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.

What do you get when you have a European, Asian and American political perspective in the same art museum? Zócalo Public Square’s “Is Democracy Too Slow?” panel discussion hosted at the Crocker Art Museum and co-sponsored by Cal Humanities. Joe Matthews, a contributing writer for the LA Times, moderated a panel discussion on Tuesday evening. Panelists Ezra Vogel, Janice Thomson and Christine Pelosi (Yes, that Pelosi) shared what political lessons we can learn from other countries. Each panelist eluded, in part, to the need for communities of citizens to come together to make a significant difference in government. Dr. Vogel expounded on China’s recent modernization under Deng Xiaoping.

The Sacramento International Film Festival opened to a packed house this last Saturday at the Crocker Art Museum to the film “A California State of Mind: The legacy of Pat Brown” directed by Sascha Rice. The Sacramento International Film Festival, in its current inception since 2003, has three objectives: serve as a skills incubator for the local film community, bring international films to northern Californians, and provide a forum for conversation between independent filmmakers and industry professionals from Hollywood. W. Mark Bendy is a first time director, who participated in Cine Visionaries and the 48 Hour Film Challenge events, shared some of his experiences last night during the

Local landmarks and actors were showcased on the silver screen as the Crocker Art Museum hosted the 12th annual A Place Called Sacramento film festival Feb. 2 in collaboration with Access Sacramento, the local public access television station. The sleek, modern auditorium was packed with local actors, directors, moviegoers and Crocker members through 105 minutes of 10 short films—10-minutes each—of varying genres. As part of the Crocker’s Thursdays ‘til 9 series, drama gave way to horror and mystery, but the audience found themselves humored with nearly every film. “Am I in hell?” asked the hallucinating drunkard in “The Watering Hole.” “No, you’re still in Sacramento,” replied a man

More than 300 people attended Thursday night's Art Mix at the Crocker Art Museum blending the celebration of Black History Month with Valentine's Day.   Heart and Soul-idarity, was the theme of the evening bringing together the passion of singers, dancers, poets, painters, and art afficionados to an eclectic era in learning. There was something to please everyone. The evening began with a Tour of the museum called Love Stories.  At the same time, some event attendees crafted hands on momentos of the event with African-art-inspired accessories by Betty Davis and Yvonne Warren.  Sol Collective's Jazz'n Love Lounge featured spoken word, poetry, and music performance in the art of words tra

The Crocker Art Museum will welcome William U. Eiland, director of the Georgia Museum of Art, for a lecture on the imagery of Saint Sebastian and its cultural meanings for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender viewers on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. The lecture will be held in conjunction with the exhibition “Florence and the Baroque: Paintings from the Haukohl Family Collection,” an exhibition of paintings and sculptures from the largest privately-held collection of the period in the United States. Tickets are $6 for Museum members and $12 for nonmembers. Eiland’s lecture, titled “Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune: Queering Saint Sebastian,” will focus on two paintings in the exh

In the spirit of the historic anthem Lift Every Voice and Sing, the Crocker presented a music-infused celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Crocker was filled. Lots of different activities happened: Hands-on Art Workshop: Quilt for the Dream, African American Artists in the Crocker Collection Tours and Art Chats. Music featuring: • Theresa Keene and Leslie Sandefur • Faith Fellowship Community Church Choir • Genesis Church Choir • Spiritual Life Center Choir Not in Our Town film screening, sponsored by Mort and Marcy Friedman, featured the PBS documentary that has sparked a national movement to highlight communities working to stop hate. Susie Wong of the Sacramento Regi

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

The Crocker Art Museum will screen the Academy-Award-winning classic “Sunset Boulevard” on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 6:30 p.m. One of the greatest movies about Hollywood ever made, this film is at once film noir, dark comedy, high melodrama, and scathing satire. Tickets are $5 for Museum members and $10 for nonmembers, not including Museum admission. One of the most successful films of its era, “Time” described it as a story of "Hollywood at its worst told by Hollywood at its best." Gloria Swanson stars as a faded silent screen goddess who dreams of a box-office comeback. William Holden is Joe Gillis, a cynical small-time writer who becomes entangled in her deluded world. Film scholar Kristen

The Crocker Art Museum will host local indie darling Autumn Sky for a night of original folk and pop on Thursday, Dec. 15. Sky is an award-winning, multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter from Sacramento. She will play songs from past releases and her soon-to-launch sophomore album, "The Hallelujah Chorus.” The concert will take place in the Museum’s Setzer Foundation Auditorium at 7 p.m. At 23 years old, Sky has been playing for Sacramento crowds for over six years and has garnered much local acclaim for her lively and engaging shows. Her unique style mixes pitch-perfect and deeply emotive vocals with indie and pop sensibilities. She released “Diminutive, Petite EP” in 2007, followed by

The Crocker Art Museum will present a multi-media exploration of water on Thursday, Dec 8, from 5 to 9 p.m. Inspired by the community exhibition “Liquid Assets,” Art Mix: Flow in Flux will feature a mini-film festival curated by the Sundance Film Festival's associate programmer Mike Plante, special water-based tours led by artists Enid Baxter Blader, Jenny Stark, and Nicole Antebi, a performance by the Spillit Quikkers, a local old-time string band, and interactive water-themed art with iPads. “Liquid Assets” is a unique installation exploring one of California’s most vital resources. Inspired by art from the Crocker's permanent collection, this exhibit features 21 works laid out as a spa

