Jessica Slayton's mural at the College of the Redwoods' Food Forest is meant to celebrate healthy, local and traditional food. Photo courtesy of DNACA.

Jessica Slayton and Lila Moore unveiled a mural at the College of the Redwoods Food Forest in Crescent City she made with a 2020 Funds for Artists' Resilience (FAR) grant.

From a Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness news release:

Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness (DNACA) is happy to announce 2020 Funds for Artists’ Resilience (FAR) public art grant awardee Jessica Slayton has completed her artwork project. Inspired by the public arts project of the 1930s, FAR was an initiative that made grants to artists who experienced hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, and empowered them to produce art to inspire the community. The grants were made possible by the Humboldt Area Foundation, through The Ink People in Humboldt county, and included awards to artists in Del Norte, Humboldt, and Trinity counties.

Slayton’s project is a mural painted onto a 24 x 8-foot shipping container at the Food Forest Project, located at the College of the Redwoods Del Norte Campus, at 883 W. Washington Boulevard in Crescent City. The shipping container functions as a community farm stand and tool lending library. Leila Moore also contributed to the project.

In her grant application, Slayton stated “The mural represents our local area and the people it holds. Through my art, I hope to give the community a sense of inclusion and openness... (and) I want the imagery to inspire (us) to eat healthy, local, and traditional food.” Slayton designed the mural with Tolowa, Hmong, and Hispanic designs to represent those cultures as well.

Stephanie La Torre, Executive Director of DNACA, said “We are grateful to those who made this program possible, and we were happy to be able to fund local artists to create beautiful and thoughtful art for our community. These artworks will be available for many years to come, and celebrate the resilience of our community members.”

In 2020 FAR issued a call for public art proposals expressing the theme of resilience. In Del Norte county, two FAR grants were awarded. The second awardee, Julia Smiley, is currently creating art inspired by her work with residents at Harrington House. Her project will be available for viewing starting October 7, 2021 at the Del Norte County Courthouse as part of DNACA’s Art in Public Places program.

For more information about DNACA, please visit dnaca.net.

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