The Crocker Art Museum will kick off the summer with an art auction from 6 - 9 p.m. Thursday, May 24. Touting “big names, small art,” the Crocker is selling pieces of art that are 12 inches x 12 inches or smaller and are done by some of the big-name artists in the region. The party will include music, artist demonstrations and docent-led gallery tours. Bidding in the silent auction starts at $25 per piece, and the event is free to members. Non-members can get in for $15, and students get in for $8. For more information, visit the Crocker Art Museum website. The museum is located at 216 O St.

Not everyone has this coming Monday off (alas!) but for those that do, Sacramento has a few options for using your day off to celebrate the man it honors—Martin Luther King, Jr. MLK365 is presenting the 31st Annual March for the Dream, which includes a peaceful march (choose to begin from the Oak Park Community Center, Grant High School, or Sacramento City College) that convenes on the Sacramento Convention Center for an afternoon of celebration. There will be something for all ages and interests—vendor booths, kids’ crafts & activities, entertainment, an art village featuring local artists, and more. The Crocker Art Museum is opening their doors for their free Holiday Monday program. Mo

Two never-before-seen-in-public Florentine Baroque paintings will be on exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum Saturday through Feb. 12: "Saint Sebastian" by Onorio Marinari and "Penitent Magdalene" by Cesare Dandini – as part of "Florence and the Baroque: Paintings from the Haukohl Family Collection" exhibit. The exhibit features Italian paintings and a sculpture from the 16th through the 18th centuries by artists such as Cesare Dandini, Jacopo da Empoli and Francesco Furini. "This is the first exhibition that is all of Italian painting that we've had in many decades," Curator William Breazeale said. "There is one from the Crest collection in 1933, there have been a few in between, but it’s

The Crocker Art Museum brought three art collections together for a “Summer of Impressionism” display that will go through Sept. 25 and traces the Impressionist movement’s beginnings in France through its American and ultimately Californian works. “It’s a rare opportunity to see so many different incarnations of Impressionism all at the same time,” said Associate Director and Chief Curator Scott Shields. “It shows many of the famous Impressionist painters as well as their influences.” The three related exhibits take up three separate rooms on two floors of the Crocker’s new wing. The first exhibit, “Transcending Vision: American Impressionism, 1870-1940,” shows how the works of the Fren

There’s a new gourmet restaurant opening in Sacramento, but you can’t eat there. The Photosynthetic Restaurant is going to be serving gourmet meals to plants at the Crocker Art Museum downtown from April 16 - Jul. 17, giving roses originally planted by the Crockers in the 19th century the well-rounded meals Experimental Philosopher Jonathon Keats said they deserve. “In a sense, it’s giving back to the plants that have given such pleasure to us,” he said. The restaurant “feeds” plants gourmet meals by filtering light through acrylic panels to even out what would otherwise be random light wavelengths. Since plants create their own food through photosynthesis, the light they receive is, in

Museums, beer, live music and cheese. If I were to make a list of my favorite things on earth, all four of these would figure prominently therein. Conveniently enough, all four of these things also figured prominently in Thursday night's Sacramento Brewers Showcase, the kickoff event to Sacramento Beer Week. The showcase, featuring nearly every local brewery offering samples of their wares, was held from 5 to 9 p.m. in the spectacular two-story atrium of the Crocker Art Museum. I arrived five minutes before 5 p.m., ‘cause I like to party. The breweries had set up their kegs along a large L-shaped table that wrapped around the east and south sides of the atrium. When I arrived there we

Love and lust were in the air Thursday night when Crocker Art Museum hosted its Art Mix series with the theme of “Love & Lust” in celebration of Valentine’s Day. The evening both warmed hearts and taunted mischief with a melange of performances and activities for a diverse audience, many of them couples. As DJ Mike Colossal spun sensual sounds, visitors posed affectionately in a photo booth by Beatnik Studios, drank pink pomegranate martinis and wrote Mad Lib love letters to each other. On the third floor, Crocker featured selected amorous works in “Couples in the Collection.” The show includes Otis Oldfield’s portrait of his wife Helen in “White Dress,” John Bankston’s “Into the Rainbow,

