MAD RIVER UNION, HUMBOLDT, CA, DECEMBER 29, 2022

Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation is proud to announce that five Humboldt County artists are winners of the 2022 Victor Thomas Jacoby award for artistic vision and creativity. Winners receive $10,000 each to support their work.

Each fall, local artists apply through HAF+WRCF for the Victor Thomas Jacoby Award by submitting examples of their work and vision for innovating and pushing their art to the next level.

“Victor was a gifted artist who wanted to recognize the excellence of fellow artists and enable them to broaden their horizons,” said Craig Woods, director of grantmaking. “HAF+WRCF is honored to carry out Victor’s charitable vision by supporting Humboldt County visual artists and craftspeople each year.”

This year’s recipients are:

• Annette Makino – An award-winning haiku poet and artist based in Arcata who combines paintings and collages with her poems. Her work regularly appears in the leading haiku journals and anthologies. Through her business, Makino Studios, she shares her art, cards, calendars, and books. makinostudios.com

• Zak Shea – A McKinleyville-based woodworker, painter, sculptor and carpenter who creates functional and ornamental pieces of art furniture, sculpture, objects such as bowls, trays, carved paintings and countless wall hangings. Pieces of shell, rock, sand, bark, seaweed, as well as junk metal and other scrap materials often find their way into his art. instagram.com/zaksheaart

• Claire MacKenzie – A visual artist in Eureka, Claire has been painting since childhood and loves exploring and combing media. She is currently working in oil, watercolor, encaustic and wool fiber. She often displays artwork publicly, offers private art instruction, and has worked as a graphic designer for more than 20 years. claireastra.com

• Daniel Willson – Doing art again in 2017 after a 30-year hiatus, this multi-talented Humboldt artist started ceramics under the guidance of George Lee at Heartwood Mountain Sanctuary. Willson soon became a studio artist and instructor at Blue Ox Millworks and Historic Village, where he does slip cast sculpture work. He plans to launch his own business, Humboldt Ceramic Designs, in 2023. instagram.com/humboldtceramicdesigns

• Steph Thomas – This black, trans, non-binary multimedia artist brings the culture, power, and beauty of the 415 to the 707. While born and raised in San Francisco, Steph has lived and created in Arcata for more than six years. Their influence is a combination of lived experience and a reflection of the resilience of the black people who live within and around them. Their recent works have been digital paintings focused on the ever-expanding notion of Black Femininity, as well as the multi-faceted existence of Black Women and Femmes occupying space under capitalism. instagram.com/spicyprincezuko/

About Victor Thomas Jacoby

Victor Jacoby, an internationally recognized Eureka visual artist whose chosen medium was French tapestry, established the Victor Thomas Jacoby Fund with HAF+WRCF before his death in 1997 at age 52.

Victor’s vision inspired his friend Dr. Rosalind Novick to make an additional gift to the fund and expand his dream of supporting local artists.

This trust fund is dedicated to supporting Humboldt County visual artists and craftspeople and encourages exploring new ideas, materials, techniques, and mediums.

In addition, the fund distributes annual cash awards to artists or craftspeople selected by a review panel of leading arts representatives.