Kennedy Gallery owner Michael Misha Kennedy says Second Saturday is changing—but still thriving. Photo: Ron Nabity

Is Sacramento’s monthly art event on its way out—or better than ever?

By Lovelle Harris

Originally published in Sacramento News & Review on 10.06.11

Like anything that’s romanticized, there seems to be an innate need to recapture what once was—or at least the perception of what was. Nostalgia and longing can turn a memory into something of Homeric proportions.

Second Saturday, perhaps because of its longevity or the arrival of its rivals in Elk Grove, Roseville and El Dorado Hills, seems to have fallen prey to the ultimate in romantic folklore: That it’s dead or dying tragically on the vine.

But for many, rumors of its death are greatly exaggerated.

Second Saturday isn’t over, they say, it just isn’t what it used to be. In fact, it just might be better.

“I think [attendance] has crept up a little bit from last year,” says Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association. “What I think has happened is the event is a bit more spread out now. So, to just the casual observer, it seems less intense.”

Still, the September 2010 shooting that left 24-year-old Second Saturday patron Victor Zavala dead, cast an undeniable pall on the monthly event.

Pam Danskin had just finished her shift at the Old Spaghetti Factory and was enjoying a nightcap at Original Pete’s when the shooting occurred just after midnight on J Street between 18th and 19th streets.

The murder, she says, changed her perception of Second Saturday.

“I felt that they should have canceled Second Saturday. Somebody died [and] it put a damper on the atmosphere,” Danskin says.

It also seemed to put a damper on attendance, she says.

“This summer … I feel like it’s been slower. There are a lot of people who attend it still, but I don’t feel like it’s as crazy busy as it has been over the past couple of years,” she says.

Kerth, however, insists that the incident didn’t have a major impact on the monthly art walk.

It’s still a lively and well-attended event, he says.

“Artists need venues. They don’t create their art to go into a box, they want people to see it, they want it to be meaningful to people,” Kerth says. “So, for not very much money and for not a lot of an investment, they’re pretty sure a lot of folks are going to see their art.

Second Saturday patrons check out art during the September event. Photo: Lovelle Harris

Although the sparsely filled streets on the 20th Street corridor at last month’s event may have seemingly given credence to the rumors of Second Saturday’s imminent demise, there were still many busy galleries.

Less party, more art

Indeed, Second Saturday isn’t only about the colorful canvases that hang on those prim and proper white gallery walls anymore—the event has morphed into an artistic melting pot that unites the formally trained visual artist with local artisans, musicians and performers.

“It’s been a consistent crowd, and everybody seems to be in a really happy spirit, so we love that. And they’re purchasing, so that’s even better,” says Michael Misha Kennedy, artist and owner of Midtown’s Kennedy Gallery.

On this particular Saturday night, it’s hard to miss the security presence. Along with forces from the Sacramento City Police department, there’s a pack of Guardian Angels cruising the scene for signs of trouble.

This is the Guardian Angels’ third year patrolling the scene, says member Patrick Kent, and so far, it’s been business as usual.

“My understanding is that there has been no increase in violence. It’s been pretty quiet and peaceful,” Kent says.

As such, some gallery owners say they’re concentrating on Second Saturday’s original focus: The art.

“We’re going to stay positive about why we [participate in] the art walk and keep promoting the arts that we have here in Sacramento,” Kennedy says.

Certainly, his gallery’s September offerings—performances by the Sacramento Ballet and a live jazz band—seemed to underscore this point.

As the shriek of a jittery trumpet blared out in the warm evening air, Kennedy welcomed yet another animated cluster of potential art buyers; there wasn’t a steady steam of attendees crowding the streets all at once, but rather concentrated groups of people who flowed in and out of the galleries in bunches.

For people such as Jenny Briggs, one of the artists-in-residence at the Kennedy Gallery who comes down from Folsom to show her work, the exposure to potential buyers is essential.

“They’re here because they like to look at art, and they’re all not going to buy, you know, but that’s OK,” Briggs says. “When they say, ‘I love your work,’ that makes me smile, and then I’m happy.”

That vibe is pervasive as crew of fishnet stocking-wearing representatives of the Sac City Rollers roller derby team cruise up and down the grid looking for new recruits and a gentle breeze scoops up the fragrant essence from a nearby restaurant and perfumes the air with its scent.

“We’re really happy with the event this year,” Kerth says. “It continues to be: 1. fun, and 2. economically very important to the businesses here.”

Grow bigger, grow up

For Liz Donner, Second Saturday is still a crucial part of the city’s art scene—but one in need of fine-tuning.

Donner should know. An artist and a musician, she used to own the Fools Foundation gallery in Midtown—a place once revered for its attention to starkly do-it-yourself music and art.

Second Saturday’s popularity is the very thing that may hurt it in the end, she says.

“Sometimes I wonder what Fools Foundation would be like now on Second Saturday. I think it’s odd that an event to showcase local galleries and artists would be the center of such attention,” she says. “Most likely [the increased attendance] is a result of the stifled art community having all the action be on one night. I think we are getting better, but the city needs to stand up, start helping and talk [about] funding and solutions.

“This city needs major help in entertainment and the arts,” she adds. “One night? I’m talking multiple arts, film and music events every night of the week. Spread it out.”

