We’re painting a picture of Humboldt County’s artistic culture through murals, sculptures, and more creations from local artists at the hotel. Check out some of our collection, and be sure to go on a stroll during your stay to experience the art in person!
Freedom Otter
This work of art has a story as rich as its colors. “Freedom” Otter found its home at The Redwood through an art initiative called North Coast Otter Art.
This public art initiative and community collaboration commissioned 108 unique pieces of Otter Art sculptures that were auctioned off to provide valuable funds for otter studies and student internships with community-based watershed projects. “Freedom” was one of those otters.
Read More...It was the story and inspiration behind the creation of “Freedom” that moved The Redwood team to bid on this particular otter. “Freedom” is a collaborative artwork by Teaching Artist Julie McNiel and her students at Pelican Bay State Prison, participating in the California Arts-in-Corrections Program.
Here is what they shared on the piece:
Freedom. Flow. The otter and the river, inseparable travelers. Like the migrating Monarch and the local, yet rare, Oregon Silverspot, the north coast river otter’s playful, meandering movement sparkles like patterns of light on the water’s surface. Students participating in the Arts in Corrections Program at Pelican Bay State Prison decided on butterflies as a visual theme to decorate their otter. Monarchs have cultural significance, as they represent the souls of departed loved ones. After discussion about regional species, like the threatened Oregon Silverspot found on the nearby Tolowa Coast, in close proximity to the prison, art students made drawings of them in ink and colored pencil. Yet, some artist’s butterflies are imaginative fantasies, signifying artistic, rather than physical, freedom.
I wasn’t able to bring the sculpture to the artists, but the artists gave me their butterfly drawings. These I carried out of the prison, and in my studio, collaged onto the otter’s surface. Previously, I’d hand-cut stencils based on aerial view maps of local rivers such as the Smith, Van Duzen, Klamath, and Eel, and applied as part of the underpainting. Thus, Pelican Bay Otter is a collaboration between diverse artists, consisting of multiple layers.
The men incarcerated at the prison are themselves, mostly cut off from the natural world. A student in solitary remarked to me one day how much he missed hiking in nature. I thought to myself, how lucky I am, to be able to walk in nature whenever I please. Freedom: never to be taken for granted. So too, we shouldn’t take the river and the otter for granted.
We’re proud to have Freedom call The Redwood home. You can see this colorful otter by visiting Our Backyard during your stay.
