Understory

16mm Film Projection w Live Music and Poetry

Film: Adele Horne
Cello improvisation: Marcia Sloane
Poetry: Devreaux Baker, Eve Luckring.

Understory is a 16 mm film exploration of the Redwood Forest floor (30 mins.)

Filmed in extreme close-up, in short burst, the film gives the feeling of exploring the forest floor on hands and knees, blinking at the wonders illuminated by the shifting light. Some of the film is processed with a homemade eco-developer made from the bark of a fallen redwood tree.

Marcia Sloane will perform live cello improvisation to accompany the film. Devereaux Baker and Eve Luckring will read poems reflecting on the forest and environs.

Green Thumb Trio! Live at the MAC, Saturday - June 13th.

Avery Tytla (She/Her) grew up in Southeastern Connecticut listening to her father’s motown records from a young age and developed a deep obsession for all things groove.

A sought-after supporting musician, her playing has been described as “risky, countermelodic, butt-kicking and unapologetic” and takes inspiration from over 15 years of playing jazz, funk, indie rock, Celtic folk, Latin fusion and more.

She is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area and regularly plays both electric and upright bass with the UC Berkeley big band, the Montclair Jazz Education Ensemble, Oakland-based queer Latin rock band Tierra Suelta, and indie folk band Nightjars.

Insta: @paisley_punk

Christian Conaway (They/Them) lives and dreams music.

They are a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and musical artist. Their music is described as virtuosic, soulful, and mischievous, stemming from 2 decades of learning and performing music.

With influences from Bach to Bowie, Celtic to Jazz, Christian works to create music that opens up the webs of connection between nature, cultural, and the celebration of sound.

On their own time, they organize Queer Jazz Jams in the Bay, Research and program

Audio Visual art pieces, and teach music lessons throughout California.

Insta: @illb3bach

Christian Conaway (They/Them) lives and dreams music.

They are a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and musical artist. Their music is described as virtuosic, soulful, and mischievous, stemming from 2 decades of learning and performing music.

With influences from Bach to Bowie, Celtic to Jazz, Christian works to create music that opens up the webs of connection between nature, cultural, and the celebration of sound.

On their own time, they organize Queer Jazz Jams in the Bay, Research and program

Audio Visual art pieces, and teach music lessons throughout California.

Insta: @illb3bach

Join us for a fun new artistic venture and make a beautiful blue Cyanotype print of your very own in 15-30 minutes!
This is part of our June Second Saturday event.

Event Pricing: 5” x 7” prints $15  & 8” x 10” prints $25   (To be paid at the time of printing) 

Event Description: Join us for a fun new artistic venture and make a beautiful blue Cyanotype print of your very own in 15-30 minutes!

Date: June 13th
Times: 12noon - 6pm
Level: All / None
Membership Price:  N/A     

Workshop Description:
The Cyanotype process was discovered in the 1840s, and is a great way to combine the soothing blue of the Mendocino coast ocean with the rich history of this place, while making art by hand from your favorite Mendocino memories.

This isn't a structured workshop -- just drop in anytime and make prints by hand from photos in your smart phone, or stencils, drawings or objects provided by the studio. The studio will provide all necessary materials and expertly guide you through the process -- ANYONE can make Cyanotype art.

This “Drop into the Blue” Art In Action event will be held in the Rogan Studio off of our studio courtyard.  Shane will be available to take payment on the spot, charging by the size of print you would like to make and then will guide you through this process using a photo from your phone. 

5” x 7” prints $15
8” x 10” prints $25

About the Instructor:
Shane began his photography career in Boise, Idaho in the late 1990's, through his desire to reveal the meaning inherent in relationships between people and places. From 2003 to 2005, Shane built a comprehensive, year-long photojournalism program for 80 students and 10 teachers in 6 Boise-area high schools, funded by the state of Idaho and featured in Photo District News Magazine. In 2005, Shane moved to San Francisco to pursue his Master of Fine Art degree from Academy of Art University, which he completed in 2008. It was during this time that he continued his Boise-born fascination with "old-world" traditions by beginning an ongoing photographic exploration of San Francisco's 150-year-old Dolphin Swimming & Boating Club. As part of that exploration, Shane began working with the cyanotype process, which he used to complete the first phase of that exploration, a 16-image collection entitled "Swimming With Ghosts".

