 |
SMAC Education Director Retires
After serving the Sacramento County arts education community for 11 years, SMAC Education Director, Erika Kraft will retire this June. During her tenure, Erika has steadily pushed SMAC’s arts education programs to statewide and national prominence by developing and building teacher training programs and establishing grant programs that serve schools and community organizations. These programs provide jobs to artists and funding for arts organizations that bring arts experiences to thousands of children and community members.
“Erika Kraft has worked tirelessly to ensure that there is equity of access to the arts in our County,” says Shelly Willis, SMAC Executive Director, “She has the patience of a saint, a stronger work ethic than anyone I know, a sharp knowledge of the complexity of arts education issues, an ability to articulate why arts are essential to our daily lives, and a passion for serving the underserved. One of Erika’s major accomplishments is bringing together regional arts education providers to share and collaborate on projects and services. She is an incredible teacher who has helped to shape and change our community through her service.”
Erika began redesigning SMAC’s Arts Education Department when she arrived in 2005 -- developing teaching artist workshops, model arts education programs, grant programs for teaching artists, and SMAC’s first on-line arts education registry. She is one of the founding leaders of
Arts for Any Given Child, A Kennedy Center Initiative, serving as administrator of the programming and influential in its development. She helped co-found the California Teaching Artist Support Collaborative in 2007 and continues to serve on the Regional Advisory Council. She collaborated with the California Arts Council and the Sacramento County Office of Education to pilot Poetry Out Loud in Sacramento, the first site in California to bring this national poetry recitation program to the schools. Her work piloting arts programs for older adults as well as programs within the state prison system has resulted in ongoing successful programs throughout the region.
We are going to miss her!
|
Mayor Appoints New Commissioners
Maya Wallace and Dr. Michael Marion Jr. were appointed by Mayor Johnson last month to serve 3-year terms on the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. Their first meeting is February 9.
Dr. Michael Marion Jr. has been a major arts supporter through his work and leadership within Metro EDGE, Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program and the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce Executive committee. He has also enjoyed supporting local art projects like i.e. Portal, Bright Underbelly, “Own it” mural on J Street, Character on K and served on the board for the Latino Center of Art and Culture (formerly La Raza Galeria Posada). Dr. Marion is Associate Vice Provost at Drexel University, Sacramento. Read more.
Maya Wallace has always been steeped in the arts and continues to support the arts community as a volunteer, patron, and friend. A dedicated community advocate, Maya has served on the City of Sacramento Citizens Redistricting Advisory Committee, on the boards of the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates and Next Move, a homeless services agency, and helped found the Sacramento State Hornets Policy and Politics alumni chapter. Her experience also includes nonprofit capacity building and designing science curriculum. Maya holds a Bachelor's in Cognitive Science from Northwestern University and a Master's in Public Policy and Administration from Sacramento State. Read more.
Click here for more information about the Arts Commissioners.
|
DEADLINE: Grants for Capital Projects
Capital funds are available to arts organizations through SMAC’s Arts & Cultural Facilities Grant Program. The program supports the development or purchase of arts facilities in the City of Sacramento that are thoughtfully planned and developed. The guidelines are now available on the SMAC website. The deadline to apply is Friday, February 12, 2016.
|
Farewell to Sacramento Artists
Mourned and deeply missed is poet
Francisco X. Alarcon of Davis, age 61, who succumbed to stomach cancer on January 15, 2016. After studies at Stanford University, Francisco worked at U.C. Santa Cruz, then as a professor at U.C. Davis for about 25 years. He and his spouse Javier Pinzon made their home in Davis. He often said he was drawn here partly by the vibrant poetry community he found in the Sacramento area. While serving on the board of La Raza Galeria Posada, he and fellow board member Arturo Mantecon founded the writing group, Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun, in 1993.
He was not only a much-published poet of adult bilingual literary works; he also became recognized and honored as a writer of bilingual children’s books. A finalist for California Poet Laureate, he was often called as a judge, last year at California’s Poetry Out Loud competition. He was frequently invited to read and discuss poetry at conferences, fundraisers, universities, and elementary schools — locally, nationally, and abroad. At the Crocker Art Museum in 2014, he coordinated the writing workshop, PINTURA: PALABRA, associated with the Our America: the Latino Presence in American Art traveling Smithsonian exhibit.
- JoAnn Anglin, poet
|
Born and raised in New York City,
Abe Sass spent his life helping people from all walks of life. As a clinical social worker, he helped people wherever he went: California, Portland, Omaha, and back to California. Even after he retired, Abe was helping folks on his own time, here in Sacramento. After moving to Sacramento with his wife Rivkah, Abe began writing poetry. Abe’s poems travel through time, capturing his childhood, his involvement with the civil rights movement, his work as a clinical social worker and his day-to-day experiences. He told the stories of friends and colleagues in his book “We’re All in This Together,” published by I Street Press in 2015. In the Artist’s Statement from his book, Abe lists some of these characters who moved him to tell his stories:
"A wounded soul in a mental health clinic, a kid from the block I grew up on who became my teacher, a kindred spirit at a rally for equal rights, a garment worker who tag-teamed with my mother, a mad man who danced on the street, an artist who turns steel into magic. These are some of the people in my poems. They have all leaned over, put their arms around me and whispered in my ear, 'Come on, write about me.'"
