Fairytale Town's second annual Goes Green! event is back this weekend. The family event will feature educational displays, activities and crafts aimed at promoting conservation and environmental awareness. "When the director of Fairytale Town approached me with ideas about hosting an agricultural event, I wanted to tie in a green theme," said Education and Program Manager Sharlene Lal. "But as we developed the event, we realized that going green is a big idea and a movement that needs its own outlet." Several local organizations have partnered with Fairytale Town to provide learning tools. Representatives from Solar Cookers International, the Department of Utilities, the Air Resources B

Born and raised in Sacramento, Kathy Kieth now lives in Pollock Pines. A musician, music teacher, music therapist, psychologist and poet, her work has been published in many journals, including Atlanta Review, California Quarterly, Main Street Rag, Möbius, Potpourri, Ekphrasis, PDQ, Poetry Now, Slant, and Tiger’s Eye. Kathy has also published four chapbooks: Night Full of Owls from White Heron Press, Keeping Time in the Clock Shop from PWJ Publishing, Why We Have Sternums from Rattlesnake Press, and Sex—For Animals from Rattlesnake Press. She was also nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. In the last six years, Ms. Kieth has published hundreds of Sacramento-area poets in her quart

Sunday, January 17th, 2010, marked the last book signing and presentation by an author at Amicus Books Literary Arts Center and Community Bookstore, located in the older part of Marysville, California, on 413 D Street. Author Michael Don Hubbartt presented his newly published book, The Sutter Buttes (Arcadia Publishing, 2010), to a large turn-out in spite of the weather forecast of a major storm. Mr. Hubbartt offered a comprehensive history of the Sutter Buttes, known as the world's smallest mountain range, a familiar landmark to residents of the Sacramento Valley. Since its inception in 2005, Amicus Books' primary purpose was as a community literary arts center serving readers, writers,

What do a Sac State student, an entrepreneur, an emcee, a visual artist, a photographer and a sound technician have in common? They're all part of Leverage Sacramento, a new arts organization seeking to expose untapped local talent. The group threw a launch party Monday night at Tré Nightclub with several local spoken word performers, comedians, and hip-hop, soul and R&B performers. Hosting the event was The CUF emcee Marc "Crush" Hayes, who also sits on the seven-member Leverage board of directors. The party, which was only expected to draw 50 people, drew an estimated audience of 200. The idea of creating an arts promotion company began when 24-year-old entrepreneur Justin Eve was ask

Dennis Weaver Jr., better known as Rapper Monotone, has opened for Michael Franti and Spearhead, Talib Kweli and De La Soul. But the 34-year-old West Sacramento resident doesn't usually perform in the big shows that hit the area. However, people who love the music of Monotone's group, MLS, can hear the musicians play Saturday when they release their EP "Target Practice" at Capitol Garage. Local hip hop acts Mahtie Bush, Tribe of Levi, Izreal, 2-4-1 and Torrance the Poet also will perform. Those in the know can recite the double meanings behind the initials MLS: "Monotone and Lou Slugga" and "Major League Spittaz." Monotone's a valley guy. He was born in Fresno and moved to Sacramento whe

A little over two months ago, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts chose Sacramento over 27 other cities as the first partner for the "Any Given Child" program. The program, which promotes arts education, will be developed in Sacramento over the next two years before rolling out nationwide. Mayor Kevin Johnson emailed the following survey regarding participation in the Any Given Child program: In October, the Kennedy Center announced that it would pilot its Any Given Child program here in Sacramento with the goal of providing access and equity in arts in education to all students. Since then, we've been hard at work focusing on this welcome opportunity to expand arts opport

There is no doubt that businesses in general have suffered through our ever-changing economy. Businesses on multiple levels have had to make sacrifices; downsizing, cutting salaries, furloughing, laying off, and certainly cutting expenses.Small business, especially in Sacramento, is no exception. One expense that seems to be a commonality, is the Company Holiday Party. Historically, no matter how large or small an office or business is, company's have celebrated the holidays and their accomplishments with their partners, employees, and sometimes, vendors and customers. It is a time when people put work aside, and come together over food, drinks, entertainment and memories that often survi

