MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Art Center is honored to host Meyo Marrufo’s “Birds, Baskets and Other Thoughts,” which opens this Saturday, Oct. 14, from 6 to 8 p.m.

On view and opening at the same time is MAC’s 51st group exhibit, “Changes.”

The opening reception is free to the public.

Marrufo is an enrolled member of the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. She has exhibited her work widely in Northern California and curated “Gathering Time” at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah and “We Are Still Here” at the Sonoma Museum last year.

She is a visual artist and visual storyteller, bead artist, weaver, regalia maker, active member of the Pomo Weavers Society and Environmental Department director at Guidiville Rancheria.

Her work was first featured at MAC in the “Earth, Sky and Everything In Between” exhibit last year and has since been part of several regular group shows at MAC.

Marrufo calls her image making technique ”finger doodles.” The use of smartphone technology and the paint app as a drawing tool yields fresh vibrant images when printed or viewed on a screen.

Her unique images are testament to the resilience of cultural heritage in a fully contemporary media.

“It’s like she actually weaves the baskets with the lines in her drawings, ” said Lisa Kaplan, artistic director at MAC.

“My art is about what I am feeling or what I want to express. When I share my art, there is usually some writing with it that either talks about the basket, the animal or my mindset,” said Marrufo about her work. “If it starts a conversation or if a person sees it and learns from it, finds beauty in it, or even relates to it … it is doing what it is supposed to do.”

This collection of works focuses primarily on the birds of her homeland around Clearlake.

Feathered baskets, an artform that few people have mastered, were mostly done by the Lake Pomo and some Southern Pomo who live in areas where there are many birds.

There were probably less than 40 feather basket makers in the height of basketry in the early to mid 1900s.

The number of birds used varies from basket to basket and there was no annihilation of bird species in the making of these remarkable baskets.

“My hope is that when you look at my work, you see not just the birds and other animals depicted, but the honor and relationship we have with them,” Marrufo said.

Free to the public, “Birds, Baskets and Other Thoughts” will be on view through Jan 10, Thursday through Monday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment.

The group exhibit, “Changes,” will be on display for the same time period.

Middletown Art Center is a Lake County nonprofit dedicated to engaging the public in art making, art education and art appreciation.

Through exhibitions, performances, workshops, and community events, the center provides a platform for diverse voices and perspectives, striving to create an inclusive and accessible space for all.

The MAC is located at 21456 State Highway 175 at the junction of Highway 29 in Middletown.

To find out more about MAC’s programs, events, and ways to support their efforts to weave the arts and culture into the fabric of life in Lake County, visit www.middletownartcenter.org​ or call 707-809-8118.