Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "charlottes web"

North Natomas Library Public Art Tour

2011-06-03T01:13:26Z

Drivers, bikers and pedestrians on Del Paso Road ~~Boulevard~~ may have noticed an 18-foot-tall steel post topped with an eyeball peering down upon a 10-foot-tall open book sculpture with giant spectacles on the side. What they are looking at is a piece of Sacramento's public art collection.

“We have one of the best public art collections in the country. We have been doing it for over 30 years,” said Art in Public Places Education Coordinator and tour guide Dixie Laws.

Art in Public Places is managed by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and is funded by the city and county through ordinances that dedicate 2 percent “of eligible capital improvement project budgets,” for artworks, Laws said.

The organization was founded in 1977 and has 700 works of art in the city and county, Laws said.

Art in Public Places presents the North Natomas Library Public Art tour from 1-3 p.m. Saturday at the North Natomas Library 4660 Via Ingoglia.

Local artists' will be present to share the story behind the artworks adorning the interior and exterior of the library. Audiences will learn about the artists’ background and the expressive goal of their pieces.

The purpose of the tour is to celebrate the public art pieces. All the art at the North Natomas Public Library was put in in the last year, according to Laws.

“People don’t think to go to the suburbs to see it,” Laws said.

The best kind of public art is what Laws calls site-specific: “It is designed for the building, when the building is being built.”

Public art is a challenge because the pieces have to be made out of permanent materials that are hard to vandalize, and also are sturdy enough to last at least 20-25 years, Laws said.

Public artworks are important for the community because they “give the places character,” Laws said. “It gives people a chance to see art without having to go to a particular place.”

Lincoln artist and educator Ray Gonzales said he has been working with Art in Public Places since the ’90s. He has public artworks at the Boys and Girls Club as well as coyote-themed “relief sculptures on 4,000-pound clay cylinders” in North Natomas’ Kokomo Park.

Gonzales’s handmade ceramic tile mural, located in the entrance hallway of the North Natomas Library, is called “Kokomo Joe and Kokomo Colleen Surfing the Stacks.”

“This mural is a layered artwork that is fun to look at and fun to touch – the more you look, the more you'll see,” Gonzales said.

The mural depicts two surfing coyotes wearing feathered headbands, with rolling hills in the background.

“I try to make my pieces relevant to the community,” Gonzales said. “The coyote is an important animal figure in a lot of Californian Indian mythology.”

He incorporated the coyote theme as a way to pay homage to the indigenous people who cultivated the land before the arrival of European-Americans.

Layered information within the mural incorporates the community and includes a tiger peeking in the grass representing Inderkum High School’s mascot and a beaver in the river symbolizing American River College’s mascot, Gonzales said.

“There is a small heart stone that looks like a rock, for my wife, Colleen,’’ Gonzales said.

“Tucked in the water are salmon, because salmon run through the rivers here,” Gonzales said.

There is a plane in the sky with “Autumn Airlines” written on it, representing Gonzales’ granddaughter. He also incorporates other symbols into his works, chilli groupings represent his three sons and nine lady bugs his family of nine.

Gonzales wrote in the initial art project proposal that “the layered information probably won’t be noticed at first – but will reveal itself to those so inclined to look with repeated visits to this area.”

Jim Piskoti, emeritus professor of fine arts from California State University, Stanislaus, has been doing kinetic paintings for 12 years.

Piskoti has worked with Art in Public Places for three years and has completed five public artworks, including a metal cutout depicting figures engaged in different sports at Hampton Park in the Meadowview area. Piskoti’s four interactive media pieces in the library’s children’s section portray a “celebration of reading,” depicting children reading with imaginations engaged.

Piskoti said he promotes the idea of stepping outside of the rectangle canvas and incorporating other dimensions into his works, like LEDs, mechanical motors or sound. Most of his artwork involves moving parts, he said.

