May is Mental Health Month, and the Sacramento County Division of Behavioral Health Services (DBHS) tasked local middle school children with opening discussion on the topic with their youth PSA contest, “Mental Illness: It’s not always what you think.” Seven students from Arden Middle School created a short public service announcement that attempts to break the stigma surrounding the various forms of mental illness which, according to the DBHS, affects one in five children. The 30-second PSA will air between May 2nd and May 27th on local television stations. From May 13th through May 17th, an art display along the outside of the governor’s office at the State Capitol will feature loc

At this Wednesday’s Hearts for the Arts Benefit Event (6pm-9pm at Alex Bult Gallery) artists, community leaders, and Sacramento’s finest convene to celebrate and raise funds for Any Given Child Sacramento. This initiative, spearheaded by For Arts’ Sake, strives to ensure that art experiences are accessible to every child in grades K-8. As a part of this fun, alternative event you can treat your Valentine to a night like no other, all while supporting a great cause and enjoying an evening of art, music, cocktails, and refreshments. Esteemed auctioneer David Sobon will auction off “heart-works” donated donated by over 24 local artists, including Raphael Delgado, Shane Grammer, and Micah Cr

Editorial Note: This is an updated version of a story that was published earlier. On Nov. 10, the new Milk Gallery opened at 212 13th St. Amy Greer, co-owner of the 1,500-square-foot art gallery, said that the current collection of local art will provide visitors with an interesting blend of artistic styles. Melanie Bown, a 39-year-old restitution trainer for the state and artist, opened the gallery with Greer, a 37-year-old restaurant employee and artist. Both Bown and Greer have backgrounds in art. Bown has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Bradley University, with an emphasis in printmaking. She teaches kids’ art classes at the Crocker Art Museum and was also an art installer pri

As you enter, to the left is the cornerstone collection of Crabshaw Corners and Oasis Ballroom artwork from Roger Shepherd, Jim Carrico, and Jim Ford. Rock enthusiasts may marvel over the nearly complete collection of psychedelia from the Sound Factory. And any native Sacramentan over a certain age will wax nostalgic at the wall of Tower calendar posters on display. Dennis Newhall, founder and curator of the Sacramento Rock and Radio Museum, has assembled and showcased a myriad of rock and radio memorabilia dating back to 1957. Newhall started listening to rock and roll when he was six years old and Hounddog was at the top of the charts. Every inch of his West Sacramento bedroom was cov

 Join The Sacramento Press Saturday evening for Launch 2011, a design, music and fashion festival. The third annual Launch is a spectacular festival of sight and sound that provides the opportunity for creative people from Sacramento’s art, music and fashion communities to come together to showcase their talents and celebrate local and national works of art, music and design and share the experience with the community as a whole. Launch will include live music by Little Foxes, Exquisite Corps, ReSA, The Dreaded Diamond and many others. Artists on-site Saturday include Brady Tuazon, Chelsea Greene Lewyta, Jeff Dojillo, and too many more to mention. Fashion designers Miss Chief of Califor

Sunday afternoon evening , local artist Rebecca Plack will be performing a solo concert at the “Jewish Voices : Songs from the Old World Tunes from the New” benefit concert at the Center at Twenty-Three Hundred on 2300 , a new multi-use venue in Sacramento known for its exceptional lighting and acoustics. Prior to this upcoming event, Plack has sung at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and with the Sacramento Opera. Plack has been performing since she was 8 years old and currently teaches voice lessons to young students at a private studio in Davis. The “Jewish Voices” benefit concert will be hosted by the president of the Mosaic Law Congregation, Deborah Gonzales. The Mosaic

After spending much of his life in the spotlight, Tower Records founder Russ Solomon got behind the camera lens to showcase the faces of Sacramento’s art scene. His photography exhibit – The Faces of Art – opened Thursday at Sacramento City College’s Gregory Kondos Gallery and will run through March 4. “It’s basically portraits of people in the art community, which includes as many portraits of local artists as I can, as well as wives in some cases, art dealers – people that involve themselves in the arts,” Solomon said. Solomon said he has been taking photographs for 70 years, but he has never before displayed them in a gallery. “For a long while, I was peddling records,” he said. “I

