Youth in Eureka share foster care stories through photo exhibit

Youth from across Humboldt County used a downtown Eureka gallery Friday to tell their own stories about foster care, mental health programs and juvenile justice, turning a photo exhibit into a public look at systems that usually speak for them.

The free pop-up opened from 2 to 5 p.m. at Schlueter Gallery, 330 Second St. in Eureka. Humboldt County said the show featured youth with lived experience in foster care, mental health programs, juvenile justice and other systems and services, giving them a space to present photographs on their own terms.

The exhibit was organized through the Humboldt County Transition-Age Youth Collaboration, or HCTAYC, which the county describes as a youth advocacy and leadership development organization. Its stated mission is to empower young people with lived experience to transform foster care, juvenile justice, mental health and homelessness service systems, a mission that makes the gallery show more than a one-day art stop.

County program information says the broader Transition-Age Youth program serves young people ages 16 to 26. It is built around tailored, collaborative services that focus on a young person’s strengths, with the goal of helping them thrive at home, school, work and in the community. In that context, the photography exhibit became another county touchpoint for the same age group it serves in daily programs and planning.

The gallery show also fits into a longer Humboldt County pattern. A similar one-day pop-up at Schlueter Gallery in April 2025 carried the title The Humboldt County Youth Experience: Struggle, Connection and Empowerment. KRCR reported that the concept drew inspiration from the Foster Youth Museum and that HCTAYC peer coach Alex Childers said the format let artists work through past trauma without harming themselves or others.

County youth storytelling has also taken shape beyond Eureka. A 2024 HCTAYC event note said eight Humboldt County transition-age youth traveled to a week-long retreat in the Bay Area in summer 2023 as part of a digital storytelling project. Together with the gallery work, the effort shows county youth using cameras, exhibitions and peer-led projects to describe systems from the inside, not through official summaries.