“The building is very modern,” Piskoti said about the library. “I wanted the pieces to look like they were done in the 21st century. I wanted them to be playful and fun.”

Piskoti uses acrylic paints for the image detail and adds the LEDs, wood reinforcement, chaser circuits and wiring to the back of each piece.

“I am working on the front and back at the same time,” Piskoti said. “It is a lot of time-consuming work, but that’s the type of work I do.... Everything goes through many stages before it is complete.”

“Reading is an Adventure” is the biggest of the four mixed-media wall paintings with LEDs. The 88-inch-long heavy interactive media piece features three children peering down from a magenta magic carpet upon a world filled with favorite children’s book characters such as Charlotte from “Charlotte’s Web,” Alice and The Mad Hatter from “Alice in Wonderland,” the blue whale from “Moby Dick” and many others.

“They are not rectangle,” Piskoti said. “They have an organic shape and flow that I think works well with the images.”

Piskoti emphasizes the use of acrylic layering for his art pieces.

“I don’t like blending color, but I like having color show through, so I do a lot of layers of colors. I think that makes it exciting,” he said. “Layering, for me, is how I make the pieces lively and expressive.”

The artists will be present at the North Natomas Library Public Art tour from 1 - 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $8.50 for adults and free for ages 16 and under.

For more information about art tours, contact Dixie Laws or click here for art tour maps in Sacramento.

For more information about Jim Piskoti, click here.

The open book sculpture visible from the street is titled, “Authors of our own Destiny,” and was created by Joe Scarpa.

Editorial Note: A correction has been made to this story after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

Cedric The Entertainer Arrives In Sacramento

2010-07-27T22:38:43Z

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview

Comedian Cedric The Entertainer is one of the hardest-working men in the entertainment business. Perhaps you love him from his roles in "Barbershop," "Be Cool" or "The Original Kings Of Comedy." You may have became a fan of his voiceover roles in "Madagascar," "Charlotte's Web" or "The Proud Family." Maybe it was his starring role in the hit "Johnson Family Vacation." Any way you look at it, Cedric IS "The Entertainer."

Even with his success as an actor, producer and director, Cedric The Entertainer is coming to Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium and going back to his roots of stand up comedy.

We spoke to Cedric, (Mr. Entertainer?), by phone as he was recovering from a minor surgery performed last week.

Have you worked in the Sacramento area before?
Yeah, I was in Sacramento about three years ago at one the local clubs and then at, I think, the same venue that I am playing on Thursday, so it's been a while.

Fantastic! I know that you rescheduled from Saturday, and you tweeted out that you had some minor surgery.
Yeah, I had a little hernia I had to take care of.

Everything's OK now?
Yeah, I'm ready to get back at it, you know, I'm up moving around and doing 110 crunches a day, so I'm good. (chuckling).

Cedric, you are truly a complete package as an entertainer. You act in comedies and dramas, animated movies and plays on Broadway. You also write, direct and produce. What gives you the most satisfaction?C
I started with stand-up, and I think that probably ranks pretty high up there with the opportunity to get immediate reaction to your thoughts and commentary. Having that audience response so immediately is one of the greatest satisfactions.

I also enjoyed directing my first movie, and I look forward to seeing what people think about that when it comes out.

Have you decided on a title yet? I heard it was a toss-up between "Chicago Pulaski Jones" and "Dance Foo Fighting."
We decided that the title is "Dance Foo - The Legend of Pulaski Jones" (laughs).

So, nobody won, but you just compromised!
Yeah, (chuckling), at least that's settled.

Most people don't know that before you were Cedric "The Entertainer" you were Cedric "The Insurance Salesman." What was the big step you took that put you on the stage?
I started stand-up almost the same week that I started at State Farm (Insurance), and it was kind of weird that I felt like my life was calling at the same time I found the best job that I had ever had since getting out of college. But I worked for State Farm for over two years before I decided that I could do comedy full time, and so I just built my initial career around St. Louis then got an opportunity to tour on a national tour with the Funny Bones comedy clubs, and that's when I decided to go for it. It was a relatively short period for most comedians. I know a lot of guys that put their 13 or 14 years into their careers before they got a real break.

