Giving Back

Center Of Everything

CARMICHAEL ART SPACE OFFERS GIFTSHOP, EXHIBITS, CLASSES, CAMARADERIE

Anne DeStefano Photo by Linda Smolek

What’s the most important thing Anne DeStefano wants people to know about Sacramento Fine Arts Center in Carmichael?

“That we exist!” says DeStefano, a fi ber artist and jewelry maker who joined the center 10 years ago. “I don’t know if people realize that the center is there and that we have signifi cant gallery space. Each month, we have a different show on exhibit. It’s quite a range of variety.”

Sacramento Fine Arts Center was founded in 1986 by several local, independent art clubs that came together to share their love of art and pool resources for shows and classes. The center now boasts roughly 300 members from different disciplines— painters, sculptors, fi ber artists and more. They share responsibilities, run the giftshop and teach classes.

The center holds local and national juried art shows throughout the year to give members the opportunity to show and sell their work, and raise funds to continue the organization’s operation.

“When I fi rst joined, the fi ber arts group would put on at least one show a year at the center and hold classes and other events regularly,” DeStefano says. “But we had trouble growing our membership, so the group disbanded about fi ve years ago. By then, I liked being part of the process at the center, so I decided to continue my membership and started volunteering in the giftshop.”

DeStefano is one of many members who work in the gallery’s giftshop, which offers a rotating stock of handmade original art pieces, including jewelry, notecards and ceramics. She helps select inventory and arranges items to make them as attractive as possible. “It’s more than selling,” she says. “It’s about looking at the giftshop as a whole and making it more interesting.”

Before health issues sidelined her, DeStefano helped hang and take down shows. Volunteers act as docents, greeting visitors and sharing information about classes and exhibitions.

When DeStefano isn’t busy in the store, she creates jewelry with various fi ber techniques. A member of the Sacramento Center for the Textile Arts since the early 1990s, DeStefano loves all things fi ber: sewing, knitting, crocheting, macramé, kumihimo (a Japanese braiding technique). She migrated to wearable fi ber art by making jewelry out of beads, wire and cording.

Her hope is that the community learns about the gallery and gift shop, classes and workshops, and enjoys the monthly art exhibitions.

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By Jessica Laskey Giving Back: Volunteer Profi le

The Sacramento Fine Arts Center giftshop is open during regular business hours, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For information on upcoming classes, such as painting with acrylics, oils, watercolors and paper, visit sacfi nearts.org/art-classes. For information on workshops, including creating encaustic art, visit sacfi nearts. org/workshops.The Sacramento Fine Arts Center is at 5330B Gibbons Drive in Carmichael. For more information, visit sacfi nearts.org.

Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profi les can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n