Humboldt State University’s First Street Gallery presents Works by the Giant Squid: A Print Makers Collective featuring affordable works of art for the Holiday Season.  The exhibition, which is produced by students in the Museum and Gallery Practices Program at Humboldt State University, will run from November 27th through December 23rd, 2012.  

This exhibition consists of a wide variety of mediums such as woodcuts, etching, engravings, lithographs and serigraphy, all covering a broad array of subjects. Many of contributing artists are students and alumni of Professor Sarah Whorf’s Printmaking classes at Humboldt State University. 

Based in Eureka, California, Giant Squid formed as an artists collective earlier this year in an effort to pool and share the technical resources necessary to make fine art prints.  This show is their debut exhibition as a collective. The artists included in the show are Crystal Azul, Isaac Bluefoot, Brittany Britton, Tim Camp, Tim Clewell, Kristy Eden, Rhianna Gallagher, Max Garcia, Jorden Goodspeed, Jeff Jensen, Ruth Jensen, Sam Kirby, Justin Skillstad, Crystal Thorpe and Sarah Whorf. 

An opening reception in honor of the artists will be held at HSU First Street Gallery on Saturday, December 1st, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The exhibition will run from November 27th – December 23rd, 2009. The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m., and is located at 422 First Street, Eureka, California. Admission is free and those planning group tours are encouraged to call ahead at 707-443-6363.

Giant Squid is a co-operative printmaking group located in Eureka, California. The group formed in spring of 2012. Our facility is located in the Ink Annex in cooperation with The Ink People Center for the Arts. The Ink Annex is a building in downtown Eureka that houses the Ink People’s gallery as well as the print lab maintained by the Eureka Print Alliance, a Dreammaker project of the Ink People. The press we use and most of the equipment has been donated by members of the Eureka Print Alliance or by the Ink People. The work in this show represents the accomplishments of Giant Squid, the Eureka Print Alliance and the Ink People supporting one another’s common passion for printmaking. It is our group’s intention to maintain a workspace for printmaking and facilitate connections to other communities of printmaking out in the world.
            
 This is our first group exhibition and it demonstrates the diversity, dedication, and professionalism of its members. I have seen the group grow over the last few months; it is very encouraging to witness artists pulling together in support of printmaking. I hope to recruit more members and have our lab open to the public on an appointment or drop-in basis to allow our group more exposure to the community.

I want to thank all the members of Giant Squid for putting this together, the Eureka Print Alliance, The Ink People Center for the Arts, HSU First Street Gallery and all of you who come to see this exhibition for making this a great first show of many to come.

Jorden Goodspeed, 
President of Eureka Print Alliance
Executive Tentacle of Giant Squid Print Collective