Kinetic Sculpture Lab Moves to 1680 Samoa Boulevard, Seeks Community Help

The Kinetic Sculpture Lab has found a temporary home at 1680 Samoa Boulevard, the former SoilScapes building, and is organizing a series of volunteer workdays to clean, prepare and move decades of kinetic sculptures, tools and materials. The move preserves a locally important maker space and asks the community to step in where time and manpower are tight.

The building at 1680 Samoa Boulevard is described as a cavernous, versatile former waste transfer station, soil business, Safe Parking temporary housing site and derelict building, offering the room the Lab needs for fabrication, collaboration and "mechanical mayhem." Organizers say a small dedicated crew has already spent weeks clearing abandoned encampments and debris to make the site ready for volunteers, an effort that touches on broader issues of homelessness, site sanitation and public safety as the space shifts uses.

Volunteers are invited to a cleanup day Saturday, February 7, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., focused on sorting wood, metal and trash into separate piles, loading material into a dumpster or trailer for the scrapyard, and picking up litter around the property. A larger move-in weekend is planned Saturday and Sunday, February 14 and 15, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., when the community will help transport "33 years of artwork, tools and materials" into the new workshop. Organizers ask volunteers to bring closed-toe shoes, work gloves and a willingness to lift and organize; help of all levels is needed for lifting, loading and planning.

The relocation follows a months-long transition at the Lab’s longtime site on N Street, where the property was purchased in March 2025 to become a "state-of-the-art natural resource management facility" and "hub for dozens of scientists, engineers and support staff conducting fisheries research and river restoration projects across the Klamath Basin and Northern California," according to Matt Mais, a Yurok Tribe spokesperson. Mais said tenants were informed after the purchase, the Lab’s lease would not be renewed after November 30, 2025, and the Tribe offered a one-month extension to ease the transition. The Lab had told followers via Instagram, "We received a 15-day notice yesterday to clear out from our home of 30+ years" and warned that "The last hub of the Kinetic Race, a museum of Kinetic history. We need more time, more help and a new home."

The move raises questions about cultural stewardship, access to shared creative space and how small arts organizations weather displacement while larger community priorities are advanced. Kinetic organizers stressed continuity for the signature event tied to the Lab, with Kinetic Universe offering reassurance: "Don’t fret, friends, the race WILL go on." Kinetic Sculpture Lab leaders have publicly expressed gratitude for the Tribe’s cooperation. "We are deeply thankful to the Yurok Tribe for being such thoughtful and accommodating partners," said Malia Matsumoto, co-captain of team Hamtastic Glory.

For Arcata residents this is both a call to protect a piece of the region’s creative infrastructure and a reminder that community health and equity issues intersect with arts space transitions. The Lab is posting updates and volunteer sign-up information through its website and social channels; neighbors who can spare a few hours on Feb. 7 or Feb. 14–15 can help move a living archive of local kinetic culture into its next chapter.