|
Monthly Update
March 2015
|
|
| The Past is Now: Sacramento's Royal Chicano Air Force | |
700 H Street, Sacramento
Monday - Friday
8:00AM-5:00PM
thru July 7, 2015
|
Follow The Arts
| For interesting articles, opportunities, news and events in the arts, follow SMAC on
 
Please share with your friends!
|
|
|
SMAC Has a New Website
Go to www.sacmetroarts.org to see SMAC's new website. Access information about current SMAC programs, opportunities and much more.
|
$3 Million Donation to Secure World-Renowned Sculpture for the ESC Plaza Announced
On Thursday, February 26, the City of Sacramento and the Sacramento Kings announced $3 million in donations to acquire an original sculpture by world-renowned artist Jeff Koons. The sculpture would be showcased within the Entertainment and Sports Center (ESC) plaza and would mark the first artwork by Koons purchased by a municipality for permanent display.
In May 2014, the city and the Kings announced that $5.5 million of the ESC construction budget would be invested in the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission's (SMAC) "Art in Public Places" program, representing the largest commitment in City history. A nine-member panel of prominent artists, curators and community leaders were appointed to recommend the acquisition, exhibition and maintenance of the artwork, including artist selection and artwork design approval. The Sacramento City Council will consider whether to approve the proposal's contract terms at the March 10 meeting.
The panel selected, and SMAC approved, a sculpture from the Coloring Book collection, a towering design of stainless steel. Coloring Book is a quintessential element from the artist's Celebration series. The sculpture is intended to capture a child's ecstatic enjoyment of the world.
The panel also announced a $1.5 million investment to commission regional art for the ESC. Sacramento philanthropist and artist Marcy Friedman will gift $1 million, and $500,000 will come from the initial $5.5 million contribution to the Art in Public Places program. Read the entire press release>
SMAC will announce the calls for regional artists for public artwork for the ESC on our website and also in our monthly newsletter.
Photo: One of five versions of "Coloring Book" by Jeff Koons.
|
Sacramento Sculptor's Artwork Selected for Award Winning Neighborhood Entrance
Le Feuille, an abstract sculpture featuring two large leaves in mirror-polished stainless steel by Marc Foster has been selected to sit in a park at the main entrance into McKinley Village in East Sacramento. McKinley Village is an award winning neighborhood currently under construction. Marc Foster plans to begin constructing the piece in his Alhambra Boulevard studio this month. Learn more>
Photo: Marc Foster's design for the main entrance to McKinley Village, "Le Feuille" |
Public Artwork by Artist David Best Installed Ahead of Schedule
Last month a sculpture by David Best was installed at the site of the Franklin Light Rail Station, set to open in fall, 2016. The artwork is an architectural gateway, or beacon that welcomes and honors the diversity and hard work of the community. The sculpture is meant to broadly welcome all cultures and invite individual interpretation. The formal nature of the sculpture evokes the feeling of a sacred place, a safe place, and is a metaphor for the importance of the public transportation that serves this community.
David Best is an internationally-renowned sculptor based in Petaluma, California. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from San Francisco Arts Institute. The use of recycled material and sensitivity to both environment and the people who inhabit it, are common threads in his work. In the last ten years Best has become known for building immense temporary temples out of recycled wood for the Burning Man Festivals. Best may be equally well known for his "Art Cars" that have been exhibited around the country. Read more>
 Photo: Artwork by David Best installed at the site of the Franklin Light Rail Station |
55 Sacramento Arts Organizations and 9 Schools Receive Funding from SMAC
The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission is pleased to announce the recipients of two grant programs:
Artists in the Community Grant Recipients
Nine schools and organizations will receive $22,197 in grants for arts education projects that connect professional teaching artists with their students or clients for a minimum of 12 hours of learning in the arts. Projects range from the selection, design and installation of a 210-piece Chainlink Poetry set at a local elementary school to a series of watercolor painting classes for older adults. Each of the nine grantees will receive their full request amounts ranging from $1,020 to $5,000. Click here to see a list of the grantees.
Cultural Arts Awards Grant Recipients
Fifty-five nonprofit organizations will receive first year grants totaling $421,676 for general operating support through the 2015-17 Cultural Arts Awards program. Grant amounts range from $1,321 to $20,067. Grantee organizations perform in a range of artistic disciplines from music to theater and dance to literary. The CAA grants are funded by the City and County of Sacramento, and in 2015, the funding for CAA grants was increased by $111,000. Click here to see a list of the grantees. |
|
City Council Approves $500,000 to Support Small Budget Arts Organizations
The Sacramento City Council unanimously approved the allocation of $500,000 to help small budget arts organizations after a recommendation from the Sacramento City Manager last month. SMAC will develop guidelines and make "Cultural Equity Grants" available this spring to small arts organizations that target historically underserved communities such as African-American, Asian, Disabled, Latino, L/G/B/T, Native American, Pacific Islander, and women. Grants would be for initiatives such as strategic planning that lead to greater organizational sustainability and financial health, a strengthened administrative infrastructure, and overall organizational capacity and efficiencies. For more information please check the opportunities section on our website in the coming months.
|
Closing Reception at the Robert T. Matsui Gallery Tonight
The public is invited to attend the closing reception for the exhibition, Metamorphosis tonight, March 3, 2015 from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
The exhibition Metamorphosis at City Hall honors the members of the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF), Stan Padilla, Juanishi Orosco and Esteban Villa, who created the historic Sacramento mural, located on the eastern façade of the Downtown Plaza parking lot at 3rd & L Streets. The mural will be restored sometime in 2015/16.