With members of the Sacramento arts community, the local education establishment and a representative of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at his side, Mayor Kevin Johnson Friday morning announced a major new arts education initiative in Sacramento. Sacramento has been chosen from 27 cities to be the Kennedy Center's first civic partner for the "Any Given Child" program, an effort to match arts groups, school districts and the Kennedy Center itself in the promotion of arts programs in the city's schools. After being developed in Sacramento over the next two years, the program will be rolled out nationwide. "We need to redefine how we look at the arts," said Johnson, stan

After an inspiring talk from Randy Weeks, the director of Denver’s Center for the Performing Arts, the crowd was already charged up to work on behalf of Sacramento’s arts community. Weeks explained how Denver’s seven-county region came up with a sustainable approach to help local non-profit arts organizations. In 1988, a recession year, Denver-area voters created a Scientific and Cultural Development Fund and by a three-to-one vote, approved a tax on themselves to support that fund. Since then, Denver arts organizations, both large and small, have been able to thrive, thanks to the stabilizing effects of this initiative. They’ve attracted more community support as well. The 150 arts volunt

Wednesday's For Art's Sake meeting at the Sacramento Ballet studios feautured a surprise visit from musician Wynton Marsalis. The nearly 100 audience members were treated with a speech from Marsalis, who Mayor Kevin Johnson had previously mentioned in June's For Art's Sake meeting. After the normally scheduled meeting, Marsalis entered the room to a standing ovation. He gave a 30-minute speech followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session. Marsalis, a jazz educator as well as nine-time Grammy winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient, spoke of the importance of music education. "How can we get kids to our shows?" Marsalis asked the audience early in his speech. "We need to get kids to g

The Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance (SARTA) will announce the nominations for the most outstanding theater performances of 2008-2009 at its Elly Nomination Party, said SARTA office administrator Benjamin T. Ismail. Sacarmento City College will host the celebration on Aug. 9 from 6 to 10 p.m. Held and named in honor of the late Eleanor McClatchy, a devoted patron of local arts, the Elly's are in its 27th year. On Sept. 20, SARTA will honor the winners with a ceremony at the Crest Theatre. Tickets are $25 general admission, $20 for group rate and SARTA members. They go on sale Aug. 10 and can be purchased by calling SARTA's office or the day of at the Crest box office. There are

One local arts organization not in need of financial aid is The Sacramento Opera. In the 2008-2009 season it not only ended the year in the black, but the organization eliminated all its debt, exceeded its budget goal and grew its ticket sales by nearly 38 percent. After disappointing ticket sales in 2008, the opera was fortunate to have extra income contributed from private donors such as the Mildred Reis Estate and other corporate sponsors such as Raley's and Marriott. The organization also paid back a city loan incurred in 1992. Attendance for the season's four feature shows totaled 17,414, while the community programs saw an all-time high in participation with 6,152 audience members

Wednesday morning Mayor Kevin Johnson held his second "For Art's Sake" meeting, which saw an increase in attendance over last month. More than 100 people crowded into the Verge Art Gallery on 19th and V Streets. To open the meeting, Dennis Mangers, senior adviser for Senator Darrell Steinberg, summarized the previous meeting. Afterward, Johnson took the podium to lay down his vision for the arts initiative. "What is our vision? What are our goals? Who do we want to be as an art community? Those are things we are going to start answering ourselves," he said. "Over the next 11 months, we're going to create a sustainable arts community." He mentioned that as a whole, an estimated $100,000