Shane's photographic work has been displayed nationwide in galleries such as the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado, The Vermont Photographic Workplace, and Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco. Shane's work has been selected by prestigious professionals such as Mary Ellen Mark, Andy Adams of Flak Photo Magazine and Cig Harvey. Shane also spent four months in Tamil Nadu, India, as a guest lecturer in India's premier private photography college, Light & Life Academy. From 2008-2014, Shane taught cyanotype, Photoshop, digital printing and other classes in San Francisco's Harvey Milk Photo Center, one of the oldest and largest community darkrooms in the nation.

Shane is now the proud owner and operator of Cyan Art Studio, part of the Art Scene Collective in Downtown Fort Bragg, California.

We’re proud to sponsor Cheri Gaulke’s film, “Acting Like Woman” at this years Mendocino Film Festival. MAC director Dav Bell will be doing a Q&A with Cheri Gaulke after the screening.

Location/time: MATHESON - Sunday, May 31, 1:00 pm 89 min

Filmmakers:  Cheri Gaulke (Director), Anne Gauldin ( Co-Writer and Producer),  and Meg Linton, (Producer).

Valerie Mendocino in collaboration with the
Mendocino Art Center

Please join us for a participatory screening of Brokeback Mountain on May 7 at Valerie, 10546 Lansing Street, Mendocino. Artist Natalie Woodlock has been organizing screenings of Ang Lee’s film, handing out handkerchiefs at the beginning of the movie, and afterwards asking viewers to write down the scenes that make them cry. She embroiders the names of each person who sheds tears on their handkerchief, and illustrates the scenes that bring viewers to tears for her artists’ book Tearjerker. 

This event is co-presented by The Mendocino Arts Center, Valerie and the artist. It is the first stop in Woodlock’s screening tour down the West Coast, through the Southwest and Texas. Doors open at 6 p.m.; the screening starts at 6:30 p.m.

When Brokeback Mountain was released in 2005, it immediately became a cultural touchstone. This film definitively summed up the pre-Stonewall era, quickly embedding itself within queer cultural memory. The participatory screenings and forthcoming artists’ book are works of sentimental collaboration, highlighting the connective possibility and collective power of popular film. By illustrating the scenes from Brokeback Mountain that bring viewers to tears, Woodlock hopes to memorialize the circle of sympathy present at each screening in the pages of each book. 

The artist will have prints for sale at the event—illustrations of scenes that previous audiences have cried during. Handkerchiefs provided.

An evening of drum activation, artist dialogue, and shared food – honoring African musical traditions and community!

*A Djali is a historian, storyteller and musician, who preserves tradition and culture in West African societies.

“The First Beat” is going to be powerful event rooted in craft, community, and celebration.

Join us May 2nd from 4 - 7pm  as we gather at MAC for the debut, activation, and celebration of newly created Senegalese drums.

We’re delighted to welcome visiting artists Saliou M’Boup (@sal_ee_uu), Adama Diouf (@ada_boyla) and stewards of the Ridgewood Ranch in Willits for a powerful evening of music, culture, and celebration of craft.

This event is to celebrate the making of three beautiful cowhide drums that will be made during a Senegalese Animal-to-Drum Making Workshop on hosted in Willits by M’Boup, Diouf, and Ridgewood Ranch.

As part of a blessing for the drums Mendocino Art Center is hosting their debut celebration with an artist talk, followed by procession and activation with visiting artists and local African dance and drumming performers.

