This month’s Second Saturday Art Walk provided several new venues for art and music lovers to enjoy. Artists showcased their talents at various galleries, pubs, boutiques and restaurants. Several street performers also displayed their talent at several places along Midtown. Spanglish Arte conducted a sidewalk sale that included many items available at vast discounts. Spanglish Arte also allowed other local artists the opportunity to sell their art and merchandise. One of the tables included the work of Roberto Robles Jr., whose colorful drawings drew the attention of many casual observers. His drawings can be customized to the buyer’s specs making the art that much more personal. Insi

The 40-year-old La Raza Galería Posada Latino arts and culture center will leave its Midtown location next month, moving to a bigger facility in Miller Park that will allow for larger indoor and outdoor events. “We hope to have our inaugural event in early or mid June, and that will be a concert in Miller Park,” said Marie Acosta, executive director of La Raza Galería Posada. “It will also be an opportunity for us to introduce the public to the site and talk about building a new building or renovating the current building.” The building is an approximately 1,800-square-foot warehouse-style structure on Front street just south of Broadway. It is double the size of the center’s Midtown loc

La Raza Galería Posada, a local nonprofit Latino arts organization, succeeded in reaching its fundraising goals to stay open after Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna helped fill the funding gap with a music event Saturday. In November, the center announced that it needed to raise $25,000 or face closure. “We are extremely grateful for Supervisor Serna for his beyond-the-call-of-duty support,” said Marie Acosta, executive director of La Raza Galería Posada. “It’s very rare when an elected official will go out of their way and walk the talk for a nonprofit in need of funding.” Funding sources for the art gallery and cultural center, located at 1022-1024 22nd St., have been in steady

Sacramento art galleries hosted small crowds of visitors during the last Second Saturday of the year. Many visitors took advantage of the smaller crowds to do Christmas shopping. Galleries and other businesses sold art, crafts, gift certificates and other items to Christmas shoppers. Festivities in Sacramento began earlier in the day with the annual Santa Parade. Thousands of children, along with their parents, lined the parade route. The parade started at the corner of 9th and I Streets and an anticipated crowd of over 25 thousand watched. The annual parade began at 10 a.m. and participants included marching bands, cheer squads, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, several floats, car clubs,

Members of Sacramento’s Latino community gathered Thursday night to ask questions and voice concerns at the first of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Town Hall meetings for his 2012 campaign. Education and lack of funding for city public schools took top priority in the discussions. “There is nothing more important than our public education system, and we must do a better job with our schools,” said Mayor Johnson. Approximately 150 people attended the Town Hall at La Familia Counseling Center in North Franklin. Seats filled quickly and dozens of concerned community members stood in the entryway and aisles. Affordable access to health care, racial profiling by police, support and funding for the art

Culminating the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos festivities this year, La Raza Galería Posada, Sacramento’s not-for-profit Latino art and cultural center, brings the Panteon de Sacramento (Sacramento’s Cemetery) to life.This is a two day/night outdoor display of fifty large, colorful altares. The altares will be available for public viewing on Saturday October 29 and Sunday October 30. Families, individuals, area artists and local not for profit organizations will build the altares for public display.Theatre, music, poets and children's workshops are all part of the two-day event. In Sacramento, Día de los Muertos has been celebrated since the early 1970s, commensurate with the Galería’

  Several hundred people showed up to this weekend's Midtown Modern Arts Festival. The event took place on 20th Street between J & K and was enjoyed by children and adults. Various performances included the Sacramento Ballet, Capital Stage Company, The Sacramento Philharmonic, B Street Theatre, Sacramento Comedy Spot, the Harley White Jr. Orchestra and other acts. Over a dozen arts and performing organizations had stations set up to give those in attendance information about the many art programs offered in Sacramento and surrounding areas. Several demonstration tables also allowed visitors, mostly children, the opportunity to participate in arts, music and crafts set up by various o

