Art and The Explorers
Art & The Explorers
Welcome to Art Explorers, a nonprofit creative art studio for people with developmental disabilities and brain injuries. When the artists are here, they experience a sense of both purpose and camaraderie through making art in a community setting. It is a place that feels nurturing and comfortable and allows them space to just be themselves.
Local Tip:
The Gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday. Look for a piece for yourself or to give as a gift.
Art pieces from Art Explorers are one of the most impactful gifts you can give because it gives so much back to the creator.
A variety of artwork and merchandise is for sale including original works on paper, painting and ceramics, original t-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry, tote bags, cards and more. Proceeds are split 50/50 between the artist themselves and the organization. When a member of the public purchases their art at the gallery, the artists feel a sense of great pride. The self-esteem built through the Art Explorers program offers a pathway toward personal growth and inclusion into the wider community.
We believe that art has the power to transform lives, and opens a window to the deepest expressions of the human spirit. Our philosophy is rooted in total respect for the individual and the core belief that all people have a unique artistic voice.
Anna and the Friendly Fungi
Anna & the Friendly Fungi
With the fall and the beginning of what we hope is another rainy season, we start to see new friends on the forest floor. These friends emerge from the deadfall and leaf detritus that provide the perfect condition for mushrooms to burst forth from the earth in their many different glories. We found the perfect guide in Fort Bragg to walk with in the forest and learn about this seasonal natural occurrence.
Anna Towers is a local photographer and naturalist, and a dedicated mycophile (devotee to mushrooms.) She has been studying, hunting for and photographing mushrooms in Northern California for over 10 years. Anna’s experience has taught her where and how to find a surprising variety of mushrooms and how to best capture their beauty on camera in the varied lighting situations in the woods. And let’s be clear, this often includes laying flat on the ground, eye to eye with the forest floor, among the sticks, stones, etc. But none of that bothers Anna whatsoever! Her inspiration from the treasures she finds on the forest floor is both palpable and contagious. And her photos are magically wonderful.
"I want to successfully share this otherwise elusive mycological magic with as many people as possible."
Anna has been published, interviewed, contributed to interpretive work around the Bay Area, shown in galleries and her photography is currently featured in retail locations in both the Bay Area and Mendocino County. Follow her on social media @thefriendlyfungus, and find the Friendly Fungus Photography table at Fort Bragg events. Just look for the woman with a red and white mushroom hat.
Photography by @FriendlyFungusPhotography
If you are interested in foraging on the North Coast, Anna recommends (and we do too) hiring a guide to help you identify what might be edible and what is not. A good place to start is the Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club:
The Tall Guy & the Tap
The Tall Guy & the Tap
The freshest beer you can get by the glass. That’s what Patrick Broderick is offering customers at his Tall Guy Brewing tap room newly opened in the old Sears building on North Franklin Street.
Patrick comes by his talent for making great beer honestly. For 30 years he rose in the ranks at North Coast Brewing and finished his career as co-brewmaster. In that time, he developed a strong sense of community and a solid belief that Fort Bragg is worthy of mecca status for great craft beer.
If you want the beer,
you gotta get it here.
Working with his wife and three daughters, Patrick’s go-fresh-or-go-home model involves brewing once a week and rotating beers regularly. The starting lineup includes a Mexican Lager, German Helles, Belgian Witbier, a hoppy American Pale Ale, a 90s-style IPA, a hazy IPA, a Brut IPA. and a London Porter as well as hard and soft seltzers made on the premises.
Local Tip:
All Tall Guy beers are served by the glass, although you can get growlers poured right from the tap.
The vibe at Tall Guy is 70s relaxed chic with comfy couches, window seats, a 12-foot harvest table, and even a place to play shuffleboard. Patrick has created a gathering place for the community and a destination for travelers, ready to accommodate a party or date night, or offer a refuge to sip and read. The tap room serves simple but delicious fare available from local food trucks and restaurants, offered to compliment the fresh libations.
Sip, Makayla & Cody
Sip, Makayla & Cody
Meet Makayla and Cody Raudio, both Fort Bragg born and bred. Mahkayla, as owner of La Tre at the corner of Franklin and Redwood Streets, has her finger tightly on the pulse of Downtown Fort Bragg. She saw a need for a different kind of drinking establishment, and filled it with SIP Wine Bar, at 142 E. Laurel Street. SIP offers mostly local vintages, with some from further afield, and also features local beers. She practices some mixology applied to craft cocktails with sake-infused spirits, and always has a monthly featured special.