Towards the end of the night we’ll also be treated to a community meal made by local chef Chantelle Sookram (@sookram_chantelle)

Can’t wait for you to join us on May 2nd!

But wait…want to help make the drums we’ll be activating?!

Be sure to sign up for the Senegalese Animal-to-Drum Making Workshop on April 26th at Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, CA, where participants will work alongside Saliou, Adama, and others to craft communal drums from the hide of a cow raised on the ranch.

The workshop includes small bites prepared from the same cow, honoring the full cycle from animal to instrument.

This workshop and following event are living celebrations of land, lineage, craft, and culture. We’re looking forward to celebrating with you!

* If attending the Activation & Community Meal feel free to bring percussion/spiritual instruments of your own.

$80 (Sliding scale for activation/performance and meal)
Use discount code: DRUM30 at checkout to receive 30% off for sliding scale price or email education@mendocinoartcenter for further discount pricing.

About the Instructor(s): 

Saliou M’Boup is a multi-instrumental musician specializing in West African and Senegalese drumming, songwriting, and teaching. Based in Los Angeles, CA, he continues his family legacy of playing and  teaching West African music which he learned from his mother and father at a young age. His father, Bara M’Boup, is a Senegalese storyteller of oral tradition (griot) and master drummer who traveled to America as the director of music for Ballet Bougarabou. His mother Mindy is a prolific dancer and student of the illustrious Guinean dancer, Youssouf Koumbassa.

Saliou co-created the djembe drum curriculum that is used in public schools around California and teaches African drumming in the Los Angeles Unified School System and plays with Adama Diouf in the musical group, “The Mafe Ensemble.”

Adama Diouf recently moved to Los Angeles from Senegal where he is a drum instructor in the local public schools. In Senegal, Adama spent his younger years traveling the country performing healing ceremonies and learning the history of each traditional song and rhythm. When a member of the community fell ill, their family would gather some money and ask Adama and his group to come and heal the afflicted individual with their music. Adama was also an expert in “drum butchery” or breaking down livestock to make drums. Adama currently performs with his cousin Saliou M’Boup in the musical group, “The Mafe Ensemble.”

“Between sun-split skin and biting my nails, rubbing my fingertips against the hand of the one I love, I embrace the perspective of death. In turn, I become aware of the underworld that teems beneath me.”

—Worm Girl 

from the mouths of worms is an ongoing project that investigates decomposition as an essential element of fathoming our own subconscious descents. The vitality of any system depends not only on purity but on its capacity to transform waste. The worm, a hidden figure with the capacity to catalyze total transformation, traverses this realm as a living symbol of psyche while acting as a channel into the subconscious itself. It is a messenger, an accomplice, a friend, a foe—a creature of the underworld that transmutes, paves, and metabolizes the cry for regeneration. The psyche and the soil are bound by the same principle: renewal through decomposition.

Kaile Teramoto is a visual artist, researcher, and storyteller based in Northern California. Her work centers around examining decomposition and how it relates to the human experience. She often explores these themes through the lens of “Worm Girl”—a fictitious character who fearlessly braves the underworld by virtue of finding new meaning.

Fallafel pop-up with Noura Alharari and Niki Robbins in collaboration with MendoForPalestine from 2-6pm.

A gathering for ‘the things that are not yours to carry alone’, hosted by Grace Brown at Hillcrest Cemetery.

TRY IT AND SEE: THE STORY BEHIND MUSHROOM DYES

Directed by Martin Beebee
Saturday, February 28th at 6pm

Mushrooms are now widely used as a source for natural dyes. Many dyers today may not know that it all began with an accidental discovery by Miriam Rice, an artist from Mendocino, California. Miriam would later write the first book on using mushrooms as a source of natural dyes in the 1970’s called “Let’s Try Mushrooms for Color.” This groundbreaking dye book was illustrated by artist and friend, Dorothy Beebee. Here, Dorothy gives a behind the scenes look into one slice of the early history of mushroom dyes, the expansion of their work into two additional books, and her thoughts on the future of mushroom dyes.

