More than 40 local gallery owners, artists and others in the industry are in the beginning stages of setting up an art gallery association to better promote the arts in Sacramento. “The idea is that, as a collective voice, we will have more clout,” said Alan Dismuke, a curator and art consultant who has facilitated a couple of meetings concerning the organization since January. “We’re really serious about it. The group consensus is 98 percent in favor of forming some sort of association.” Dismuke said he was a part of the Sacramento Gallery Association, which was active in the mid- to late-1990s and served a similar purpose, but was limited to about a dozen fine art galleries. He attrib

Located just off Broadway on 17th Street, Beatnik Studios will launch an expansion project to add an outdoor artwork space, patio and event venue adjacent to its existing space. Construction is set to begin in two weeks, and the 1,800-square-foot spot of largely unused asphalt will be fenced in with a stone wall between it and nearby residences and an “art wall” made of tin panels and distressed wood by local artist Kermit McCourt. “We’d like it to be a place to have a sculpture garden, do some art shows and events, and maybe have some outdoor music if we can do it legally,” co-founder Wes Davis said Friday. Over the past year, Beatnik Studios, 2421 17th St., has become more involved as

Let's not lie: We Sacramentans have a fairly thick skin when it comes to upstart local bands hanging it up. Sometimes they just gradually fade out, or just seem to kind of stop playing without ever really formally disbanding, or move away and set up shop in another city. Rarely do we get the opportunity for a big farewell party like the one Prieta is treating us to on Saturday, December 17 at Beatnik Studios, which will at least soften the sting of seeing this Sammie-award winning humdinger of a band bounce. In what guitarist Mat Woods calls a "totally amicable decision," the five members of Prieta have decided to hang it up after nearly five years. If you want to follow their progressi

The Red Night poetry series will close at Beatnik Studios after a year that has featured Mary Mackey, Kathryn Hohlwein, Josh Fernandez, Sandy Thomas, Bill Gainer, Lara Kaapuni, Phillip T. Nails, Crawdad Nelson, James Lee Jobe, Mario Ellis Hill and numerous others, including B.L. Kennedy, who was featured in the first show with Charlene Ungstad. Kennedy will join Ann Menebroker and Paul Fericano to close the popular reading series that has run the third Wednesday of each month since July 14, 2010, and has been well-attended by poetry and prose enthusiasts. Organizer Genelle Chaconas, a Sacramento State alum, artist and poet, envisioned the series as a place “where our shared instinct to c

Opening night of “The Known and Travel” gallery show took place during Beatnik Studios’ Final Friday. The opening for the P.R. Brown exhibit turned out to be a family affair that showcased the talents of the Brown family. The Known and Travel exhibit also included a silent auction and wine tasting with proceeds going towards transforming the lives of orphaned and poverty-stricken children. Several projects are supported by the nonprofit organization, 2Build 4Ward International. Friday’s event highlighted a major project, the building of an orphanage in Tuxpan, Jalisco, Mexico. The UN estimates that over 10 million orphans live in Mexico and 2x4 International, operated by state workers

“For Love of Woman,” an exhibition by Robert R. Sanders, was well received at Beatnik Studios this past Friday. Sanders’ brilliant photo exhibition showcased his incredible talent which helped him win first prize in the Beatnik Studios Fine Art Competition held in February. Sanders’ photographic art opening was also an auction event that will benefit the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC). The NOCC had a table at the front entrance of Beatnik Studios where informational material was available for guests. Robert Sanders was at the exhibit and spoke with guests as they arrived. Each photograph was available for bidding. Bidders filled out a registration form that allowed them to s

The Sacramento area is constantly unveiling local art and talent and Beatnik Studios is one of its largest event spaces that is dedicated to bringing that talent to light. “For Love Of Woman,” will be local 60-year-old artist Robert Sanders’ first show in his career. Doors open at 7 p.m. on Friday (and art will stay on display through Sept. 28) at Beatnik Studios, which is located at 2421 17th St. “I truly believe that from women all things appear, and I hold them in my highest esteem and appreciation,” Sandars said. His show includes 36 pieces spotlighting the beauty and inspiring stories of modern women. The proceeds from the reception and auction will go to the National Ovarian Cance