 Did you know that the Crocker Art Museum, as part of its recent 125,000-square-foot addition, added a 260-seat auditorium? Not content with being the oldest (and arguably the awesomest) art museum west of the Mississippi, the Crocker is also now a pretty sweet little music venue to boot. The museum is open every Thursday until 9 p.m. for its aptly named "Thursdays 'Til 9" program. The third Thursday of every month has been pegged "Playlist," a concert series that "highlights local, regional and national performers from musical genres as diverse as blues, reggae, indie, folk, country, bluegrass, rock, hip hop, world music and everything in between." (http://crockerartmuseum.org/learn-do

Crocker Art Museum presented a diverse palette of art and music Thursday night as part of its monthly exhibit and performance series Art Mix. January’s theme, titled “I Hear Color,” celebrated the vibrant watercolor explorations of world-renowned abstract expressionist Paul Jenkins, the sunny, melodic music of San Francisco’s Jake Mann and the Upper Hand, and also featured a playful prism of colorful crafts -- kaleidoscope creation, T-shirt painting, a swatch and color theory tour, and a professional photo booth. The evening exuded a “choose your own adventure” environment where guests could wander at their own leisure throughout the new modern structure of the museum, pockets of color an

With the opening of the Crocker Art Museum’s $100 million expansion and the celebration of it’s 125th anniversary, 2010 was a big year for the museum. “I think it’s probably the most important year in the museum’s history,” Museum Director Lial Jones said. The Oct. 10 opening of the Crocker’s new wing capped a decade of work that Jones said marks the beginning of the next phase in the Crocker’s history as the museum moves forward to ensure it continues to matter and stay relevant to Sacramento. In May, The Sacramento Press reported on what the Crocker’s 125,000-square-foot expansion would entail and announced that the museum would be closed to the public from June 6 to Oct. 10. On May

Black, mantilla lace shrouded Chelsea Wolfe’s eyes as she peered into the intimate glow of the Crocker Art Museum on Thursday. A projector poured black and white film negatives onto the screen behind her, shimmering a cool light through her florid veil. I wondered if she could see the audience, a small gathering of family, friends and loyal fans, if their faces were recognizable or just anonymous shadows in a naked theater. She introduced herself in a subdued voice, along with her boyfriend and longtime bandmate, Ben Chisholm, who stood at her left, wired and amped into his black keyboard. A golden toy and two small, antique music boxes glistened at her feet, along with a tambourine, a br

Sacramento’s For Arts’ Sake initiative reached the tipping point from planning to action Friday. “Now that the art community has gathered together and convened everybody ... there’s a place for everyone to participate,” said Mayor Kevin Johnson. “We’re going to do massive outreach,” Johnson said. “We’re going to go out to citizens all over Sacramento and say, ‘Here’s how you can sign up, here’s how you can help, tell us what’s important to you, what are your priorities,’ and we’re going to make them a reality.” The arts community was invited to the recently expanded Crocker Art Museum Friday for an update on the For Arts’ Sake initiative, and National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Roc

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Crocker Art Museum Sunday morning, Congresswoman Doris Matsui said what many were feeling: “It’s been a long time coming, but it’s surely worth it.” The expansion to the Crocker has been in planning for more than 10 years and under construction for about three years. A few hundred people crowded together and listened to the speakers, ready to see what was held inside the modern white building of steel and glass that was about to be handed over to the public. More than 14,000 people took the free tour by the day’s end. Citing the (nearly complete) $100 million campaign to fund the project, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced, “To anyone who says Sacramen