Film trailer: Click below for the trailer for On Heavy Lifting. The film features Mendocino Coast dancer, Kara Starkweather.

Join us for a contemplative conversation around death, dying and life inside the Natural Death exhibition 

This full moon death cafe on lunar Imbolc invite us to feel into the space between breaths, between death and birth, that time before dawn is on the horizon. 

This is not a grief group, it is not rooted in an understanding that death must be sad or painful, however it is a place where all emotions are welcome, tears and laughter. All are welcome, come as you are and let us see what emerges together

Gluten free cake from Happy Hermit Bakery and tea provided.

The Mendocino Art Center presents Altar The Present, a jewelry and wearable art show that explores the possibility of embodied altars, where jewelry acts as a tool for storytelling, through personal imagination and collective mythology.

Each artist invites the viewer into their fabulous wear, the body becomes an altar, a place of ritual, a reimagining of the temple. Wearable art has the potential to deepen our presence with the things that we make, heightening our senses within the inanimate, blurring the lines between self and object. When we truly slow down and embrace the present, it's not simply about a pause, but a commune and alchemization with everything around us. 

Through the merging and wielding of earth, fire, water and air, Adorn The Present splays the ancient onto the table before us. 

Featuring the work of Brienna Hall, Hanna-Katarina, and our 2025 resident artists

Sofia Gonzalez, Eden Tighe.

also featuring work by

Nancy Gardner,

Catherine Sieck

Gabrielle Valenti 

Aesa

Grace Potter

Car Nazzal

April Sandoval

Anya Jindrich

Lynda Shiedfield

Patrice Byarlay

Katie Applebaum,

Sakshi Mathuria

Tony Finocchio

E.A.R.T.H. Lab SF present:

A Documentary Film by Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle

Screening and Filmmaker Artist Talk: Dec 4th at 6pm

USA | 2025 | Documentary | 71 min | Color

“Fire is one of our greatest teachers. It can destroy, but it can also illuminate a path forward. In these turbulent times. Playing with Fire offers a sense of hope, ecosensual pleasure and connection.”

Ecosexuality is a conceptual art innovation that we have developed since 2008. It shifts the metaphor from “Earth as Mother” to “Earth as Lover” to inspire a more reciprocal relationship between humans and the non-human realms. By incorporating this concept into our films, we engage our viewer’s imaginations, add humor, and celebrate the Earth’s delights to draw meaningful attention to urgent environmental justice issues.

Icons Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle – partners for 23 years - from their redwood forest home during the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires in Northern California. But the wildfire is just the beginning of their transformative journey, as they craft a cinematic documentary reckoning with the power of fire - with its capacity to destroy and renew. Created through an ecosexual lens (imagining the Earth as a lover), this vibrant story weaves a tale of resilience, queer love, and environmental awakening, narrated by a mythic white peacock. Instead of fighting fire, can we learn to live with fire?

Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency documents the couple’s adventures in the wake of disaster, while also honoring the broader communities impacted by ecological and social fires.

Enlisting a collective of artists, Indigenous elders, witches, formerly incarcerated firefighters, and educators, Stephens & Sprinkle examine the ways in which queers - and all humans - can support the health of the Earth. The film features an electric score by experimental music composer Guillermo Galindo, Lady Monster’s fire tassel-twirling burlesque, a dangerous full-body fire stunt by the artist Cassils, a volcanic fire-play massage with sex educator Barbara Carrellas, and an empassioned ritual by performance poet Guillermo Gómez-Peña.

Partially narrated by Boulder Creek’s mythical white peacock Albert, the film includes the cremation of Annie’s mother’s body, an ecosex scene in a burnt forest, and a ceremonial Wedding to Fire by the river —a symbolic embrace of the very element that threatened to destroy them.

