Michael Kraft
At some point, Jackie Dandeneau told the universe that she wanted to lead a local arts agency. At least, that’s how it went in my imagination. Officially, it was David Ferney and a job at Dell ‘Arte that originally brought actor/writer Jackie to Humboldt, over 20 years ago. A few years later, she founded what would become Playhouse Arts as a DreamMaker project under the Ink People. Within a few years, the theater was under lease and Playhouse Arts graduated to become a standalone 501c3 nonprofit.
However she got here, running Arcata’s official local arts agency makes for a full and complicated life. While many of us know of the Arcata Playhouse, the organization’s event space/venue that anchors the Creamery District, Playhouse Arts’ programming spans many aspects of the arts. There are musical shows, art installations, a radio station, as well as the theater itself, to name a few.
It’s festival season now. One Village, Many Peoples is a multicultural festival that takes place in Pierson Park in McKinleyville on July 5 with local performers like Hip Hop Humboldt, Makenu, Mariachi, food, workshops, and demonstrations. Theresa Surbaugh will be there demonstrating her outstanding Indigenous weavings and Taiko Humboldt will let you get your hands on the drums. There will workshops in Brazilian dance, Hip Hop, steel pans, an acorn soup demonstration and many others. Later, the Get Down in MackTown combines Karaoke and roller skating. It is all free. Playhouse Arts also co-produces the Fairy Festival with Shoshanna on July 27. This year’s theme is Metamorphosis. Flynn Creek Circus returns to the Eureka waterfront from August 8 to the 17th. It is a big summer of festivals with kids’ workshops thrown in the middle for fun!
I presented Jackie with a Sophie’s choice question: Of all the great things this past year, what is your favorite one? She told me that an art show by houseless people would be one example. There was great art hanging everywhere. A broad spectrum of the community attended the show. One man from New York plunked down $200 for one of the paintings, which would be a pittance in the Manhattan gallery world, but significant to a local artist. One artist played the grand piano while singing Elton John tunes.
Then she broke my Sophie’s choice rule and mentioned another favorite thing, the radio station, “Humboldt Hot Air,” and the fact that the 60+ volunteer deejays tend to be noticeably young. In a time of greying artists and art supporters, seeing youth commit their time to hosting and producing radio shows warms Jackie’s heart. You can find the station in and near Arcata at KHHA 94.7 on the dial…or whatever tech has replaced the dial.
A lot of Playhouse Arts efforts involve youth. There are programs with the Yurok tribe. There are artist residences in schools, including remote ones such as Whale Gulch and Burnt Ranch. Del Norte is potentially a new venue. At the theater, kids can learn to run a sound board, lighting and all that goes with putting on shows and plays.
Jackie will bend your ear on the importance of the arts. “It’s essential for our communities. To be human. To have a voice and have that voice heard.”
To that end, Playhouse Arts provides practical infrastructure to local performers and artists. They will work with you on ways you can rent the theater. There’s a portable sound system. There’s a donation/ticketing/auction platform you can piggyback on.
Despite all of this good stuff, times are unabashedly tough. Massive cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts are already being felt. Playhouse Arts received this notification from the NEA recently: “This is to inform you that the above-referenced National Endowment for the Arts award has been terminated, effective June 15, 2025.” The state arts budget also looks to be grim. Already, multiple California arts organizations, theaters, music venues and others have closed.
This is where we get to step up, something that we in Humboldt are good at. Providing financial donations and sponsorships of programs like those at the radio station are one way. They are also seeking a vehicle or two, ideally ones that can haul stuff and/or pull a trailer. This would be to use; they’re not looking to crush a clunker and get a few hundred dollars for the scrap metal.
If you have more time than money, Playhouse Arts relies on volunteers for all kinds of things, from running bar concessions to serving on the advisory board and the very-hands-on board of directors. Jackie estimates that upwards of 150 volunteers participate in some way in enabling Playhouse Arts’ programming during the year.
To volunteer, donate, sponsor, give away your old-but-bulletproof Toyota or just buy tickets, visit https://www.playhousearts.org/.
Michael Kraft writes the Good Work series, volunteering on behalf of the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). NorCAN supports connections between people and organizations that work every day to keep our communities healthy and strong by offering professional development, board support, networking connections and more. Learn more at https://norcal-nonprofits.org/. To nominate a deserving nonprofit organization to be profiled, email michael@kraftconsultants.com.
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