The Crocker Art Museum’s new space is a big deal for Sacramento. That was evident Tuesday morning as the museum opened its new, 125,000-square-foot wing to the media, drawing a variety of established TV, radio and print media outlets from as far as Los Angeles. The sneak peek at the new museum was given in advance of the general opening on Oct. 10 (10.10.10). “It’s a great new treasure for the city and this region,” said Lial A. Jones, museum director. In addition to a much-expanded gallery space, the Crocker now has dedicated educational space, which will allow for a much greater scope of activities, Jones said. Some of the educational space includes a viewing gallery on the first flo

 The Crocker Art Museum’s $100 million expansion will open for the first time at a gala celebration Sept. 25. “We’re hoping to raise $1 million Sept. 25 through sponsorships and ticket sales, and those funds are going to operational costs for opening the new museum,” said Bobbe Brown, chairwoman of the gala. The grand opening of the new Crocker museum will be Oct. 10. The gala is a black-tie affair, with a cocktail reception, fine dining, dancing and live music from a string quartet. The highlight of the night, however, will be at 9:30 when the full museum opens for the first time. “It’s going to be absolutely amazing,” Brown said. The Crocker Art Museum closed in June while the fina

If you happened to be at the Central Library last Thursday, you might have noticed two women walking through in Victorian-era dresses. Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with the space-time continuum. The Central Library has been hosting a series of historical presentations for its 2010 events. “I always enjoy these type of things,” Joy Farrow, 66, said. “I hope they have others!” Historian Judy Eitzen and local actress Connie Clark presented their impersonations of Margaret and Aimee Crocker in front of an audience of about 30. The reenactment was put on to commemorate the October opening of the Crocker Art Museum’s new educational wing. At the very start, Eitzen composed herself as a

The Crocker Art Museum is about to undertake the logistical nightmare of moving artwork to and from its new expansion. But it will be worth it, museum officials say. "It's about art, sure." said Lial Jones, director of the Crocker. "But the building is also really about a sense of place for Sacramento and a sense of trying to make sure Sacramento's future is that much stronger." Jones and Gerald Gendreau, a Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architect partner who has worked on the project since its inception nearly 10 years ago, led a media tour of the expansion wing Friday. Ten years ago, the museum was the 103rd largest in the nation. With the expansion, it is estimated to to be among the 70

On June 6, the Crocker Art Museum will close its exhibits in preparation for an Oct. 10 reopening that will unveil a 125,000-foot expansion. During the four-month closure, new exhibits will be installed and many existing installations will be moved. "We're closing all of our galleries, but we're still going to be open for programing like Third Thursday Jazz," said Lial Jones, museum director. "During the time we're closed, the first floor of the building gets renovated and turned into an education center. All of the artwork in this building has to be moved out for construction and then all of the collections will be rehung because pieces will not be where you've known them to be." Jones

This fall the Crocker Art Museum will host a daylong festival of contemporary films by female directors exploring the roles of Japanese and Japanese American women. Held to coincide with the Crocker’s exhibit of contemporary ceramics by Japanese women, Soaring Voices, the festival will include four film screenings at the Guild Theater, located at 2828 35th Street, on Saturday, October 17. Local filmmakers, artists and scholars will introduce and offer insight on each film. “Soaring Voices tells the story of Japanese women breaking into the male-only ceramic world, and these films expand on that story by looking at the position of women in Japanese society as a whole,” commented Christian

Making its debut and only West Coast stop at the Crocker Art Museum from May 8 – July 19, Fantasies and Fairy-Tales: Maxfield Parrish and the Art of the Print offers a rare look at 95 of the popular commercial prints and illustrations for which the artist became known. One of the most important illustrators of the 20th century, Parrish was a major figure in the Golden Age of Illustration and continued to pursue his enduring vision for nearly a century. This exhibition is unique for examining the artist's printed works, whereas previous retrospectives focused primarily on oil paintings. Divided into five sections—advertisements, book illustrations, calendars, magazine covers and proof sets