Playing with Fire is Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle’s the third film in their trilogy of groundbreaking queer environmental documentaries. It started with Goodbye Gauley Mountain–An Ecosexual Love Story (2013), which critically investigated mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) in West Virginia, focusing on the people and communities affected and the corporations employing this extraction technique. Their second film, Water Makes Us Wet-An Ecosexual Adventure (2017), explored the pleasures and politics of water, and its conservation, commodification, and sustainability. Building on the international acclaim and success of their first two films, this third chapter is their most epic and daring yet—fusing art, activism, and intimate storytelling in a touching journey through crisis, change, and renewal.

This film dares to imagine a future not just of survival, but of rebirth. It is an urgently creative call-to-action as the climate crises worsens, and a powerful portrait of queer resilience in the face of a world in flames.

In collaboration with the Mendocino Film Festival, the Mendocino Art Center will be hosting a Film Screening of the film ‘Mauri’ at Valerie Mendocino.
Friday, Nov. 21st at 6pm (Doors open at 5:30pm)

Mauri is a cinematic invitation into the healing traditions of Aotearoa, a journey carried by Māori healers, elders, and knowledge keepers who tend to intergenerational wounds through land, language, and ceremony.

Filmed in close relationship with those who carry ancestral wisdom, Mauri reveals how healing is not an individual pursuit but a collective remembering — guided by spirit, whenua (land), and the relational threads that colonial disruption could not sever.

With breathtaking imagery and intimate storytelling, the film brings us into the spaces where trauma is not “treated” but held, where stories, prayers, medicines, and rituals offer pathways back to connection.

Mauri does not explain Māori healing. It moves with it — listening to what still pulses beneath silence, and honoring what remains alive in the hands of those who never forgot.

Mendicino Sister Cities Association Sake Tasting Evening is back on Saturday, November 8th at 5 to 7:00 PM at the Mendocino Arts Center!

We are thrilled to invite you to an authentic sake experience evening. You can choose your favorite sake cup from a vast selection of cups, made by the coast artist at the Mendocino College Coast Center ceramics studio. Each cup is unique with each artist's style and character.

$30: A cup with three taste

$15: 3 Taste (No Cup)

$7: 1 taste (no cup).

This is a fundraising event for Mendocino Sisters Cities Association, and your contribution will support our student exchange program, our artist exchange program, and Mendocino Oban Festival. We are committed to fostering cultural understanding in our community. Thank you so much for your support.

See you there!

September 25th through November 2nd, 2025

Opening Reception: Saturday October 11th, 2025, 5-7pm
Closing Reception during Native Arts Expo 9: Saturday October 24th, 2025
4-6pm (Artist Talk 5-6pm)

We are excited to be the featured exhibit during the Native Arts Expo 9 on October 24th and 25th, 2025.  Join us for the artist panel and closing reception on October 24th, from 4 to 6pm. 

Momím Wené: Medicine Water is an art exhibit about tribal relationships and the stories of our people and our waterways.  With the changing of times, these tribal histories vary throughout California Indian Country. 

The Momím Wené: Medicine Water exhibit will be flowing across Central California to the home of the Coastal Pomo where we will be incorporating their regional voices to the continuing story of Medicine Water.

Participating artists include  Carson Bates, Deerstine Suehead, Eric Wilder, Jessica Proctor, Steven Saffold, Shanti Parks, Lyn Risling, Skye Innerarity, Melissa Melero-Moose, Siranika Johnson, Raymond LeBeau, Michelle Napoli, Billy Hawk Enos, Crystal Pagal, Vince LaPena, Anthony Burris, Petee Ramirez, Delana Galvan, Tiffany Adams, Jacinda Tayaba-Cordero, Jacky Calanchini, Kat Solares, Jacquelyn Ross, Jamie Lanouette LaPena, Jeanette Innerarity, Jeremy Peconom, Kai LaPena, Koppa Enos, Malissa Tayaba, Meyokeeskow Marrufo, Silver Galleto, Victorio Shaw, and Viola LeBeau.