Move over, Jonas Brothers. There’s a new boy-band in town and they’re determined to save the souls of Sacramentans. The off-Broadway musical hit "Altar Boyz" opened last Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Pavilion and kept the audience laughing and toe-tapping the entire 90 minutes. The comedic story of five Catholic boy-band members, as passionate about saving souls as they are about their clothes being glitzy, will run through Sunday. The group leader Matthew (Devin DeSantis), "sensitive" Mark (Jamison Scott), street-smart Luke (Ryan Nearhoff), "Latin lover" Juan (Andres Quintero) and the Jewish, yarmulke-sporting Abraham (Tim Dolan) are a talented cast that keep the audience laughing,

The Green Room - the College Musical opens at The California Stage on August 7th starring Courtney Parks, Jacob Montoya, Jessica Goldman and Lafras le Roux. The Green Room is a new backstage musical illustrating the journey of four best friends determined to make it out of the Green Room and onto the Broadway Stage. Premiering in Hermosa Beach Beach in May 2009 to audience acclaim and great reviews, Friends of Dorothy Productions is proud to present the Northern California premier of this new musical with a rocking score and witty dialogue. Music and lyrics by Chuck Pelletier Book by C. Stephen Foster and Rod Damer Directed by Kevin Caravalho Musical Direction by Jane Viemeister Choreogr

The second annual In the Flow jazz festival brought music and art fans out to Broadway's hub with more than 30 bands, poetry readings and live painting. For $20, ticket holders were given wristbands that allowed entrance into all of the weekend's shows, which spanned five different venues along Broadway. For those who weren't wearing wristbands, several free performances were hosted at Records, Java Lounge and Records. The back-to-back schedules at the venues allowed for a constant stream of activity, and if ticket holders didn’t like one performance, they could walk down the street to the next one. The goal of the festival was to "showcase all of the different kinds of jazz you'll find

Although not quite as well known in Sacramento as her native home of Alaska where she performed the lead roles in many musical theatre productions and sang at political fundraisers and sports events, Courtney Parks’ reputation as an extremely talented vocalist is catching on quickly in Sacramento. Prior moving to Sacramento Courtney won Spokane Idol and sang live onstage with Beth Hart. Locally, Courtney has performed on Good Day Sacramento as Judy Garland in December of 2008. She also co-wrote and performed a one-woman cabarets titled Under Their Influence: A Tribute to Judy Garland, Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand at The Studio Theatre and It’s All About Me at Badlands Nightclub featu

This Saturday, Arts in River Park features music, artists and vendors. Held at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center at 6151 H Street, the fifth annual festival will feature some unique family fun including Afro-Cuban dance and percussion, Mediterranean food from Crest Cafe, and the traditional Chinese medicines acupuncture and qigong (pronounced "chee-gong"). It all began when funding was cut from the California Arts Council (CAC), putting many arts organizations out of business in 2003. Brenda Waters, winner of the 2003 CAC Director's Award, felt that the best way to help artists was to bring them together to show off their diversity and promote them at the same time. So in 2003 she helped

Access Sacramento welcomed more than 250 eager filmmakers to the Coloma Community Center last night for the Tenth Annual "Cast & Crew Call" event. Twelve short films were "pitched" to the large group, short video auditions of each participant were recorded by Access Sacramento staff, and sign-up sheets for each film invited all to "make a movie this summer". The festive evening was kicked off by welcoming comments from Executive Director Ron Cooper and Lucy Steffens, Sacramento Film Commissioner. Youth and adult mentors visiting Sacramento from their community media center in Honolulu, Hawaii offered a welcoming chant and presented Cooper with gifts from their home state. Each of the 12

As a film festival director myself, I’m always intrigued to talk to other directors about their festivals and their process. For every film that makes the cut, there are a mountain of discarded others that may never see the light of day (or the light of projection) and hundreds of unseen administrative tasks associated with presenting the program. I recently asked Sid Heberger, General Manager of the Crest Theatre and Co-Director of the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival about their upcoming event: Q: This is the 12th Annual Festival: How did the Festival get its start? A: Margi Park, the co-founder of the Festival, contacted me about starting a festival because she was tired of schlepping