The 2011 Art Happens, hosted by the Sacramento Artists Council, took place June 4 in Midtown. The venue was held inside the Sacramento Art Complex on 2110 K Street. This was a benefit event to support art in Sacramento. Sutter Middle School and Nevada Union High School students exhibited works of art by their students. Artwork created by the students also helped their school art programs as  one 100 percent of sales was given to the respective school’s art program. The event was sponsored by Sacramento News and Review, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Sacramento Bee, Sacramento Press and others. A day full of art, music, food, wine tasting and great music contributed to the fest

A five-day festival filled with music by 40 groups in five Midtown venues is about to engulf the Sacramento scene. The In the Flow Festival, an annual event going from Thursday to May 16, will be bringing out improvisational players of jazz, rock, blues, electronic, poetry/spoken word and visual art. Co-organizer and guitarist Ross Hammond, 33, addressed why it was created. Hammond said it is important to create a music event in Sacramento and bring out the unknown and/or unrecognized talents. “I knew enough people and acts, so we decided to put something cool together,” Hammond said. “It is a celebration of creative music and art. It is the music, art and poetry community just coming

Sorry we're a little late this week with the Rundown, y'all! Tax filing procrastinators, unite! My story and interview with Mr. Garrett "G. Love" Dutton will be up later on this weekend, in preparation for his show at Harlow's on Wednesday night. I won't lie, I can't wait to hear some of those new Avett Brothers produced tunes, played by the Sauce! Meantime, there's a chance for you to unleash your inner Diamond this weekend, and a little more fun on tap for Second Saturday weekend. Cheers! Super Diamond - If you're a regular reader of this space, you know our general disdain for cover bands at Rundown headquarters. Sure, we all like to hear our favorite tunes souped up and busted throu

Belly dancers, authentic Mediterranean food and music by The Dunes will highlight culture in south and eastern Mediterranean French-speaking countries Sunday at Midtown’s Beatnik Studios. The annual Fête de la Francophonie French Heritage Festival will introduce Sacramentans to the culture, food and customs of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Lebanon, said Beatrice Hildebrand, executive director of the Sacramento chapter of the Alliance Française, which hosts the event. The event has been held throughout the United States since the 1980s, she said. “Every year, the month of March has been dedicated to celebrating francophone cultures from all over the world,” she said. “We try to focus on

Homeless in America come in all colors, all ages and their number continues to grow. Homelessness in Sacramento is also on the rise. This past Tuesday, March 8, 2011 a fundraising reception was held at Beatnik Studios for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) homeless youth of Sacramento. The humanitarian issue of homelessness is addressed differently depending on the areas that it affects. In Sacramento and other cities little has been done to meet the needs and challenges of the LGBTQ homeless youth. These challenges are being addressed by the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center along with individuals and community groups. As a result The Sacramento LGBTQ Homele

Beatnik Studios hosted its Last Friday art showings for November. Musical guests were The Dreaded Diamond and Exquisite Corps. Art surrounded the walls on the entrance area and a fashion show took place in the Beatnik studio area in the back of the building. I got the opportunity to listen to one of Dreaded Diamond’s songs as they were ending their set when I arrived. . Exquisite Corps followed and I was able to enjoy some of their set. The last time I saw them was at the Chalk It Up event in September and enjoyed their venue. Their unique blend of a cello, violin, drums, guitar and vocals always makes it a joy to listen to. (Exquisite Corps) A charity fashion event benefiting Feeding

