When Jake Messing stood in front of the mural he had just completed for Russian Riverkeeper (RRK) on the north side of the nonprofit’s headquarters at 139 Healdsburg Ave., he had finished more than another mural. The subject matter was clear, unambiguous: the course of a river from its point of origin to the sea, with the birdlife and salmon surrounding its journey.
Perhaps oddly, perhaps not, the water on the right side of the wall seems to come from Pomo baskets, not springs. The artist had the answer.
“The amazing thing about those Pomo baskets is that they were so tightly woven that they could hold water,” Messing said. And if one thinks about it even briefly, the ability to transport water opens up a lot of opportunities.
He segued into an obligatory if still meaningful speech of respect, “To acknowledge the Pomo people and that they’ve been here for thousands of years, and their deep-rooted connection to the land and ecosystems.”
RRK held the Aug. 14 “Mural Mixer” to inaugurate the 35-foot-long, 10-foot-high wall Messing had just finished painting with bright, durable acrylics. It was relatively early in the morning, 10am, but one can never tell how hot the day will become this time of year. The City of Healdsburg had jumped in to help out, providing light beverages and snacks. The latter included tasty cookies shaped and decorated like fish and prepared by RRK staff.
The building is a relatively new home for RRK, a 25-year-old nonprofit that “protects and restores our watershed environment for the benefit of current and future generations,” according to its mission. That’s a big bite for any organization, but RRK has proven durable and effective, cultivating alliances with the California Coastal Coastkeeper and the Waterkeeper Alliance.
It walks the talk: The 40th annual Russian River Watershed Cleanup, which RRK has embraced, hopes for at least 500 volunteers to join in on Sept. 19. Last year volunteers picked up 13 tons of trash in a single day. This year they’re hoping for a record.
From the beginning in 2001, Don McEnhill filled the role of executive director, but he handed that office over to Rob Schwenker last year—about the time Russian Riverkeeper moved into the new, more visible offices. So Schwenker introduced the artist.
Thanking the building’s owner, Jessica Wynne, for her support, he turned to the artist. “Jake was so kind to align his vision for the newest addition to Healdsburg’s public art landscape with Russian Riverkeeper’s vision of a healthy, swimmable, fishable, equitably shared watershed,” he said.
It’s a vision Messing, 44, shares in his blood. He grew up on Chemise Road, a rural offshoot of West Dry Creek, with parents Russ and Arlene Messing helping with the family’s olive grove (Deergnaw). Then he went off to college at Parsons School of Design, succeeded in corporate advertising in New York City, and explored New Zealand and Europe, finally bouncing back to Healdsburg a couple of years ago. “I kind of felt like I always knew I was going to come back here at some point,” he said.
Earning some nice commissions locally, often for murals, made it easy. His first calling card in the local craft scene came at the Harmon Guest House in 2022. Messing contributed a mural running the height of the four-story stairwell, one of whose walls is a window to the street.
The mural, Blue Harmon, portrays a pair of blue herons flying higher in the space, their graceful flight communicated by bold colors and a striking sense of movement. Unlike many Harmon Guest House installations, it’s still there.
What it lacks, however, is a landscape: The mural at Russian Riverkeeper supplies that landscape.
“The mural at Riverkeeper is inspired by the Russian River and watershed,” Messing said. “It’s all local fauna that I’ve witnessed along the river that has some significant impact for me personally, I would say… . You know, the blue heron, the osprey, the egret, they all kind of stop me in my tracks whenever I come across them. And I guess I have some sort of reverence for them in my heart.”
There they are on the modest cinderblock wall, those birds—osprey and egret and heron sweeping from right to left in a florid, almost hyper-realistic river landscape, salmon under their wings, to the sea. To really look at the mural one should hope too many cars aren’t parked in the way—it is a parking lot, after all—and be prepared to spend a little time.
To become immersed, as it were, in the Russian River.
Jake Messing’s latest show opens Friday, Aug. 21, at the Paul Mahder Gallery, 222 Healsburg Ave. Reception from 5-7pm. For more information on RRK, see russianriverkeeper.org.