SIP does the wine bar thing a little differently.
The wine is self-serve from sleek auto dispensers that unlock pours of particular sizes (from taste to half-glass to full-glass). It’s super simple: they hand you a card at the bar to use for the self service which keeps track of what you pour in your glass. You pay at the end by handing in your card. You can also opt to do things the old-fashioned way with your belly up to the wine bar.
Local Tip:
There is a refrigerator case filled with locally sourced cheeses and charcuterie, bread, bottles of wine and non-alcoholic bevs, perfect for picnicing or for taking the party back to your place.
The gorgeous bar is hewn from an old growth redwood found in the river on a family property in the region. Additionally, the space is appointed with a number of beautiful hand made wood fixtures that add warmth to the clean design lines of the interior.
Greg, Steve & The Roundmans
Greg, Steve & Roundman’s
Roundman’s Smokehouse and Butcher shop is co-owned by an ex-aerospace instructor from Silicon Valley and an ex-private chef with local food knowledge. This might actually be the magic combination of talent for a perfect balance between logistics, butchery skills, and culinary creativity. Steve Rasmussen has been running Roundman’s for years, having moved to Fort Bragg which he fell in love with when vacationing here. Greg Braden, who has past business ties to Covelo beef sources, is the new ingredient to the business and comes to Roundman’s with fresh ideas for new recipes and delicacies.
Bringing Home the Bacon
Don’t be fooled by the relatively modest storefront. As Mendocino County’s only USDA-approved and inspected meat processing company, Roundman’s is a substantial operation and a local institution. They offer a wide selection of fresh meats, all of which are hung for aging and butchered at the shop on Main Street across from the train depot. According to Steve, “We source meat out of Covelo Valley which is a few valleys over, and we do our own smoking of sausages, fish, poultry, cheese and hams. It’s very oldschool.” Roundman’s also offers a rotating selection of sausages made by an employee named JB who Steve calls a “sausage artist.” But then, ultimately, it’s going to come back to the bacon. “Our bacon is very basic,” says Steve. “Just salt and sugar, we use celery for curing, it doesn’t overpower, there aren’t a lot of chemicals so you can actually taste the pork.”
“I just love the area. The people and the businesses. It’s such a wonderful place. People say thank you, and they smile and they hold the door for you. There’s no better place in the world.”
– Steve Rasmussen
Local Tip:
Roundman’s offers custom cut and wrap processing for pork, lamb, goat, elk and deer (but not bear). Plus ask about Covelo beef liver treats and smoked or fresh bones for your dog.
Lia & The Walls
Lia &
The Walls
Lia Morsell started The Alleyway Art Project in Fort Bragg with the dual purposes of bringing public art to the fore and dressing up some of the overlooked corners of the Downtown area, namely the alleys which are a signature element in the Fort Bragg built landscape. As founder and director of the project, she connects local businesses and organizations with local artists to create murals inspired by local life, landscape, culture, and history. Currently numbering 12 murals, an Alleyway art walk is one of the best ways to spend a morning or afternoon in Fort Bragg.
Inspiration in the Alleys
Lia, with her husband and young son, moved to Fort Bragg from the Bay Area in 2016 and have not looked back, enjoying being closer to family, the small town life, and the inspiration that comes from being part of a thriving creative community. In 2018, Lia, with a partner, founded The Red House Co-Working Space, now an essential business support and networking hub for freelancers independent contractors, creatives and anyone passing through that needs a spot to get a little work done.
Local Tip:
An Alleyway Art Walk map is in the works. Check their website before you head up this summer.
"You walk on the headlands trail, you walk down Franklin Street, you do a little shopping, you get a cup of coffee. You know, you go visit the gardens, you go on the art walk, and by then you're exhausted and you go to dinner and crash out for the night."
- Lia Morsell
The Writers
THE WRITERS
"There are more good poets per capita in Mendocino County than in any other"
Joe Smith – Writer
Joe Smith
A former resident alien of Greece (where much of his body of work was composed), Joe Smith currently resides in Fort Bragg. His body of work features hundreds of stories, essays, articles, poems and translations. Chopsticks, a collection of the author’s stories, was recently published by Pygmy Forest Press.
Larry Felson
Larry Felson moved to Fort Bragg six years ago, having previously lived in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, where he was a high school teacher and social justice activist. His most recent poetry collection is Dawn Out of Order, published in 2022.
