Saturday 2, 2024; 2 pm-2 am MushLove Crew threw a twelve-hour psytrance party at Ramp Art Skatepark in Arcata, CA. Local DJs came together with some out of town talent on the Day of the Dead, and a crowd, mixed of all ages, danced together under the continuous loop of psychedelic tunes like a space cadet’s first encounter with aliens. Sam Murphy (DJ Melting Vision), the event’s host and production manager, worked alongside Stacia, co-host and stage designer, whose creative vision transformed the space and Kale Oliver (DJ PYMANDER) project manager and CoCreator helped Sam dial in the details and logistics leading up to these events.
“[Kale] He’s our old school, Sam’s our new school, and I bridge the gaps in between! I Thoroughly enjoy Kales classic picks that stimulate a particular vibration and nostalgia while Sams strong drive to provide new music in his sets both live and weekly on Humboldt hot air (every sunday 12-2) typically has a bouncy but deep vibration ” They came together as a team and created the perfect pallet for me and the crew to enhance with Creative and interactive installs.”
-Stacia
The decor was like stepping into a neon Mayan Jungle, with flowers, skulls, and mushrooms. VIP offered a smoke lounge, skate bowl, and bar. The feeling of unity, inspiration, and movement flooded my veins while dancing with my community during the waxing moon.
Music by Minds medicine, Andrus, Luzidtrip and Formless are a few of the DJs who performed. Amazing sound engineering was provided by Paul Westerman. Stacia’s stage design transported us to a neon Mayan Jungle filled with vibrant flowers, skulls, and mushrooms. The decor pulsed with energy, drawing everyone into the atmosphere. The VIP area featured a cozy smoke lounge, skate bowl, and bar, creating spaces to connect and recharge. In the warm glow of the waxing moon, a powerful sense of unity, movement, and inspiration flowed through the crowd as we danced together, embodying the spirit of community and shared joy.
Here are two questions that were asked at the party and recorded later on.
Stacia: Two of the questions you had asked me during the party were two that not only did I like being asked but I also really liked my answer. One of the questions you asked me was where do I get my flowers from? Which is, you know, a lot of them I grow myself and dry. Many of them are foraged in small bits when I’m out adventuring with my dog (such as the bunny tail grasses and yarrow on some of my most recent beach visits!) Some of them are from clients’ properties that have given me access to their gardens or saved from previous events and utilized differently. Then also for the hydrangeas, I had reached out to my community on Craigslist and basically said, I will trade my time for your blooms. I will help you reset your bush so that it can bloom better next year. And I actually had three different families reach out that I went and basically traded resetting their hydrangea bushes in exchange for blooms that will last years. And I was just really appreciative that the community supported my search for foraged materials and also was able to help a couple families who can be expecting more healthy stronger blooms next year!
Stacia: The other question you had asked me was about some of the inspiration, I’m always inspired by what I have access too and that is where the creative visualization begins and all the ideas unfold from there with trial and sometimes error until it all works !!! -And there was that whole wall surrounding the paint play table with portraits that were by a local artist, who passed away about ten years ago. His mom and I were organizing the garage and it was an emotionally bonding experience as we each took in the different portraits one by one both seeing them for our first time
-I’m going to ask his mom, who lent me that art, if she would like his name mentioned in the article [Ryan Cox], because that might be a cool way to carry on life throughout death. That art was just so emotionally intense and, and just kind of made your brain think in a way that, for me, felt very much like a searching…[trails off]
Stacia and I were sorting out the garage one day and we found a tightly rolled bundle of canvases. I was thinking ‘this should go but knew that I should look at what I was throwing out. We unravelled the bundle and it was a collection of portraits R [Ryan] had painted. I had never seen them before. They brought me to tears. Stacia felt them with me and [I] was moved [when] asked if she could get them out into the world. I said yes, as I know my son would want his brushstrokes, his expression to continue speaking even after his death. He was dedicated to art, music, and all that helps us see each other and love more. He pushed boundaries and was the kindest person I’ve ever known. I don’t say this because I am his mother, I say this because that’s the legacy he left us. Passion for expression, play, insight, always infused by his kindness, his huge spirit and generosity that infused his life.
-Ryan’s Mum
Sunday, I sat down with Stacia of StaciaFlowerSolutions At Clam Beach. The interview may have started the night before, but this was a quieter, more intimate setting. As my children played with her dog, Neptune, I had a few minutes to ask her questions about her flower arrangements and her goal as an artist. You may be surprised how this artist strives for connection, collaboration, and sustainability to make her dreams of the “Avatar Jungle” come true.
Natascha: Hi, this is Natascha with the Little Lost Forest, a Humboldt County lifestyle blog. I’m here with Stacia after going to a MushLoveCrew event hosted by Sam, Kale, and Stacia. Stacia is a Creative amongst other things and she puts together floral designs and visually satisfying interactive spaces.
Hi, Stacia. How’s it going?
Stacia: I’m doing great today. How about you?
Natascha: I’m doing really well. Thank you. Last night was the Day of the Dead. How did the Spanish holiday inspire your floral arrangements?