The RCAF is best known for its mural paintings, poster art production, and individual artistic contributions. It is a significant collective that has maintained a forty-year history of engaging communities to express their Chicano culture, history and struggle for equal rights. The exhibition coincides with a group show of work by other members of the RCAF on exhibition through July 7, 2015 at the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors' Chambers. More info>
Photo: "El Jaguar", Juanishi Orosco, acrylic on plywood, 36"x48" |
|
Robert T. Matsui Gallery Exhibition Features Paintings and Ceramics by Chinese Artist, Shimo
Tranquil Pursuit: an exhibition of artwork by Shimo, opens this month at the Robert T. Matsui Art Gallery, City of Sacramento City Hall. The public is invited to meet the artist at a FREE reception on Wednesday, March 4, 2015, from 5:00 to 6:30pm.
This exhibition features paintings and ceramics by Shimo. Born in Shanghai in 1962, Shimo immigrated to the United States in 2003 and settled in Sacramento, California. Shimo's style of art blends traditional Chinese techniques with modern aesthetics. He developed a technique he calls "multilayer dripping ink" in which he drips, stains, pours, and sometimes even mops the ink directly onto the surface to create his signature paintings. While he works in the tradition of Chinese art, he strives to extend the boundaries with a Western sensibility. Learn more>
Photo: Shimo, "Lotus Series - Summer", mixed media on paper, 2011, 75" x 133"
|
Arts Education Workshop For Teachers and Teaching Artists on March 5th
Kennedy Center presenter, Melanie Rick, will lead two workshops the first week of March. The workshops are open to artists and teachers working in the schools. Choose one or both of the workshops, but please register for each one separately. Both workshops will be held at the Foothill Ranch Middle School on Thursday, March 5th.
8:30 am - 12:00 pm (register): The morning workshop examines ways to teach students to view portraits as a visual text filled with meaning in order to make the study of people and biographies more engaging, and help students better understand historical and literary figures.
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm (register): The afternoon workshop explores how artists and their collaborators can document the process of learning in the arts. Very often the depth or richness of what students learn in the arts is not understood if we only look at the end products of their work.
 Photo:Workshop presenter Melanie Rick during her last visit to Sacramento, February 2015.
|
SMUD Exhibition Features New Paintings and Drawings by Phyllis Hayes and Craig N. Smith
Incidental Observations: New Work by Craig N. Smith and Phyllis Hayes opens at the SMUD Art Gallery, 6301 S Street, Sacramento, on Friday, March 6, 2015. The public is invited to meet the artists and view their work at a free reception on Thursday, March 5, 2015, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Though Craig N. Smith's and Phillis Hayes' work is not always thematically related, their methods are - that is, their method of seeing or of processing what they see. Hayes and Smith both work from direct observation. Hayes' drawings are themselves a record of seeing. She adjusts the object she is painting in terms of its formal and expressive appearance. In contrast, Smith's 'finished' works tend to be once or twice removed from the initial or direct observation. Hayes has studied art in Colorado and California, but it wasn't until the mid-2000's that she began painting and drawing with more focused intention and regularity. Smith has shown his work in over 40 solo, group, and competitive exhibitions since 1990 and has been represented by the Michael Himovitz and the Solomon Dubnick Galleries.He currently works full-time as a Professor of Art at American River College in Sacramento. Learn more> 
Photo: Phyllis Hayes, "Calla Lilies with Checkerboard" (detail), 2015, ink & colored pencil, 10" X 16" framed |
Arts for Any Given Child Residencies are Underway
This year's team of teaching artists is providing arts integrated and theme-based residencies in classrooms throughout the Sacramento City and Twin Rivers school districts. Working in dance, literary arts, music, theatre and the visual arts, these skilled artists will spend 12 hours in their assigned classrooms between January and June.
Liz Barton Hagginwood (2nd)
Gail Dartez Rio Linda Prep (5th, 6th), Allison (5th)
Kim Grace Fairbanks (4th), Father Keith B. Kenny (3rd),
Harmon Johnson (4th)
Vince Horiuchi Father Keith B. Kenny (2nd), William Land (2nd, 6th)
Joe Kye Fairbanks (3rd), Father Keith B. Kenny (3rd, 4th),
William Land (2nd, 6th)
Lisa Lacy Foothill Oaks (6th), John Still (6th, 7th, 8th)
Heidi McLean Fairbanks (2nd)
Anita Pearson Bidwell (4th, 5th)
Michelle Trujillo Northwood (3rd), F. C. Joyce (2nd)
Yon Walls Fairbanks (4th), F.C. Joyce (6th)
Photo: Any Given Child residency artist Kim Grace with a Harmon Johnson Elementary student during the 2013-14 school year. |
Keep Arts in Schools
Californians believe in arts education, and research shows most are willing to give a little extra on their taxes if they know the funds are spent on the artsfor children and teens. Almost a third of schools in California have no music, dance, theatre, media arts or visual arts available whatsoever. The California Arts Council is working to increase arts education statewide by supporting teaching artists in the classroom, incorporating arts into "Common Core" teacher instruction, and turning around low performing schools through the arts.
