The recent reveal of Jake Messing’s River Dreams mural at Russian Riverkeeper was one of three projects from the city’s Arts & Culture Commission that received awards in the program’s inaugural year, 2026. The Arts for All grants program is designed to support arts projects “that will expand public access to the arts, celebrate creativity, and enrich the cultural life of Healdsburg,” according to the commission’s chair, Noah Jepperson.
Three projects were chosen instead of one—or many—to benefit from $20,000 in available award funds, dividing the awards three ways.
As explained by Arts & Culture Commissioner Gianna Davy, “Rather than dividing the available funding into many smaller grants, the grant review committee chose to award three grants to projects we believed would have the greatest community impact while being free and accessible to everyone.”
Messing’s award, for $9,000 to create the mural, transformed a highly visible location into public artwork that highlights Russian Riverkeeper’s environmental stewardship of the river. The 40-foot-long mural reflects the character, creativity and cultural heritage of the river itself. See this story from a previous issue.
A second award of $6,500 went to Sonoma Art School, led by Executive Director Kelly Ebeling. The grant will go toward creating an interactive, oversized flip-book sculpture that celebrates children’s literature, reading and creativity. In partnership with the Healdsburg Regional Library, the project will invite children to participate in the creation of an engaging public art experience that combines storytelling and hands-on creativity.
“Sonoma Art School is excited to celebrate the visual arts, literacy and children’s imaginations as we explore the creative process through stories that inspire their art,” Ebeling said. “We’re grateful to the City Council and the Arts and Culture Commission for investing in projects that make art accessible and encourage community participation.”
The third grant, for $4,500, went to the youth art campus Heartizens for its planned community Street Puppet Brigade. Heartizens, under the leadership of Executive Director Tess Aston, created the brigade as an interactive public arts project that brings together multiple elements of the community to participate in celebrations like the FFA Twilight Parade.
“The Street Puppet Brigade was such a joyful example of what’s possible when a small nonprofit gets the chance to dream big,” Aston said. “Art belongs to all of us, and moments like this remind us why that matters.”
For more about the grant program, see healdsburg.gov/1190/2026-Public-Art-Grant-Program-Arts-for-A.
