By Miranda Culp

Ever since Michael LaHood, or “Hoodie,” arrived in Sacramento in 2019 from the Bay Area, he stalked art spaces. 

He had visions of multimedia projects, sculpture gardens and fire dancing that could happen in the same place — but he was looking for the right combination of adaptable space, location and community. 

Deeply influenced by the work of Berkeley artist Susan O’Malley — whose electrifying prints shout “Buy the RV!” and “It is Possible!” — LaHood checked out all kinds of commercial property around the city. “I found bits and pieces, but what was going to become of the space really depended on the space itself.” Prism Art Space on K street in Midtown lent itself to becoming a combination gallery, studio, community room and even black box theater affectionately named “The Void.” 

The eight resident artists who all recently moved into their studios have mixed-media practices that branch in many directions. They share a delight in the prospect of collaboration and expressed exhilaration at the plunge they are taking.

“There is a shock of excitement in being here — to feel this energy of being a part of something new and creative is really an honor. It feels like a special place and time,” says Heather Hogan, whose proclivities include assemblage, linocut printing, laser and plasma cutting and sublimation photo collage. 

Prism is located in a former Golden 1 Credit Union branch, which had a fake low ceiling and searing fluorescent lights. Now the commercial property between 21st and 22nd streets has transformed. It has a full glass front that enters into a roomy gallery with exposed beams, resurfaced floors and a long hallway down the center perfect for exhibiting small works. 

The studios are atelier-style, occupied by two or three artists with high airy ceilings and skylights, already kitted out with easels, cabinets and racks of trays and tools — exactly what creators need in a bustling workshop. The back of the building has a community room with a swanky kitchen and conference table. 

The use of the Void is loosely identified; it can be a viewing room for films, a performance or installation space and it also serves as a kind of sensory deprivation tank where the artists can go sit with a little silence and recharge. When a resident has watched too much news, they are encouraged to go “scream into the Void.” 

Hoodie met Jillian Bruschera — a printer, papermaker, graphic designer and zine author — in the Interdisciplinary program at Columbia College Chicago. They re-connected in Sacramento and their conversations fueled LaHood’s search for space. “I’ve had a very nomadic practice. I never really had a studio with the exception of grad school,” Bruschera says. “This is the first time I’ve paid money to do something for myself on this level, but I really needed this, and it’s the right time and the right people.” 

Resident artist Chaitra Bangalore describes how the positive boost of being at Prism has already impacted her work, “this physical space [designed for art making] has made me more productive and joyful while creating. I hope to gather a larger community through Prism by showcasing work on South Asian culture and identity.” 

Bangalore shares a studio with Justina Martino (who is a painter, ceramist and writer) and Iso Marcus, a musician and ceramicist who comes from a social work background.

For Marcus, this space presents the possibility of sound and music playing a larger role in installation and interactive art here in Sacramento. “The Void activates this cave desire that all of us humans have,” they say. “We want to go into a cave and throw light on the wall and see what happens.”

Julie Bernadeth Crumb occupies another studio with artists Jazel Muñoz and Ashley Tattersall-Diaz. In addition to their own art multiplicity of mediums, Crumb and Martino also run the nonprofit Art Tonic that connects artists to community development projects. 

Muñoz, a printer currently exploring etching and serigraphy says, “It meant that I would be sharing space with my peers, a group of multidisciplinary, exceptional, collaborative individuals — so it naturally aligned. I feel reignited to elevate my work and evolve as [part of] a collective.” 

At Prism’s first opening “In the Works” at the beginning of May, the excitement in the room was contagious. Members of the local creative community wanted to see the new art building and celebrate this unique group’s maiden voyage. 

The Sacramento region has a long history of upstart art enclaves that have made international waves: The Funk Movement, Royal Chicano Air Force and Norcal Noisefest to name a few. Prism follows in those footsteps, seeking to cast a wider net of experimentation, performance and interconnectivity. 

“We start in this space, but we want to connect and collaborate with other spaces,” LaHood says. “We want to create an ecosystem together.”

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, Hmong Daily News, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.