Wednesday evening was filled with poetry, music and activism when Rafael Jesús González (poet, professor, artist and bilingual studies innovator) read to a full house at La Raza Galería Posada. He was accompanied by flautist and Rooted in Community co-director Gerardo O. Marín and artist and activist Colin Miller. The event was hosted by Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun and opened with local writer JoAnn Anglin. She spoke of the group’s founding in 1993, its monthly writing group, monthly readings and of the group’s anthology, “Voices of the New Sun: Songs and Stories / Voces del Nuevo Sol: Cantos y Cuentos.”  González was introduced by Dr. Fausto Avendaño, a retire

Radiant Mexican Singer Martha Toledo Debuts in Sacramento; Songs Speak of Respect and Dignity for Latin American Women La Raza Galería Posada, Sacramento’s nonprofit hub for Latino/Chicano and Native arts cultural programming, continues to bring rare,compelling and exciting music concerts to their intimate performance space in Midtown. Martha Toledo is an internationally recognized performer whose commanding presence embodies the sensibility and majesty of the Oaxacan culture. A Zapotec singer from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Oaxaca, Mexico, her soulful sound evokes the pulsing, vibrant rhythm of her country's music legacy. Many of these songs carry the contemporary message of

Opens at La Raza Galería Posada on July 9; Artist Reception on July 14 (Sacramento, CA) No matter how one views the wars in the Middle East, the visual window into that world is a compelling and valuable one to experience. The photographs from Sacramento native Chief Warrant Officer-2 (CWO2) Tony R. Ulep’s military service have resulted in a vast portfolio of fascinating cultures, architecture, landscapes, and blazing sunrises and sunsets. His debut exhibition at La Raza Galería Posada shows his passion for studying and experiencing other cultures combined with his love of photojournalism is apparent. Specifically, he presents photographs from his two Iraqi deployments, beginning in 200

Caliente, the Spanish word for hot, was the perfect word to describe Jammin’ in the Park 2. Saturday’s event drew well over 1,000 spectators to Cesar Chavez Park to enjoy the sounds of DJ Nightfly, Esteban Villa, Blanca Sandoval, Los Elegantes and the legendary Latin rockers Malo. Two fathers of the Chicano art movement — RCAF artist and poet activist Jose Montoya and El Teatro Campesino veteran and Chicano film producer Phil Esparza — were honored for their contributions to the Sacramento community. La Raza Galeria Posada presented a family day full of music, dance, poetry, arts and crafts. Many vendors had stations set up inside the beer garden and around other parts of the park. Chi

The 2011 In the Flow festival came to an end at Luna’s Café on Monday night after five days of enjoyable music at different venues. Jazz, rock, electronic, noise, poetry, spoken word, blues and other genres were delivered by talented musicians from May 12 to 16. On a rainy Monday evening, several bands came to share the small stage at Luna’s. The intimate setting provided great entertainment and gave it a delightful jazz club ambiance. In the Flow is the brainchild of Ross Hammond and Byron Blackburn. Performers play smaller venues such as La Raza Galeria Posada, Luna’s, Antiquité Maison Privée, Phono Select Records and the Press Club. Hammond’s grassroots approach is creative and provid

Around 20 supporters of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission attended the City Council budget hearing Tuesday afternoon wearing buttons emblazoned with the SMAC slogan: “Arts Open Daily” in response to a proposal to cut arts funding. Barbara Bonebrake, director of the Sacramento Convention, Culture and Leisure Department, presented a proposal to reduce the city’s general fund contribution to SMAC by $152,855 for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. As a result of these cuts, funding for SMAC’s Cultural Arts Awards, a program that provides grants ranging from $1,000-$25,000 to nonprofit arts organizations, would be reduced by $64,000. During the public comment section of the Convention, Cul

