In a city that boasts a thriving community of locally owned businesses, artists, musicians and writers, it’s no wonder that Sacramento has a stunning array of public art displays that have taken the form of murals on the sides of buildings throughout town. The works are concentrated in Midtown and downtown Sacramento, where the eclectic collection of stores and businesses creates the ideal canvas for some of the most visually impressive pieces of public art. Local artist Skinner – born Warren Davis III – said he thinks Sacramento needs more work like the mural he painted on the side of the Java Lounge on 16th Street near Broadway. Skinner said he’s commissioned to do work all over the w

An alley art project is growing in Midtown. Three new pieces featuring the Sacramento skyline and a desert scene were installed on an alley off K Street within the last two weeks.  Many people are already stumbling on this cache of alley art. By early June, residents will be able to take walking tours of this growing outdoor gallery, thanks to tour maps being printed and posted online as part of the Midtown Alley Project (MAP) led by artists and an art-loving property owner. "The whole thought is to take these alleys back, make them more aesthetically pleasing and also provide points of interest," said Gallery 2110 owner Clare Bailey, a muralist and fine artist who started the alley art

Artists have spent the last few nights preparing Sol Collective for an anniversary show Friday. But they're not installing framed paintings and sculptures. Sacramento's very own activist art collective is celebrating six years by becoming art. Show organizer Shaun Turner, a 29-year-old muralist, has brought together at least 19 artists from Sacramento, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Colombia, by way of New York, to create art on the interior walls and ceilings of the building at 2574 21st St. The big, bold pieces are the artists' way of giving back to a community organization that has given so much to so many of them, said Turner and local artist Gabriel Romo, who also goes by the name 2

As daylight decreases during the day and temperatures drop during the night it begins to take its toll on the Second Saturday events. This past Second Saturday there was a drop in people attending art shows and music events. Once rainy weather comes upon us even less people will be out on Second Saturdays in Sacramento. Second Saturday in Folsom has seen similar drops in attendance. Cities where Third Saturdays are held will probably also see less people come out at night. Midtown sees the most people during its Second Saturday events and some have begun to go indoors. This will help with the cold weather and rain. One of these vendor events is the Midtown Bazaar that’s held on I Street

Chalk artists Stephanie Olivera and Jen Cimeglio transformed the façade of 1018 J Street by painting a temporary chalk mural as part of a live Second Saturday show. The two-panel mural features a Japanese theme and spans approximately 320 square feet. A new mural will be painted live every Second Saturday throughout the summer to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Chalk It Up! on Labor Day weekend. Jen Cimeglio and Stephanie Olivera, the chalk artists.   The mural marks the beginning of West of 16th Street and East of the River – a series of downtown arts-related events and programs that showcase Downtown’s public art, cultural history and architecture through temporary art exhibits,

The wall of a Midtown restaurant soon will soon become a fresh canvas for a Sacramento muralist. Hot Italian and the Arts & Business Council of Sacramento have put out a call for artists to submit mural proposals with modern Italian themes. The winning artist will be paid $1,000, plus $500 in restaurant certificates, to design and install an 8-foot by 3-foot mural for the eatery's main dining room. The space was intended to hold a bicycle. But the restaurant's owners, Andrea Lepore and Fabrizio Cercatore, want to open it up to local artists instead and decided to hold a contest to choose the design, Lepore said. "It's really open to anyone," she said. "It could be any medium: photograph