I always knew I was a performer. My mother was a schoolteacher and was all about the education in our household, and I remember trying to convince her to let me go to a performing arts school where I could sing in talent shows and stuff like that. I have always had a knack for it. But I didn't really try to act until I was out of college.

The story about how you got your "The Entertainer" moniker was that you wanted to charge more money so you had to do more time.
Yeah, (chuckling). You know comedy is all about time. The opener does 10 minutes, the feature act does 30 minutes and the headliner does an hour, so when I started, I wanted the money for at least the 30 minute guy.

I didn't have a lot of material, so I would sing songs, do poetry, paint pictures. I would do whatever I had to do. They said I was entertaining, and the guy (MC) kept calling me a comedian, and I said, "No, don't call me a comedian, call me an entertainer." So, he introduced me as Cedric "The Entertainer," I had a good show, the name stuck and that's what it's been.

You have a daughter who's 6 years old and a son who's 9 years old. You have done a lot of animated shows and movies including; "Charlotte's Web," "Madagascar" and "The Pride Family" doing voiceovers, and you worked with Oprah Winfrey. How do your kids react to watching and hearing their dad?
They do get more excited about the other people in the films, though I do love telling the story that my son had no idea who Oprah was. When I was doing "Charlotte's Web," we (Oprah and I) were in the studio together at the time, and I said to my son, "This is Oprah Winfrey," and he goes "And you do what? Do you know that my dad is Cedric The Entertainer?" (laughing) and I told him, "There you go son, that's telling her!"

You've worked with so many of the greats in comedy, sports, actors and even politicians. Who have you most enjoyed working with?
I guess I'd have to say that I have had the most fun working on the "Barbershop" movie with Ice Cube, who is a very interesting character to work with. We had great laughs with Jim Carrey on "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," and also in "Be Cool" with John Travolta. He was actually a very cool dude too. He liked to sing old Motown songs on the set, and we had a good time.

Is there anyone who you still want to work with on projects that you haven't yet?
Yeah, even though I kind of got to work with him while doing voice work on "Dr. Doolittle 2," I still would like to do something with Eddie Murphy. Something big like a comedy where there's a lot of comedic minds there and we're all having a great time. I also have the opportunity to work with Tom Hanks in his latest movie, "Larry Crowne" so that's a big deal. Eddie Murphy will probably be someone on the top of that list that I would want to have the opportunity to be around and laugh, do something funny and create something special and unique with.

Is there any one project that you have worked on that you look back and say, "I wish I hadn't done that?"
No, not really where I wish that I hadn't done it. "The Honeymooners" was something that I really enjoyed, and it was a big brand. We had another idea that we were going to do when we started off, and then the studio got involved and changed it and made it something else. It was one of those things where I wish we could have done our original ideas. It would have been a lot funnier and more true to the characters that Mike Epps and I were going to bring to it. At one point it didn't turn out that way. It was such a big franchise and we would have had the opportunity to make so many more and add to it's success. Sometimes you just look back on it and say, "Man, that was really disappointing!"

The bigger the budget the less control you have?
The less power you have. You don't have the say in the overall direction of the movie. We had a new executive come in on the movie and change the movie into something he thought would make sense. He was trying to make a name for himself at the studio. You had to deal with the politics of that and that's what was going on. You end up falling prey to studio politics.

I heard that you were interested in doing more TV. Do you have anything in the works?
We are developing a couple of different things. The title of one project is "Anger Management" based on the Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson movie. It's a sitcom, so it would be about me as an anger management therapist who actually has anger issues of his very own. It is set in Brooklyn, New York, and I am looking forward to doing that. It is still in early development though.