Abe passed away from a sudden illness in January, and our writing community was stunned. We’re lucky to have known him, and to have heard him sharing the rich stories of his full life.
- Bob Stanley, Sacramento Poetry Center
|
Legislation Introduced for Theatre & Dance Teaching Credentials
Senator Ben Allen, chair of the Joint Committee on the Arts,
introduced legislation last week to establish teaching credentials for dance and theatre. Although music, dance, theater and visual arts are all core subjects for California schools, only music and visual arts teachers can get teaching credentials in their art form.
To teach today, dance teachers must have a Physical Education credential and theater teachers must have an English credential. California is one of only two states that do not issue credentials in dance and theater.
|
SMAC Grants: 53 Organizations: $439,724
Congratulations to the 53 nonprofit arts organizations that have received second year funding under the 2015-17 Cultural Arts Award cycle.
|
Governor Brown Recognized For His Arts Support
|
Make it a Stylish Night With Sacramento365.com
This February hit the town in style. Our personal style is expressed through and inspired by the clothes we wear, the activities we enjoy, the music we listen to, and the art that moves us.
So whether you’re making it a date night with your Valentine or a night out with friends, own your style and celebrate all that makes you, uniquely you. While you’re out this month enjoying our local arts scene, get social and share your “Make it a Night” fun by using the hashtag #Sacramento365.
|
Support California Arts Education
Tomorrow’s innovators need arts education today! Support California arts education programs by donating to the Keep Arts in Schools Fund on your state tax return. California taxpayers can now support arts education programs this tax season through the Keep Arts in Schools Fund. Individuals may make tax-deductible contributions in amounts of $1 or more through the Voluntary Contribution portion of 2015 state tax returns.
|
Job Opening - Administrative Assistant - 916 Ink
916 Ink is seeking a friendly person to serve as an Administrative Assistant to assist in the day-to-day operations of a children's literacy nonprofit in a fun and whimsical environment. The Administrative Assistant will join the organization during a period of strategic growth, serving as the face of 916 Ink at the Maple Neighborhood Center in South Sacramento.
Learn more.
The Block is Hot - Talent Search - last audition February 6, 2016
Crocker Block by Block
is looking for local talent to perform at upcoming block party events in City Council Districts 2, 5, and 8. Auditions will be held for those interested in participating (singers, dancers, musicians, poets, etc). There will be one party in each district starting in spring 2016.
Click here for audition dates/times/locations.
Artist Call: 2016 Cosumnes River Journal – February 15, 2016
The 2016 Cosumnes River Journal is now accepting works of: fiction, poetry, art, and creative non-fiction (including mini-essays on the theme: Awe). Forward your contributions to:
[email protected]. Include no more than 5 poems or photos per entry; limit your short stories and essays to 2 contributions per year.
Click here for a flyer.
Grant opportunity – Cultural Pathways – March 10, 2016
A new pilot grant program, Cultural Pathways is rooted in the California Arts Council’s commitment to serving the needs of an increasingly demographically complex California, and the belief that a healthy arts ecosystem reflects contributions from all of California’s diverse populations. This program provides two years of operating support and a host of technical assistance and professional development activities to small and emerging organizations rooted in communities of color, recent immigrant and refugee communities, or tribal groups.
Click here for more information.
Conference: Our Life Stories – April 23, 2016
The Our Life Stories writers' conference will be held on Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Conference fee is $35.00 (Includes morning refreshments, lunch, workshops, and materials). Registration deadline: April 8, 2016. Space is limited.
Please click here for more information and to register.
Summer School for the Arts application - deadline February 29, 2016
California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) provides a four-week, intensive pre-college program in the arts for motivated high school students, held on the campus of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia. Now in its 30th year, CSSSA offers immersion in seven different artistic disciplines: dance, music, theatre, visual arts, creative writing, film and animation from July 9-August 5, 2016. California residents enrolled in grades 9 -12 are eligible to apply. Students are accepted based on artistic potential and artistic merit, and scholarships are provided to all admitted students who qualify for financial aid.
Learn more and apply.
Creativity Connects Grants – National Endowment for the Arts - deadline March 3
Creativity Connects Grants will support partnerships between nonprofit arts organizations and organizations from non-arts sectors which include, but are not limited to, business, education, environment, faith, finance, food, health, law, science, and technology. These Art Works: Creativity Connects grants will seek to benefit the arts and non-arts sectors by demonstrating the value of working with the arts; supporting the infrastructure for the arts to work in new ways with new sectors; building bridges that create new relationships and constituencies; and creating innovative partnership projects to advance common goals. Visit
arts.gov for information about these grants. Questions should be directed to [email protected]. The application deadline is March 3, 2016 and a
webinar about applying for these grants will take place on January 27.
|
Current Gallery Exhibitions
|
|
Extended Vision: The artwork of Gregory Kondos
through May 11, 2016
Sacramento City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento
Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
|
|
Common Threads: Layers
through March 2, 2016
6301 S Street, Sacramento
Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
|
|
Lyrical Abstraction: Oil paintings by Laura Hohlwein
through July 7, 2016
700 H Street, Sacramento
Open when the County Board of Supervisors are in session.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
