" from Nov. 18 to Jan. 21. There will be a live Zoom discussion with artists on Nov. 18 from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Participating artists include Shannon Sullivan, Cynthia Hooper, Dean Smith, David Wilson, Ben Funke, L. L. Kessner, Mina Cohen, Mary Mallahan, Laura Meglemre and James Adam Taylor. Works on display include painting, sculpture, mixed media, digital media, watercolor, ceramic, photography, fiber arts and video.

The "Art Faculty & Staff Exhibition" showcases the work of CR's Art Department faculty and staff, with a focus on novel process and experimentation, as well as varied personal, metaphorical, and ecological themes. Exhibited artworks include updates from ongoing projects, explorations into mediums both familiar and exploratory, and works reflecting the realities of post-pandemic life.

New works include a series of experimental watercolors by Professor Shannon Sullivan, representing a departure from her traditional use of ceramics and 3D constructions. Sullivan's new watercolor on paper works emerged after a residency at Dorland Artist Colony in 2020. The medium has proven a vital practice for Sullivan and allowed her to stay engaged in art making during the past year.

"Nola Sunset" is a ceramic piece by Ben Funke. (Submitted)

Professor Cynthia Hooper will be exhibiting a short documentary video from her forthcoming Anadromous Architectures Project — an interdisciplinary project about Chinook salmon in California's Central Valley. The project describes the fragmented river systems and concerted recovery efforts now underway for this iconic and imperiled species. Her video "Spring Run" (one of three in the project) describes one particularly endangered Chinook's remaining habitat — including the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento Valley's Butte Creek — from the perspective of the human populations who also live, work and play there.

Other exhibited works to be shown include mixed media and collage work by Cohen and Kessner, photography by Wilson and figurative drawings by Smith.

Over the last year, Cohen revisited older work and encaustic medium to produce new pieces reflecting the state of the world and the possibility to begin anew. Wilson has long been captivated by the beauty of darkness, and the variability of light captured under Humboldt County's nocturnal conditions. Smith's pastel works reflect the current realities of life drawing, particularly, that masks must be worn by otherwise nude figures. Kessner will present a new body of mixed media that explores ideas associated with space, biography, mythology and other themes.

"Flower Moon Eclipse" is a photograph on metal by David Wilson. (David Wilson/Mindscapefx.com)

Division secretary Laura Meglemre and interim gallerist James Adam Taylor will make their CR gallery debuts and instructors Ben Funke and Mary Mallahan will present new two- and three-dimensional works.

Registration for the Zoom artists' talk is available at https://redwoods-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIlcuCtrT8pGNSEGPvpv5VfLPdrhLpj95xF.

The Creative Arts Gallery at College of the Redwoods is located on the Eureka Main Campus, North Entrance and is open Monday through Thursday, noon to 4 p.m. and by appointment. The gallery will be closed from Dec 9 through Jan 24 for the winter academic break. For more information, call the Art Department office at 707-476-4559 or visit redwoods.edu/artgallery.