MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The public is invited to “Conversations with Artists” participating in the “Earth, Sky, and Everything In Between” exhibit this Thursday Sept. 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at MAC and on Zoom.

Discussion will focus on artists’ work in 2-D and 3-D media including painting, digital imagery, printmaking, and installation. This unique opportunity to meet and hear from the artists is free/by donation, pre-registration is required at middletownartcenter.org/weaving.

“The works on view are of museum quality, but we are not people who live in museums.” said curator Corine Pearce, an acclaimed Pomo basket weaver and cultural educator. “It’s important for us to share our work and affirm that we’re still here living in relationship to the land we are a part of, making art.”

Earth, Sky, and Everything In Between is Lake County’s first exhibit of contemporary Native artists' work and the first exhibit in the county to be curated by a Native American.

Thirty-one artists across generations are featured — youth to elder. Their artwork, in a broad variety of media, celebrates traditional cultural arts and resilience while highlighting current, and long-time challenges and issues.

“My ancestors come from far across the ocean, yet I have no connection to the lands they are from,” reflected Laura Stalker, long time Lake County resident about her recent visit to the exhibit. “Moving about the gallery, I contemplated what it would mean to belong, not just to a group of people, but to a place. I imagined learning to weave a basket from my grandmother, who was taught by her grandmother, using the willow that grew in the creek beds next to our home. I could sense the stories that many of the pieces held like a faint whisper of something almost forgotten, and the pain of a people nearly wiped to extinction. I let myself cry, not just for what has been lost, but more importantly for what has survived.”

The exhibit is a culmination of MAC’s year long Weaving Baskets, Weaving Bridges cross cultural collaboration.

Pearce, who is also the project’s lead artist, taught numerous weaving workshops to Native and non-Native people alike.

She, alongside other Indigenous culture bearers, shared Pomo heritage, history, stories and an introduction to place-based ecological science and practice.

Learn more about Corine Pearce, her weaving practice, and her work in communities to revitalize, sustain and share cultural traditions at www.corinepearce.com.

Experience this unique and historic exhibit Thursday through Monday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s free to the public. The last day to visit is October 10th, which is also Indigenous People’s Day.

School field trips that include guided tours and hands on engagement also begin this week. Educators are encouraged to contact 707-809-8118 to inquire about format and cost.

The WEAVING project and the exhibit Earth, Sky, and Everything in Between are funded in part by Middletown Rancheria, Robinson Rancheria, Big Valley Rancheria, Charlotte Griswold, and the California Arts Council, a State Agency.

The MAC is located at 21456 State Highway 175 at the junction of Highway 29 in Middletown.

To find out more about Earth Sky and Everything in Between or other programs, events, engagement opportunities, and ways to support the MAC’s efforts to weave the arts and culture into the fabric of life in Lake County, visit www.middletownartcenter.org or call 707-809-8118.