To quote Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses, “The world is such a wonderful place/ The world is such a wonderful place.” Through and through, he’s absolutely right. But there are just some tragic and unfortunate elements of this world that we sometimes have to live with – the kind that tend to perpetuate the sale of cheap gin and handguns. I of course refer to the fact that Arco Arena is hosting back-to-back concerts on Friday and Saturday night by Justin Bieber and Nickelback. Hard to stomach the fact that we’ll probably see more heads each of these nights at the Big Gas Pump than at your average Kings game, all packed in to see a squeak jockey on anti-puberty meds and wearing a hair-met,

One of my favorite Sacramento bands was on the line-up for Friday’s Concerts in the Park. Musical Charis, Prieta and Lite Brite were the headline acts for the evening. We got to Cesar Chavez Park  on time (almost) to catch Musical Charis on stage. The weather, as it has been true in the past few days, was still very warm. Musical Charis had 7 members on stage. Several instruments were being used; a bass, 2-3 guitars, 2 keyboards, drums, and several lead and backup vocals. A definition of charis indicates that it means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech”. I couldn’t think of anything in that definition that did not fit while Musical Cha

Genelle Chaconas remembers the first time she read poetry in public quite vividly. It was a few years ago at Luna’s Poetry Unplugged open mic. “I was shaking head to foot,” she said. “A fire truck blared past, three lines into my poem, and someone from the crowd shouted, ‘Start over!’ I thought I was going to just disappear.” After a timid finish, the audience erupted in rowdy applause. Chaconas decided to speak with the host, longtime Sacramento poet B.L. Kennedy. “That’s how I got to know B.L. Nobody else knows more about what’s going on artistically in Sacramento,” she said. Three years later, Chaconas is organizing her own reading at Beatnik Studios. Along with Charlene Ungstad, Ke

Food journalist Elaine Corn and photographer Morgan Ong will be hosting a hands-on cooking and food photography workshop at Beatnik Studios starting Saturday. The two-day workshop will be on July 10 and 17 from 9:30 a.m. to noon and will cost $90 per person. Corn hopes the workshop will enhance the increasing interest in food photography and blogging online. "With blogging and food photography, I thought we'll just get the two together," she said. "We'll eat and style a little and everyone will get a chance to shoot their food." Attendees can expect to improve their cooking and photography skills in many areas. The workshop will cover knife-work, knowing when food is done, camera settin

On Saturday night, we arrived early at Beatnik Studios for the Summertime Earth Ball, a night of entertainment, to support the Center for Rural Empowerment (CREE). CREE a nonprofit organization promotes community development and environmental protection globally. (www.conservationforpeople.org) The cocktail attire set the ambiance for a classy event with a worthy cause. Artwork by Lorenzo Ortiz covered the walls of the first room and served as conversational pieces for the guests. CREE's table held informational brochures, photographs from past projects and artwork for raffle prizes. I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Skuja, CREE’s founder. He told me of the group’s projects in Sri Lanka

 Music flowed from Beatnik Studios on Sunday during the third annual In the Flow Jazz Festival. Musicians from all over the West Coast played, including Nels Cline. The guitarist from band Wilco played Saturday afternoon. “My friend Byron and I, we came up with doing just a festival of jazz to let local and regional artists play,” said Ross Hammond, the event’s co-founder. The festival started at the True Love Coffeehouse three years ago, and moved to its current location at 2421 17th St. last year. Hammond said the celebration has been growing steadily. “The first year was kind of more Sacramento, then we added some Bay Area stuff, and now there’s a lot of other people from up and down

*Note, there is a bias here because I'm directly involved with the Festival's organizaiton, etc. -RH In The Flow 3! The 3rd annual In The Flow Jazz/Improvisational Festival will be at Luna's Cafe, R5 Records and Beatnik Studios this weekend (Friday, 5/14 through Monday, 5/17). The lauded young improvisational music festival will feature musicians from all over the West Coast, including Vinny Golia, Nels Cline, (guitarist from super group Wilco and the Nels Cline Singers), Lovely Builders, Gerry Pineda, Tony Passarell, Henry Robinett and many more. In The Flow 3 Festival, produced by area guitarist Ross Hammond along with a group of volunteers, will post up over thirty music groups at tw