The Crocker Art Museum will present “Dreams,” the visually stunning film from Academy Award-winning director Akira Kurosawa, on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets include Museum admission and are $6 for museum members and $12 for nonmembers. Comprised of eight separate vignettes inspired from actual dreams of the world-renowned filmmaker, “Dreams” is a collection of fantastic and evocative stories, separate in narrative, but intertwined with themes of nature and spirituality, life and death, and peace and war. Born in early-20th-century Japan, Kurosawa made his international directorial debut in 1950 and went on to receive numerous accolades throughout Asia and the U.S., including an

Nearly 100 regional artists and craftspeople will offer their unique creations during this year’s annual Holiday Art & Craft Festival. Presented by the Crocker Art Museum and the Creative Arts League of Sacramento, the festival is held at the Scottish Rite Center, located across from the main entrance of California State University, Sacramento, at 6151 H Street. This year’s offerings will include jewelry, ceramics, paintings, gourmet food, holiday items and more. Impress your friends and family with local handmade gifts while supporting local artisans and the Crocker’s exhibitions and education programs. Attendees can also enjoy delicious treats by Ambrosia Catering. For those who want t

The fantastical world of Clayton Bailey will transform the Crocker Art Museum for Art Mix: Funk Lab on Thursday, November 10, from 5 to 9 p.m. Inspired by Bailey’s robot sculptures and pop ray guns fashioned from discarded aluminum, the evening features a pop ray gun shooting range, dancing to sci-fi film soundtracks, a series of live-action trailers by Scavenger Theatre, and robotic inventions from the University of California, Davis, including iMobot. “Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders,” the first career-spanning retrospective featuring the work of the ceramist, sculptor, and self-proclaimed “mad scientist,” is currently on view at the Museum through January 15, 2012. Tickets for Funk

The Crocker Art Museum will embrace the eerie and capture the creepy with a specially curated night of retro horror short films inspired by the humorous and sometimes grotesque creations in “Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders.” Presented in collaboration with the Sacramento Horror Film Festival, Open Art: Monster Mashup will take place on Thursday, October 27, at 7 p.m. Horror fans will delight in unique shorts, such as “Night of the Hell Hampster,” “The Sleuth Incident,” “Cannibal Flesh Riot,” “Chainsaw Maid” and more. Festival founder and director Tim Meunier will introduce the films and lead a post-screening Q & A session. “Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders” is the first career-spannin

Robots, created by self-proclaimed 'mad scientist' Clayton Bailey, are part of the "career spanning retrospective of 50 years of the work of contemporary sculptor Clayton Bailey". The exhibit opened Sat., October 23 and runs through January 15, 2012. Museum visitors will be delighted, tickled and surprised if yesterday's opening is an accurate indicator. Clay and metal, including his signature “exploding pots,” disarming robot sculptures, and ray guns, inspired by science fiction and fashioned from discarded aluminum, had visitors laughing and jumping as they wandered past over 150 displays. Bailey's alter-ego, Dr. George Gladstone,  showcases his pseudo-scientific discoveries, including p

The Crocker Art Museum opened the doors to a new 125,000-square foot expansion of the original museum on Oct. 10, 2010. One year later, the museum has seen record numbers in attendance and successfully brought the past and the present together in one work of architectural art. The original Victorian building that Margaret E. Crocker presented to the city of Sacramento in May 1885 has undergone numerous changes over the years, but none so dramatic as the $100 million, three-year project that visitors see now. “The original building was the high style contemporary architecture of the day when it was built,” said Lial A. Jones, executive director for the Crocker Art Museum. “So is the new a

The Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet will bring their award-winning sound to the Crocker Art Museum on Thursday, Oct. 20. The Quintet will perform select works inspired by the exhibition “Gardens and Grandeur: Porcelains and Paintings by Franz A. Bischoff,” on view through October 23. The concert will take place in the Museum’s Setzer Foundation Auditorium at 7 p.m. The Quintet—comprised of Alec Watson, piano; Rane Roatta, tenor sax; Malachi Whitson, drums; Tree Palmedo, trumpet; and Bill Vonderhaar, bass—is the winner of numerous DownBeat awards, including the 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 awards for best collegiate jazz group in the country. The group has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festi

“A spiral is in every direction—it is without a beginning or an end.” – Richard Mayhew, artist   One can infer from Mayhew’s perspective that a spiral, in essence, is infinite. It knows no boundaries of time or space. It penetrates existence. However, he’s not strictly speaking about a concept found in physics, or existentialism. This is “heavy art,” a fusion of spirituality and intellect. It is an explanation of an inextricable link between art, creation and its existence. The Crocker Art Museum, in conjunction with Evolve the Gallery, featured artist Richard Mayhew for the museum’s “Icons In Conversation” program on Saturday. Mayhew was a member of the 1960s artist collective the Sp