North Coast Open Studios returns with 150 artists across Humboldt County

Roughly 150 Humboldt County artists are opening studios and galleries from Eureka to Trinidad and east to Willow Creek, turning the county into a free, direct-buy art crawl. North Coast Open Studios, now in its 26th year, is set for a second weekend of tours June 13 and 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., after a kickoff art night June 5 and a first weekend June 6 and 7.

Started in 1999 by local artists Sasha Pepper and Susan Fox, North Coast Open Studios was built as a countywide community art event that lets visitors step inside working spaces, talk with artists and see the creative process up close. Organizers say the event brings together thousands of local and regional visitors, and this year’s format keeps that reach broad, with some artists open both weekends, others open only one weekend, and some available by appointment. The public can enter for free, browse the work and buy directly from makers.

That spread matters as much as the number of artists. The tour runs across familiar corners of the county, from the coast in Eureka and Trinidad to inland stops near Willow Creek, making the event one of the few weekends when Humboldt’s visual-art scene feels truly countywide. In Old Town Eureka, the soft opening overlapped with the Eureka Friday Night Market, sending foot traffic from one public gathering place into another and turning an evening out into an impromptu gallery crawl.

At 40° North Gallery, Laura Corsiglia showed 15 new Aftermath drawings on black paper, a stark reminder that the arts economy here is also a recovery story. Corsiglia was one of four 10th Street Studio artists, along with Carol Andersen, Peggy Rivers and Van Shields, who lost their studio and much of their art in the Jan. 2 fire in Arcata. A Humboldt Arts Council page says Andersen, Corsiglia and Rivers have more than 110 years of art-making experience between them, underscoring the scale of what was lost.

For Humboldt County, the weekend is about more than browsing finished work. It is a chance to see how artists earn a living, how neighborhoods pull in visitors, and how creative spaces stay visible after a major loss. North Coast Open Studios ties those threads together, from the county’s busiest streets to its quieter studios, and gives residents a direct look at the people making the work.