California State University Sacramento’s Serna Center and La Raza Galeria Posada present an afternoon Festival of Native American Films on Sunday, March 6 from 2pm to 4pm at Hinde Auditorium on the campus of CSUS. Admission is free, donations gladly accepted. Three original films, presented courtesy of Native American Public Telecommunications located in Lincoln, Nebraska will be screened for the first time in Sacramento. Special guests Shirley Sneve, Director, Native American Public Telecommunications and producer Luke Griswold-Tergis (Smokin' Fish) will be on hand to introduce the films and answer questions from audience members. Smokin' Fish, (2011, a work in progress) will have it’s C

Saturday Night’s temperature during Second Saturday kept many art lovers at home. The first Second Saturday of 2011 was sparsely attended. The cold weather which was in the upper 30s or low 40s seemed to have kept many people in the warmth of their homes. Truth be told the cold weather curtailed the number of galleries I attended. On 20th and J Streets a candle lit vigil included some singing that brought a crowd of people to that site. The singers seemed to have disappeared just as fast as it had appeared. The group was singing “This Little Light of Mine” (among other songs) although some of the lyrics were changed to fit the location and situation. The usual crowd that gathers at this s

Compañía Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento presented Posada NavideÑa, a ballet folklórico dance concert at the Crest Theatre Sunday afternoon.  Posada NavideÑa is a ballet folklórico interpretation of the traditional Mexican Christmas celebration, Las Posadas. 20 dancers and 16 musicians gave an energetic, whirlwind performance with original choreography.  Here are some scenes:           The performance was presented by La Raza Galeria Posada, a multi-disciplinary cultural center and public space serving the Sacramento community by offering Latino/Chicano and Native arts programming, art education workshops, and a community gathering place. To learn more CLICK HERE>>> SacPr

Forty organizations and individuals will be creating altars as art exhibits for a Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos: El Panteon de los Muertos) celebration on Sunday and Monday. This exhibit is presented by La Raza Galería Posada. Traditionally, these type of altars – which celebrate the life or honor the death of a loved one – are decorated with sugar skulls, photographs, flowers and other symbolic items reflecting a person whose life is being celebrated. Although there will be around 40 displays created by organizations and individuals, there will also be some community altars that will be available for anyone who wishes to participate. The Día de los Muertos exhibit will be held r

The new Alta California - Celebrations of Home celebrates the memory of Sacramento Mexicans for more than 40 years with photos, newspaper articles and historical documents. La Raza Galería Posada staff spent nine months building an exhibition full of rare photos and memories from Sacramento residents. La Raza Galeria Posada is a multi-disciplinary cultural center and public space for the Sacramento community by offering Latino/Chicano and Native arts programming as well as art education workshops, according to their website. “(My favorite part) has been (being) able to comb through the Sacramento history and being able to present it all to the public,” said La Raza Galería Posada Educat

La Raza Galeria Posada's canary yellow walls set a vibrant tone Thursday for the gallery's latest offering in a Latin cinema series. “This series is about highlighting the films that are coming out of Portuguese- and Spanish- speaking countries,” said Michael Collett, the gallery's education manager. “We want to give a broader perspective to Sacramentans that not everyone who speaks Spanish is Mexican,” he continued. “There’s a whole Spanish-speaking world out there and those people have issues similar to us here in the States.” The series is a part of the New Latin American Film Series held Thursdays at 7 p.m. in July. Thursday featured the Argentinean film “El Secreto de su Ojos” (The

The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission banded together Wednesday afternoon, bringing nearly a dozen arts supporters to a public County Board of Supervisors budget meeting that discussed funding cuts from the county's Transit Occupancy Tax, a hotel tax. It was the last day of public hearings on the county budget before deliberations. Rob Leonard, the director of the county's Department of Economic Development gave a report on the cuts. Among organizations facing cuts from the TOT budget were the Sacramento Tree Foundation, the Sacramento Sports Commission and Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. Despite their efforts to oppose the cuts, which included public service announcements