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Online Art
SAC OPEN STUD DIOS GOES VIR RTU UALL TH HIS YEAR R
Joseph and Paula Bellacera
his year’s Sac Open Studios—the annual celebration of more than 100 local artists hosted by Verge Center for the Arts—will go virtual due to COVID-19. Join Verge online for the Sac Open Studios Virtual Launch Party on Thursday, Sept. 10, followed by two weekends—Sept. 12–13 and Sept. 19–20—of virtual events featuring webinars, live-streamed tours, demonstrations, talks, panel discussions and workshops. A preview exhibition of selected pieces will be held Sept. 10–30 at Verge. Due to this year’s online format, participating artists don’t need a studio—since no one will be visiting in person! Verge is providing technical training and support to all artists. A new online Sac Open Studios Artist Directory will supplement the printed Sac Open Studios Guide, a free fullcolor magazine that includes artwork and contact information for all participating artists. Also included are event listings, artist profiles and ads to help tour-goers plan their experience. “We hope these changes will ensure our ability to present the program and continue to serve artists, advertisers, sponsors, community partners and tour-goers during these uncertain times,” Verge reports. “This was not an easy decision to make, and the health and safety of our community is our top priority.” For more information, visit vergeart. com/open-studios/attend-sac-openstudios.
GO FUND CREST THEATRE Nearly 900 donors have helped the iconic Crest Theatre raise more than $35,000 on GoFundMe for muchneeded repairs and maintenance following vandalism in July. With an initial goal of $20,000, Crest management explains on the GoFundMe page that the repairs would have been easier to complete if they were open to the public and making money, but COVID-19 restrictions have made it difficult.
JL Ed Forrest By Jessica Laskey Out & About
More than 100 artists will participate in this year’s virtual Sac Open Studios.
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“These funds will help us make sure that when the time comes, whether this fall, or into 2021, we will be able to reopen and give Sacramento the great entertainment venue it deserves,” general manager Robert Alvis says. “If we make it through this, it will be because of you.” To donate, search Help The Crest Sacramento on gofundme.com.
HEROES HELPING HEROES Taggart Neal, local Navy veteran and CEO of TAGCarts, has invented HEROCart, the first-ever single-use patient bedside medical cart to hold personal protective equipment for nurses on the frontlines. The recyclable, pop-up, multi-drawer bedside carts are made of corrugated cardboard, and assembled and shipped by PRIDE Industries, which employs veterans and people with disabilities. “We responded to Gov. Newsom’s call for California’s health care companies to innovate in the face of COVID-19,” Neal says. “I knew our young Sacramento company, which focuses on values of sustainability and social responsibility, could be of service in a meaningful way.” The Sacramento HEROCart Project started in mid-April and has been supported by several local organizations, including PRIDE and the Sacramento Kings Foundation, which has set up an online donation fund to offset the cost of the carts. Hundreds of HEROCarts have already been sent to the field hospital at Sleep Train Arena, as well as Los Angeles County and the Navajo Nation.
COVID-19 JOB HELPLINE For those whose jobs have been affected by the pandemic, the city of Sacramento, Sacramento Central Labor Council and Center for Workers’ Rights recently established the Coronavirus Job Protection Helpline at (916) 9051625. Call the hotline for questions related to unemployment, paid family leave, disability insurance, paid sick leave, workers’ compensation and other workplace issues. The helpline, which is funded by the CARES Act, is available to all workers in the Sacramento region.
SLICE OF CALIFORNIA Landscape painter Timothy Mulligan’s solo show “A Slice of California” will be on display Sept. 5