Stacia: Day of the Dead was a great inspiration because it encompasses a lot of what I have been doing for my creations and alter spaces already. You know, there’s life and death, and then there’s us; kind of everything in the middle. And that’s what Dia De Los Muertos is about. It’s about remembering its ok to feel sad about what you’ve lost or how things have changed. But also remembering to celebrate all the joy and life and energy that was here at one time. It was a great day to know that we could hold space for what we’ve lost, even if it’s not people or animals, but even just our stories and our lives as they change. There’s death, there’s life, there’s everything in between. And together it can be so beautiful and harmonious (especially while sharing space on the dance floor)
Natascha: That’s wonderful. There are dried, dead flowers and then there’s also live flowers in your arrangements. Is that correct?
Stacia: That is correct, yeah. Dried/preserved flowers that will last multiple events and fresh cuts from that day! To be dried later Trying to curate a balance between the two for both visual aesthetic and function of being gifted or repurposed
i especially love utilizing herbs that smell good and keep the dance floor fresh
Natascha: And I noticed that some of them were glowing. Is there another aspect to your design?
Stacia: I am inspired by the Avatar Forest, and I would love to create that atmosphere for other people to enjoy! You know, these installs start out with simple enhancements with the neon, but I dream to collaborate with someone who can actually assist me with their knowledge for engineering wiring and programming and together we would be able to create it, where people can go and interact and touch it and it glows and moves and breathes.
Natascha: It sounds like interactive art. How do you, how does your audience perceive your art? What kind of feelings and emotions are you trying to inspire within them?
Stacia: Interactive is definitely on point. I’ve been getting a lot of great feedback about things that can be moved, things that can be played with. One of my highlights this year being our blacklight body paint table, leaving it out sometimes for people to help themselves, or sometimes being there to kind of start the playful process. Watching not only the flowers become neon, but the people become neon. And we’re all part of the installation and we’re all moving and playing and, you know, I’m painting, they’re painting, everybody’s painting each other, and it’s so fun to watch it spread through the crowd!
Natascha: That’s great. What are your ideas for the future with the flower arrangements?
Stacia: My ideas with flower arrangements are infinite. I love everything about flowers, whether it’s the metaphors for our lives and the way we are or, you know, the fact that they’re natural materials that we can use and repurpose. The dried flowers used at this event have made it onto multiple altar spaces across multiple genres of music, with so many different energies being absorbed into them. Our earth, our stones, our plants, it’s all absorbing and vibrating everything around us. I love creating custom anything and i’m up to the challenge! I love repurposing and my biggest dreams would be building a tribe of creators and all playing to our strengths to help people’s custom creations ,floral dreams or event ideas come true. Really- whether it’s weddings, events, storefront installs, custom celebrations and everything in between.
Natascha: Wonderful. What’s your position with the MushLove crew?
Stacia:I joined Much Love Crew as they started out this year I had a strong desire to contribute in a big way and i feel lucky to take on the roll of deco coordinator. Im passionate about psy trance and the healing its helped me with so when i met sam and learned of the vision i wanted to help make that dream come true
I feel lucky to have had some amazing inspiring people come and collaborate and volunteer their time, their energy and a willingness to be in the present moment and grow from there
You know, I have a general vision, and a plethora of materials. But the crew is like, we’re all new, we’re all coming together. It’s like, I’m sort of there to lead, but more- I just want to bring people together to make weird art and MushLove is here to bring people together to be weird and just be together.
Natascha: What is your past history with the music scene?
Stacia: Starting on the East coast, I have been involved in the music scene of all different genres for many, many years. (I remember my first event solo vision was a womp wednesday at the wonder bar in allston MA featuring wobble sauce ) after moving from MA to CA i was compelled to work with another flower i’m passionate about and I took a decent hiatus from the music scene while I was working at The Lost Whale Inn found in Trinidad gaining many of my amazing floral skills along with many other skills i utilize to chase my dreams now!. Um, and now that I dream bigger, it’s…. You put part of your heart into your passion and kind of just dream big that you can survive off of what your passionate about
Natascha: Totally. Well, is there anything else you want to add?
Stacia: I just I, I would love it if people- not even just as the MushLove psytrance thing but in general like we’re all here and there’s a lot of people that want to create together. I’m happy to hold space and gather materials and reach out if you feel inspired by anything that I do, or you have an idea that you need an assist with, I’m happy to contribute. Like other people have for me and my visions.
[Added after interview] Stacia: I’m really appreciative of the spaces I’ve been welcomed to with the intent to let my creative form flow. The trust I’ve been given by not only the properties, the teams, the crews, the volunteers and everyone in between. But just like it’s all helping me grow into a better person, too, you know? Making art is a beautiful thing. collaborating on art with other humans is even more beautiful, especially on a creative journey of helping each other grow, change, and inspire
Natascha: If somebody wants to contact you, what would be the easiest way for them to get Ahold of you? Um, probably through Instagram.
Stacia: Has my email there too and then through there. If we need a more direct contact, we can share numbers and all of that.
Natascha: I’ll make sure to tag that below.
Stacia: @StaciaFlowerSolutions Creative Solutions to your *Home* Event & *Life needs!
It kind of encompasses a little bit of everything that I’m doing in my life, right now with Room to Grow.
Natascha: Awesome. Okay. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.
Little Lost Forest 