About the Show

In 2019, I was asked by the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka, CA  to do a show at the museum in August of 2020. It was a huge honor to have the largest rooms of the museum to display my artwork. I was very excited at the prospect. But then came 2020. Covid started, and the world was pretty much shut down. Even the musems. Unfortunately, my show was canceled.

2021 turned out to be a better year.  Still struggling, the museum got clearance to open in June. On the 1st of May, they asked me to be the first featured artist to open up the museum to the public. Naturally, I said yes! I quickly started producing art for the show, making over 75 mobiles and stabiles in just under 1 month! Going “big", I thought I would do a 13' long, hanging mobile in the center of the museum atrium, 10' mobiles hanging as center pieces, and three big floor stabiles.

The museum didn't use everything I made, only about 45 pieces. I got to get up on the ladder and hang all my mobiles myself! I love ladder climbing from doing retail visual merchanding displays for so many years. It came naturally, as I knew just what I wanted and how to easily hang them. I used pedestals for small stabiles, and hung mobiles between paintings. I thought if it were just mobiles and stabiles, it would have been a bit boring so I asked local artist Katheryn Stotler to share the museum show with me. Her paintings reminded me of my mother's art, and I was glad they complemented my mobiles accordingly. It was a beautiful show.

The museum curator stated it was one of "the best shows" of her 17 year tenure at the museum. People talked about how it was such a pleasant delight to see my mobiles in action... being able to touch and blow air at them. Some even danced around the pieces!!! I am so glad I did this, showing kinetic movements of mobiles and stabiles. The title of the show was going to be "Art in Motion", or maybe "Art Movement", but I came up with a title that I thought fit well with the struggle of Covid. It was called "E-Motion", after what the world (and I) had gone through: an emotional event in history. In January 2021, I lost my 96 year old father Donald Frith after he was sick with Covid. He and my mother were artists and they would have been so proud to see me do this show. I did feel an emotional loss. But my husband and many friends came for the opening. The entire community was very supportive. It was a wonderful, positive event.

If you happen to be in Eureka, California, stop by the art museum on 7th and F streets to see some of my work in the Museum Gift Shop on the main floor. I also have a few of my ceramics works sold there as well. (see: Frithpots on Etsy for more info)

Morris Graves Museum of Art is located at 636 F Street Eureka, CA 95501. Ph: 707-442-0278 Open Wed-Sun 12-5.

Photos below are of the event : both setting it up, and during.