By Marie-Elena Schembri

From its studios to its sidewalks, Sacramento is home to a dynamic lineup of visual art events this August with First Fridays, Second Saturdays and exhibitions all month long.

Second Friday

On Friday, Aug. 9, Pence Gallery will participate in the city of Davis’ Second Friday Art About, with a public reception from 6-9 p.m. for several ongoing art exhibitions, including the “Slice” regional group art show, community art show “Exhibit It!” and Jaya King’s “chromavista.” In addition to “chromavista,” several of King’s smaller works will be presented along the stairway wall from Aug. 5-31.

Second Saturday

Sacramento showcases its hotbed of creativity, inspiration and fun every Second Saturday of the month, starting in the heart of the city with the Midtown Association’s all-day event, sponsored by Sutter Health. Attendees can expect family-friendly activities, live music, pop-up artisan markets, art walks and exciting art demonstrations from local artists throughout midtown. 

August Second Saturday attendees will enjoy gravity-defying aerial dance performances by Two Point 4 Dance Theatre at The Mansion Apartments on 16th Street from 5-7 p.m. Additional live art demos include a chalk art demonstration by Dawn Pedersen, collage art with Donco Tolomanoski and a community mural painting experience with multidisciplinary artist Taner Pasamehmetoglu. The public will be invited to paint alongside the artist, creating a layered, abstract painting.

Pasamehmetoglu has done a few other collaborative paintings through his recent residency with the City of Sacramento’s Office of Climate Action and Sustainability. He describes the process as “very fun, controlled chaos.”

“I’m just going to pick a palette of colors that I’m kind of feeling that vibe with Second Saturday, and I’m just going to do my thing again and allow people to do whatever they want as well. … The other fun part about this is I’m not sure what it’s going to look like at the end, but it will look like something cool, because I’ve done this enough times now where I know how to kind of shape the piece as it’s going. And so as people are applying paint, maybe someone throws way too much paint on it. I have tools where I’ll kind of scrape that paint off and put it back into a jar or spread it around, and I’ll have brushes and all these different tools that I use when I’m doing this,” Pasamehmetoglu explained.

For Pasamehmetoglu, the experience is not about achieving a certain look but allowing the process to unfold and inviting people “to tap into their creativity even if they don’t consider themselves creative people.”

Complete details, maps and event descriptions for Midtown Association’s Second Saturday can be found at exploremidtown.org/second-saturday/.

Also on Second Saturday, ARTHOUSE on R will host an opening reception from 5-8 p.m. for “Moods and Memories,” an exhibition of oil paintings including familiar Sacramento landscapes by artist Steve Memering. The exhibit will run from Friday, Aug. 9 to Monday, Sept. 9.

Chalk It Up

Get ready to dust off your creative spirit and soak up the sun at the 34th Annual “Chalk It Up!” Festival. This free three-day event takes place over Labor Day weekend, from Saturday, Aug. 31 to Monday, Sept. 2 at Fremont Park. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, artists will transform the park’s sidewalks into vibrant masterpieces with chalk. While talented creators showcase their skills, attendees can enjoy live music, explore local craft and food vendors, or unwind in the 21-and-over beer garden. And don’t forget to unleash your inner artist — there will be plenty of space for the public to create their own sidewalk chalk art as well. 

Other exhibitions of note: 

Beginning Saturday, Aug. 10 and continuing through the end of the month, WAL Public Market Gallery will display works by Filipino-American multidisciplinary artist Julie Bernadeth Crumb. 

Crumb, winner of a 2023-2024 California Arts Council and Youth Speaks Emerging Artist Fellowship, creates artwork that “reflects her commitment to decolonization, cultural memory and intuitive joy,” according to the artist. Crumb’s exhibition, “Seedling,” opens Saturday, Aug. 10 with a closing reception on Friday, Aug. 30 from 5-9 p.m.

The Sacramento History Museum’s exhibition, “America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains: Our Culture at Play,” opening Friday, Aug. 9 and running through January 2025, will feature over 400 vintage toys, comics, posters and other memorabilia exploring iconic characters that have shaped American culture. Featuring work from famous comic artists including Stan Lee, Bob Kane and Todd McFarlane, this unique exhibition takes a nostalgic look at American pop culture from a bygone era, and the art behind it. The museum is offering free admission to all youth (under 18) during Second Saturday on Aug. 10.

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.