Mendocino Art Center

Mendocino Art Center is home to a fully equipped Jewelry studio overlooking the ocean. We have a world renown ceramics department and residency. 
Mendocino art center supports all mediums of art; we offer workshop in jewelry, ceramics, textiles, painting, sculpture, glasswork, printmaking, movement, film making, and much more.
We offer housing on campus for visiting students and teachers.

We are dedicated to artists whose truths are often eclipsed by the mainstream, whose foils include constructs other than whiteness, and whose stories are actively being written and difficult to tell. We believe that to create a more diverse, just, and equitable future, we must continually practice learning to listen while listening, and learning how to be supportive and accountable while being supportive and accountable.

We believe the places we work in, from gallery to classroom, act as dynamic spaces where art and language serve as navigational tools for translating ideas across diverse social classes, ages, and backgrounds.

There is an urgency to share and create platforms for nuanced and challenging stories about connection and equity. Art and healing are crucial on both micro and macro scales: in relationships, in communities, in systemic reform and transformative justice. While learning to be in relation to one another, a community, a movement, any shift, whether incremental or massive, can be excruciatingly painful for many. 

We believe art spaces are active environments where the legacies of the past, the sacrifices made, and the stories of those who came before us converge to create a space where norms are challenged, critiques are welcomed, and accountability is paramount. We believe this transformative work can be done while simultaneously fostering an environment that allows each individual to thrive and communities to form.

Store & Gallery Hours
Thursday-Monday, 11 AM - 4 PM


Join the Mendocino Art Center Community
Become a member today: https://givebutter.com/macmember
As a member, you'll enjoy exclusive benefits, including:
- 10% off all workshops
- 10% discount on purchases from our shop (excluding consignment and collection items)
- An invitation to showcase your work in our annual Members’ Exhibition
Learn more about membership and the Mendocino Art Center on our website.


List of board members:
Dav Bell ( Director)
Tristan Crane 
Daris Jaspar
Antonia Lorenzo
Laurie Palmer
Phyllee Binder
Marybeth Coyle


About the Instructors at Mendocino Art Center: 

Brienna Hall is a jewelry artist and educator based in Mendocino, CA, where she teaches at the Mendocino Art Center, offering regular sand casting workshops and open studio sessions. This summer and fall, her classes will include Sand Casting with Gemstones, Sand Casting Basics, and Keum-Boo surface techniques. She holds a BFA in Sculpture with a minor in Fiber Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute. Her creative journey began as an analog photographer and milliner, crafting ornate headwear and dreamlike imagery—early expressions of her deep love for adornment and storytelling. This path evolved into Shrine Jewelry, jewelry that blends adornment, ritual, and fine metalwork.

Working from her studio on the Northern California coast, Brienna draws inspiration from the wild landscape and mystic symbolism. Her jewelry combines organic forms, repetitive patterns, and textile-inspired techniques with metalsmithing processes like sand casting, fabrication, and keum-boo. Often working with metals and materials that hold metaphysical properties, she imbues each piece with that intention. Each creation is made to honor the body as a sacred shrine—unique, timeless, and deeply personal.
Shrine Jewelry has been featured at Milano Jewelry Week (Artistar Jewels 2025), in British Vogue, and is available through select fine galleries in Northern California and online.
You can view her work here