Tia Ballantine
A writer and painter, born in Peru, Tia Ballantine has lived on the East Coast, in the desert at the Mexican border, and most recently here in Fort Bragg. Ballantine is a self-proclaimed atheist, pacifist, and feminist who believes in the power of art and the grace of tolerance, all of which is reflected in her poetry collections.
Malcolm Macdonald
Meet Malcolm Macdonald, Fort Bragg author and local historian. Malcolm lives on the same ranch settled by his Scottish immigrant family in the 1800’s. As a longtime local and historian, he has some tales to tell, some fact and some fiction. Mendocino History Exposed is a historical romp from the Pomo to 19th century UFO’s, through murders and the lawmen who solved them, on to the Tire Baby. His latest book is fiction and titled The Mendocino Outlaws. Look for it, along with his other works at The Bookstore and Windsong Books in downtown Fort Bragg.
C.V. Starr Center
The C.V. Starr Community Center
The C.V. Starr Community Center, located on the Southeast edge of town is a Fort Bragg resource available to locals and visitors alike. Day passes are available for individuals and families, so whether you are looking for some exercise or some play time with the family, the C.V. Starr Center has something for everyone.
Cornelius Vander Starr was an American businessman born in Fort Bragg in 1892 to a family in the logging industry. During his successful career in the Insurance industry, he traveled the world and lived in New York, but his birthplace always held a special place in his heart. His success led him to starting The Starr Foundation, which today continues to generously fund the C.V. Starr Community Center, and also provides scholarships to Fort Bragg High School graduating seniors who have demonstrated academic, social, athletic and moral leadership.
Exercise and Swim Center
An olympic-size swimming pool and adjacent shallow kids pool with a waterpark-worthy slide make up the indoor swim center at C.V. Starr. There are locker rooms for changing and showering. Also available: a weight room with stationary bikes and a group exercise room. An array of classes are offered weekly that include water aerobics, dance, strength training and beginner kayaking skills. See schedule
Local Tip:
Take a class with C.V. Starr Center favorite, Aimee! Family day passes are just $33.
CA skate park
life is ruff here
The C.V. Starr Dog Park is as popular with the humans as it is with their dogs. And a regular crowd is there mid-morning most days. Cleverly it is set up with two adjoining options for your dog’s size personality: 1) For Small and Shy dogs, and 2) For Large dogs (or small dogs that think they are big). Entry is free.
Meredith & TC Space
Meredith &
TC Space
In a previous incarnation, Meredith Frederick was a high school teacher in San Diego with a passion for printmaking, especially intaglio and lithography. Meredith was always a risk taker. So, when a mentor encouraged her to start painting in 2016, she embraced the challenge, developing a unique style influenced by California’s wild landscapes that tapped her knowledge of stenciling and employed spray paints, colored pencils, and acrylics to explore nature and the environment.
She Can Hang
Eventually Meredith made her way to Fort Bragg and found a dynamic and welcoming local art scene. When friend, fellow artist and gallery owner Tim Carmody had to give up his gallery, Meredith was asked take over, rebranding the space as TC (for Traffic Cone) and showcasing local artists in a way that would honor the community Tim had for so long supported.
Local Tip:
Stop in and take a minute to see who is hanging on the wall, it will improve your day.
At TC, Meredith employs an aesthetic she’s been working toward for years—telling a visual story with art hung in a professional way, where a deft use of light, placement and negative space ensure continuity and create excitement and drama. TC displays a variety of local, working artists who are masters of their craft. Artists appreciate a space that honors their work while communicating a cohesive story.
Erin, Hanneke and the Collective
Erin, Hanneke
& the Coast Collective
Coast Collective founders Erin Irber and Hanneke Lourens share a passion for fine woodworking. They met at the Krenov School of Fine Furniture in Fort Bragg, an institution that cultivates a reverence for quality and excellence. Both Erin and Hanneke—and all the Collective artisans who attended—emerged from hundreds of hours of intense study understanding that, as often as not, the nature of a piece is revealed in the handling, a slow process of discovery that requires patience, precision, an affinity for power tools and a love affair with wood.
As the name implies, Coast Collective has gathered a group of artisan woodworkers who share a commitment to quality craftsmanship and a desire to create furniture that performs and delights. All the Collective’s designs are now in stock with new furniture collections released several times a year. And unlike fast furniture destined for the landfill, members of the Collective design and build furniture meant to last and be passed on for generations.
Fast furniture isn’t better. In fact, with supply chain disruptions, often it isn’t even fast.
Local Tip:
Bespoke pieces can be made to order.
