Sacramento County Art, Culture & Media Digest

After a two year hiatus, the Elk Grove Arts Commission honored the city’s artists and volunteers in grand fashion at the “Iris Awards” held at The Center at District 56 in Elk Grove.

Asian Pacific CultureFest will feature live performances as well as foods and crafts from 80 AAPI-owned small businesses. The event takes place on Saturday, May 7 in Elk Grove.

Following Clean Up the Lake’s year-long scuba clean-up of Lake Tahoe, the Tahoe Fund is commissioning artists (with support from Tahoe Blue Vodka) to create a sculpture using some of the recovered items. “Surfaced” will be featured at the new Tahoe South Events Center.

Lake Tahoe will be highlighted in its own board game, Monopoly Lake Tahoe. Visiting the area was the iconic Mr. Monopoly, there to highlight the new game and encourage the public to submit ideas for what should be featured on the board.

The Elk Grove Western Festival, a 65-year-old springtime tradition, has been canceled again. Festival Board President Ken Johnston said the board decided to nix this year’s festival and instead focus on the 2023 event.

Danny Wimmer Presents, the production company responsible for Aftershock, is bringing a new country music festival to Sacramento in October. In partnership with Visit Sacramento, the two-day GoldenSky Country Music Festival will be held at Discovery Park.

An actress from Elk Grove is starring in a new movie that debuts March 19. Monique Sypkens stars in “Sins in the Suburbs,” a Lifetime movie.

For the first time in three years, the California State Fair will return. This Sacramento tradition of food and carnival rides is now four months away.

Surreal Estates was the name that a group of Sacramento creatives picked for a city block where they successfully built a tiny housing community for themselves years ago.

A mix of iconic heavy metal and hard rock bands will headline Aftershock 2022. The festival, which is expected to draw a combined audience of more than 150,000, is will take place Oct. 6-9 in Discovery Park.

As of June 2021, Sacramento County has 12 circulating newspapers, including dailies and weeklies. Only one paper is Black-owned and operated: the Sacramento Observer. “There was still a need for our stories to be told,” publisher Larry Lee says in a story by ABC10.

Sacramento has long sought another mid-sized concert venue that would draw acts not quite big enough to fill Golden 1 Center. There’s suddenly a lot of interest in building one.

After more than 35 years on the Sacramento theater scene, B Street Theatre’s Buck Busfield is exiting stage left. Buck, who first joined his brother Timothy Busfield in 1986 to help launch a local touring children’s theater, recently announced his retirement.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many plans were halted, including an approximately $40 million art park and adjacent parking garage by Crocker Art Museum. Nearly two years later, the project has new life.

Shonna McDaniels has run the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum since 2005, working with various artists to cover its walls with paintings that depict historically significant Black Americans.

California artist Wayne Thiebaud, internationally known for his paintings of ordinary objects and iconic California landscapes, has died. The painter died at his home in Sacramento at the age of 101.

Joan Didion, known for her bold essays and cutting commentary, has passed away. She was at the forefront of revolutionizing California journalism.

With not much of a warning, popular midtown hard rock club Holy Diver announced on social media that it has permanently closed.

A Seat at the Table, a new bookstore in Elk Grove, has opened on Laguna Springs Drive. Its focus is celebrating culture, identity and engagement.

Citrus Heights is hosting its third annual “Best Lights in Citrus Heights” event. Nominations are open through Dec. 25.

According to 2020 census data, Sacramento’s Hispanic population nearly doubled over the past 10 years, outpacing the county’s overall rate.

Golden 1 Center has been named a top-rated venue globally for its high number of ticket sales throughout 2021.

Haylie Ferreira, a 23-year-old skater who is from Loomis and trained at Skatetown in Roseville, made her debut in Disney on Ice this fall. She is skating the role of Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.”

The Crocker Art Museum has unveiled a new exhibit featuring historic artwork, Gold Rush maps and more, with the goal of bringing light to untold portions of California’s history.

The Latino Center of Art and Culture in Sacramento is gearing up for an elaborate Día de los Muertos event, including decor, offerings and traditional Mexican cemetery trappings.

The Fair Oaks Parks and Recreation District started demolition on the Veterans Memorial Amphitheatre earlier this month, leaving only the outside seating in place. Plans for the renovation include expanded restrooms, changing areas for actors, and a solution for shows during cold-weather months.

Once a fixture at elementary school assemblies, a Citrus Heights husband-wife duo are now producing virtual puppet shows, as schools continue to not allow outside groups on campus due to the pandemic.

Barbara Alfidi first fell in love with hats while searching for the perfect final touch to her Gold Rush costume for an event in the 1980s. Since then, she has amassed such a collection that it’s now on public view in Rancho Cordova.

After more than 18 months of being closed, KP International reopened its food court. It has been called the Disneyland of foreign food, and there are plenty of options for all dietary needs.

Two gatherings were recently held to allow the public to provide input on a new library coming to Elk Grove in 2023.

What started as a project by a local Girl Scout is now a full directory of Black cultural landmarks throughout Sacramento thanks to a partnership with the Sacramento Observer.

The search for a new director for the Sacramento Symphonic Winds has been far and wide. But the hunt is finally over as Dr. Matthew Morse will be taking on the role.