Interested in helping? It's easy - and deductible! Give a little extra on your state tax return to the "Keep Arts in Schools Fund," and 100% of your tax-deductible contribution is applied to arts education programming by the California Arts Council. The "Keep Arts in Schools Fund" can be found in Voluntary Contribution Section 110 (425) of the "540" individual state tax-return form, and the minimum donation is just $1. Every dollar counts, so please join the California Arts Council and "Keep Arts in Schools" through your state tax return! Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov  |
PEOPLE
Sacramento bids a fond farewell to Stephanie Gularte and welcomes Alice Sauro.
Stephanie Gularte, former artistic director and co-founder of the Capital Stage Company has taken a position as the producing artistic director at American Stage Theatre in Florida. Jonathan Williams is the current producing artistic director for Capital Stage, but he will step down at the end of the current season. Before he leaves Capital Stage, he will oversee the transition to new artistic leadership for the company. Located in midtown at 2215 J Street, Capital Stage's mission is to be a dynamic leader in the evolution of the contemporary live theatre landscape in the Capital region and to passionately engage audiences in the art of live storytelling with bold, innovative plays performed by professional artists, in an intimate, up-close setting. Go to www.capstage.org to learn more.
Alice Sauro has been named the interim executive director of the Sacramento Region Performing Arts Alliance, the organization that is the merged Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera. "Sacramento is a wonderful city filled great possibilities and fantastic people. Everywhere I go; there is a common desire to collaborate to bring orchestral and operatic music back to the people of Sacramento. I am very excited for the future here." Sauro said. Alice Sauro has a 29-year career of successful service as a musician and a manager of performing arts organizations. A conservatory-trained violinist, her 25-year performing career was cut short by injury which opened up management opportunities starting as musical director (lead contractor) for the Nederlander-operated Fisher Theatre in Detroit. In 2007, Sauro was recruited by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as its Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager prior to being named by DSO Music Director, Leonard Slatkin, as his managing assistant. |
|
|
|
|
| Opportunities
Several California Arts Council Grants now accepting applications.
Nominations Open - California Poet Laureate
The California Arts Council is now accepting nominations for the role of California Poet Laureate. The California Poet Laureate must provide a minimum of six public readings in urban and rural settings across the California and educate community, business, and state leaders about the value and importance of poetry and creative expression. Additionally, the California Poet Laureate would undertake a significant cultural project that would extend through a 2 year term. Self-nominations are accepted. Deadline is April 3, 2015. Learn more >>
Artist Call - Shades of Carmichael
Design a unique one-of-a-kind umbrella to be used as a fundraiser for the Sacramento Fine Arts Center and the Carmichael Recreation and Park District. Imagine a "Christo-syle" parade of art umbrellas placed throughout Carmichael Park. You may partner up or participate in a group. Call to reserve your umbrella by calling Margaret at (916) 704-8611 or SFAC at (916) 971-3713. Deadline for completed umbrella is March 16, 2015. View the RFQ here.
Call to Artists - Colonial Heights Library
Visual and Literary artists based in the Sacramento area are encouraged to apply to have their work displayed in the Library's digital gallery. There is no entry fee and submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis. Learn more and download the entry form >>
FAJE Guidelines and Application
The guidelines and online application for the next grant round of the French-American Jazz Exchange program are now available. FAJE supports projects jointly conceived by French and American professional musicians that encourage artistic exploration, foster intercultural dialogue, and contribute to the dynamism of jazz. Projects may include jazz artists collaborating with artists working in different music genres. Apply by May 29, 2015 for grant awards up to $25,000 for projects taking place between September 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016. Learn more >>
Artist Residency Program
Apply to be a resident artist with the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, internationally recognized as one of the eminent artist residency programs. There will be six 29-day sessions between mid-April and mid-November. Deadline to apply is March 15, 2015. Open to artists working in visual arts, media arts, music composition, choreography, and literature. To learn more, visit www.djerassi.org.
Call for Artists - California Sculpture SLAM
Central Coast Sculptors Group is accepting entries for the 3rd California Sculpture SLAM at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. This exhibition, juried by Bella Feldman, will be a showcase and survey of current work by established and up and coming California sculptors. The exhibition's goal is to provide a platform for a wide variety of concepts and materials. Open to artists residing in California, artwork must have been completed within the past two years and may not have been shown previously at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. Deadline is May 15, 2015. Learn more >
Click here for more opportunities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