Americana music fans will be treated to an early Fourth of July concert, as "Celebrate America" premieres June 20. The event, put on by L17 Community Arts Foundation in conjunction with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra will benefit the Central Downtown Food Basket. The Sunday concert will feature the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, a Sacramento-based group in existence for 48 years, and a wide variety of local artists performing at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on the UC Davis campus. "We're really excited to perform and play with the other choirs," orchestra executive director Roberta McClellan said. "We're looking forward to the collaboration." L17 created the Celebrate Ameri

A marketplace of colorful stalls will take over one of Sacramento's busiest corners Saturday. Like an oasis in a concrete desert, a new public market called the Midtown Bazaar will spring up on a parking lot at 16th and J streets — across from the Memorial Auditorium and P.F. Chang's China Bistro — and flow through an alley into a cavernous old building for a few hours each week. At least 75 local vendors offering art and other goods have already signed up for the grand opening, to be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. With an indoor location measuring 25,600 feet, the market will be held year-round. The old garage at 1630 I St. sports old timber trusses, a mezzanine and roll-up doors in back th

  Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen, Sacramento’s weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of a MOBS event. On Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 7:30 PM, Movies on a Big Screen will be presenting the documentary, Independents: A Guide to the Creative Spirit and director Chris Brandt will be in attendance for a Q&A. Additionally, local comic book artists, along with local artist, Skinner (who’s short film will also be shown) are scheduled to be there. See the end of this "article" for the full line-up of who's currently scheduled. This will all take place at Th

Midtown's Lucky Lefty’s recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Despite the skepticism of nay-saying college career counselors, who called the venture a "stupid idea," and the uncertainty of Californian economic prospects, the clothing shop is thriving. Co-owner Brennan Williams says, growing up, he and his friends’ interest in clothing brands stemmed from a fascination with the subcultures they represented. Williams noticed that other young people who shared his interest tended to resort to travel or the Internet to explore emergent brands, instead of investing in Sacramento’s own scene.  Inspired by skate stores like FTC Sacramento and PLA Folsom, Williams and his friends -now pa

Local musicians get their own awards every year from the Sacramento News & Review. For a lot of them, it is quite the honor to be nominated and even more exciting to win. On Wednesday, March 25 at the Press Club, The Sacramento News and Review hosted a Sammie Nominees’ party, which included live performances from T.O.P. (The Other Poets), Citystate with Bones and Live Manikins. At about 10 p.m. a crowd of about 70 people gathered at the small stage of the Press Club to watch DJ/Producer Citystate play his latest productions. While newcomer emcee Bones waited for his part to come, he kept the crowed entertained with random dancing and jokes. After being a longtime producer and selling beat

Anne Shulock will join 69 other artists, completing one piece of art every day for 50 days in the third annual 50/50 show hosted by the 20th Street Gallery. She has been working on a painting a day for the past 43 days. Although it has not always been easy, she enjoys the process and is excited for the outcome. Shulock got started in art when her parents set a rule that for every sport she took up she had to pick up an instrument. The piano and violin were not things she felt she excelled at, so in the seventh grade she decided to give art a try. As she went through school she experimented with different styles. There was even a time in her life where she could tell that her art was goi

With so many things to do in the state's capital, here are some excellent music events in the next week to add to your calendar. The high energy of punk band Final Summation will be rockin’ out at the Fire Escape Sunday. Two of the band members have been around the Sacramento punk rock scene since the mid 90s. Bastards of Young, Get Dead, Down We Go and Lesson in Failure will be there as well. 6 p.m. all ages.$7. Fire Escape Bar and Grill 7431 Madison Ave., Citrus Heights. For more info visit myspace.com/finalsummation. Don't miss Grammy-winning producer Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings sing blues/Americana at the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom Sunday at 4 p.m. 21 and over.$10. Powerhou

There are a number of good low-level shows coming in Sacramento in the next week, most of them on the other side of the weekend. One features a guitarist who had one hit then became a jam band staple, another is a guitarist/songwriter on busman's holiday from his band, and the last is a rapper who goes ALL the way back to raps heyday in Brooklyn, New York. The last first: Kool Keith was a menber of the wonderful Ultramagnetic MCs, which were contemporary with the early Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and LL Cool J, and very nearly as good. They didn't last long, and Keith went on to do some very weird space-age rap on a dozen or so albums that yielded the occasional hit (including "Earth Peopl