I'm also developing a reality show where I show up and kick in on people's family reunions where I try to convince the families to try to eat better. We thought it would be fun to go to family reunions, Superbowl parties and anytime people are gathered together, eating wings and drinking beer and I'm like, "Alright fool, can we change this out and try something different?"

You're one of the hardest-working people in the business. Do you have any thoughts of taking a break or retiring anytime soon and just kicking back and enjoying life?
I've always kind of set my eye on being 50 years old and being able to downshift a little bit. I have about four or five years left for that. Yeah, I'm definitely planning on being able to slow down and travel and enjoy life and just do the fun things before I'm just old and gotta do it on a cruise ship. I just want to be able to still cause some debauchery and trouble, maybe get on the news!

Cedric The Entertainer is appearing at 8 p.m. at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J St. Tickets Here.

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to have all of the SacramentoComedy.Com features, interviews, news and reviews delivered to your iPhone, iTouch or iPad, download the SacComedy App at iTunes.

Steven Bloom is the founder of AmericasComedy.Com, the official guide to the Sacramento comedy scene. This website is dedicated to comedian interviews, comedian biographies and videos, and consolidation all of the Sacramento comedy events into a single comedy calendar for your convenience. You can send your questions directly to The Comedy Guy at Steven@AmericasComedy.Com.

Sac Convention Center gets inked

2009-06-21T03:58:48Z

Guns and needles took over the Sacramento Convention Center Friday.

Tattoo guns and needles, that is. The first day of the eighth annual Forever Tattoo’s All American Tattoo Festival kicked off the weekend with the best of the best in the ink industry, tattoo contests and circus-style side performer George the Giant.

Sponsored by Tatt life, Tattoo Energy and Budweiser, the festival gave ink fans the chance to peruse and purchase the work of more than 80 tattoo artists from not only the United States but as far as Sweden (Living All Tattoo), Greece (Nico Tattoo) and Italy (Cherry Tattoo).

“I usually go to the festivals in San Francisco, but this is the first year I’ve gone to one [in Sacramento]," festival-goer Zachary Bacon said. "They have a lot of great artists and I’m really impressed."

Some festival-goers had blank flesh canvases and others had mere inches of available space to tattoo. A few artists offered “festival” specials, knocking anywhere from $20 to $40 off their prices, and some charged several hundred dollars to customers, who more than willing to pay for their expertise.

Newly tattooed festival-goers have the opportunity to enter their pieces into contests, which will continue throughout the weekend. Friday’s contests included best sleeve and leg tattoos, and the recipients of the coffin-themed plaques (and bragging rights) were Samantha Schue and Matthew Kleinhauas (pictured).

The evening’s main attraction, besides fresh ink, was George the Giant, a stunt performer who starred in the movie Big Fish and was on “America’s Got Talent.” George stunned his captive audience by swallowing a sword, hammering a nail through his nose and inviting an audience member to walk on his face, which was resting sideways on a pile of broken glass.

In the center of all the action, an art showing that will remain through Sunday lined the aisle leading up to the stage. The tattoo-themed paintings were created by various local artists whowill be inking throughout the festival, including Sacramento’s American Graffiti and Folsom City Ink.

Tattoos weren’t the only things being hawked, however. Livermore’s Charlotte’s Web sold tattoo-inspired clothing and Belzel Books set up a tattoo book nook. Tattoo aftercare companies took the opportunity to boasts their products as well, with companies like Tattoo Genie and Tattoo Goo claiming faster and better healing.

Hells Angels Sacramento, whose many members are tattoo collectors, set up shop to sell their gear and promote their organization. Passion Parties representatives handed out free samples of their intimate party favors, and Nos energy drink supplied boosts to the crowd.

Tattoo fans of all ages roamed the convention center until the doors closed at 11 p.m., many preparing to return the next day and get inked.

The All American Tattoo Festival will continue through Sunday, June 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 at the box office, located in front of the Sacramento Convention Center.

For Saturday and Sunday's schedule, click here

All photos taken by Jonathan Mendick