Please join us! Sitapáy’omís, 

Enjoy a meal by the sea while supporting
the arts and the community

We’re thrilled to share that the Ledford House Restaurant and the Noyo Harbor Inn are partnering with the MAC for a special evening of food, community, and generosity. 

Both restaurants will generously donate a % of all dinner sales to MAC—directly fueling the arts, cultural programs, and creative community you help sustain.

Come for the sunset, stay for the food, and leave knowing you’ve nourished more than yourself—you’ve helped our whole community thrive.

Enjoy a meal by the sea while supporting
the arts and the community

We’re thrilled to share that the Ledford House Restaurant and the Noyo Harbor Inn are partnering with the MAC for a special evening of food, community, and generosity. 

Both restaurants will generously donate a % of all dinner sales to MAC—directly fueling the arts, cultural programs, and creative community you help sustain.

Come for the sunset, stay for the food, and leave knowing you’ve nourished more than yourself—you’ve helped our whole community thrive.

Join us for a special evening of Kashaya Pomo storytelling with Eric Wilder, celebrating the living stories that inspire his art. ericwildergraphics.com

The 3rd Annual Mendocino Obon Festival will be held on Saturday, August 9, 2025 at the Mendocino Art Center lawns between 12 pm and 4 pm.

The stage performances (FREE ADMISSION) include Taiko, Nihon Buyo, Bonsai Demo, Haiku Poem, Traditional Japanese Music, and Ukulele.

Kid-friendly Hands-On activities ($5 - $15) offer a range of Japanese cultural experiences, such as Ikebana, Suminagashi, Gyotaku, and more. Delicious Bento, Ramen, Kawaii Snacks, and Gluten Free Baked Goods are available for purchase. An Artist Market and Silent Auction are also happening at the event. The Bon Odori will close the event, which everyone can join. The net proceeds will support Mendocino Sister Cities Association, specifically our Student Exchange Program and Artist Exchange Program between Mendocino and Omachi-Miasa, Nagano, Japan.

Enjoy an authentic Japanese Festival at a charming coastal village!

Art Explorers is pleased to present A PROGRESSIVE ENSEMBLE, a group exhibition highlighting artwork from eight progressive art studios at the historic Mendocino Art Center.

Co-curated by the studio artists at Art Explorers, this exhibition is a celebration of the vibrant communities of artists participating in progressive art studios throughout the country and the contributions these individuals are making to the contemporary art world.

It is a pleasure to share this world of creativity with Mendocino County on the 25th anniversary year of the Art Explorers studio art program. This exhibition is made possible through a partnership with our friends at the Mendocino Art Center, and features artwork across mediums including painting, weaving, sculpture, and mixed media.

Participating studios include Alchemia (Petaluma, CA); Art Explorers (Fort Bragg, CA); Cedars Art Studios (Ross, CA); Center for Creative Works (Wynnewood, PA); Elbow Room (Portland, OR); Fresh Eye Arts (Twin Cities, MN); Make Studio (Baltimore, MD); Neighborhood Center of the Arts (Grass Valley, CA).

We invite you to join us to celebrate this amazing group of artists at the Mendocino Art Center. A PROGRESSIVE ENSEMBLE is an opportunity to come together in joy and broaden our community, and to stand united with progressive art studios across the country in the fight for social visibility, inclusion, and respect.

Dear Poets and lovers of poetry,

Please join us Saturday, June 28th, 4-6 pm at the Mendocino Art Center
to celebrate the book launch of Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women
Poets Anthology. Gallery Books will be selling copies at the event.
The format for this event will follow the usual Open Mic reading series
format. We will have a sign-up sheet for poets who wish to read their
work from the anthology in the first hour, a brief break, and more open
mic poetry in the second hour.
Snacks and beverages will be provided and I hope you can all come to
help celebrate the poetry of Mendocino County.

Where: Mendocino Art Center Main Gallery