While some galleries and shops do offer events on other weekends—“Third Saturday” openings have grown in popularity in recent years—it’s that second weekend in the month that still draws the most patrons more than 20 years after local galleries began participating. Certainly, most members of the Midtown business community still consider the event a financial boon.

And with an average monthly attendance of 20,000 in 2010, generating approximately $240,000 a month in revenue, Kerth estimates that this year’s Second Saturday attendance is on track to either match or best that total.

Even Donner believes that the event’s enduring presence—despite its flaws—is ultimately good for the community.

“Any opportunity artists have to openly display and sell to a wide audience is positive. Second Saturday has always been an incredible event and the growth and popularity in the last few years, although challenging, is wonderful and to be celebrated.”

Dan Curran’s Zipgun zine explores graffiti culture and, apparently, cake. Photo: William Leung

The hustle and grind behind Sacramento’s print zine scene

By Lovelle Harris

Originally published in Sacramento News & Review on 09.15.11

The trials of hustling for cheap paper. Meeting impossible, self-imposed deadlines. The ever-present risk of bleeding to death, thanks to a particularly vicious paper cut.

The paper zine may be old school but it hasn’t gone the way of the cassette Walkman, yet.

In fact in Sacramento, a dedicated contingent of indie publishers continues to challenge the online zine’s dominance over the underground paper press by banging out quality publications that offer what many mainstream magazines can’t: an alternative voice that informs, challenges, excites and provokes its audience without regard for corporate interests.

“Zines are a powerful outlet for the disenfranchised,” says Dan Curran, the Midtown resident behind Zipgun magazine, a gritty photo journal of street art that chronicles graffiti culture through tripped-out photography and short, plucky articles about the people behind the cans of Krylon spray paint.

Curran’s zine is visually stunning. Waves of graffiti splash across the pages in vivid, Technicolor swells of intricate and sometimes unrecognizable tags.

“I wanted to create something that I would be stoked to see on the news shelves,” Curran says. “Something that kind of went a little bit beyond the standard photo-stacking and cut and paste approach a lot of graffiti magazines take when representing the art form.”

When it comes to distribution, zinesters look to a variety of venues.

From trading with others in the scene and selling through websites to seeking shelf space at local businesses, putting out a zine is a hustle and grind that involves a fair amount of shameless self-promotion.

“I distribute my zines through the mail, mostly through trades,” says Laura-Marie Taylor, the Sacramento author behind Functionally Ill.

Taylor, whose zine covers mental health, designs her publication in the tradition of the cut and paste, DIY aesthetics of the black-and-white zine of old but isn’t afraid to use new technology to get it to the public.

“I orchestrate trades using websites like We Make Zines and LiveJournal. Last December, I tabled at [the] East Bay Alternative Press book fair in Berkeley,” she says.

It’s worth the effort. While some publications depict the grittiness of a subculture, others offer a sincere and raw account of its author’s personal experiences. For Taylor, publishing her zine has become a way to work through personal demons.

“Functionally Ill is about living with bipolar disorder and [having] no health insurance,” says Taylor who launched the zine in 2007.

“It’s about my struggles with the mental-health system and with my own symptom,” she says. “I started making Functionally Ill as a way of processing my own experiences with madness. I also thought it might be valuable for other people to read about what I go through.”

Finding the paper trail in Sacramento isn’t too hard. For those looking for that sweet spot in a shop window, many zine publishers head to Midtown’s Newsbeat or Phono Select records to hock their freshly Xeroxed goods.

“We carry a ton of zines … around 100 to 150,” says Nich Lujan, co-founder of Phono Select. “They just come in and ask if we’ll buy a couple of copies off of them, and we usually do.”

According to Lujan, there are a slew of local publishers putting out well-crafted work that he and his business partner, Dal Basi, are happy to feature in their shop—even if it means giving a young upstart valuable floor space.

And, he adds, there isn’t a rule sheet when it comes to choosing which zines to stock.

“We don’t want any left-wing propaganda, but we accept just about anything,” Lujan jokes. “We have one called FunCrusher … [the author] includes screen-printed patches in it, and those go really quick. People really like them.”

For Taylor, the Functionally Ill author, the Sacramento scene is ever changing. Over the years, she says, she’s witnessed some of her fellow publishers leave the scene, and the disappearance of the Sacramento Zine Symposium, a zine networking event that perished after its 2009 inaugural event.

“I would love if Sacramento had a thriving zine community,” Taylor says. “[But] I enjoy [the] virtual zine community through the mail and over the Internet, and I attend the San Francisco Zine Fest every year.”

Scott Soriano, a Sacto zine legend who published the seminal punk offerings “Spamm” and “Fucker” in the early ’80s and mid-1990s, respectively, says the early zine community was forged out of a sense of alienation, when having a Mohawk branded you a freak instead of one of the cool kids.

“Back then, there wasn’t one zine that dominated,” Soriano says. “There were a bunch out there, zines like Slam Show, Popular Sewer Equipment and United Skate News, a kind of skate punk zine. So rather than one sticking out, it was more exciting, because there was a lot of spontaneous activity going on.”

While you don’t have to be a design whiz or aspire to be the next Soriano, the formula for producing a zine is simple: equal parts time, passion and a desire to communicate something in a meaningful and provocative way.

“What really inspired me was a zine in San Francisco, Spiderghost Pressgang, put out by Sammy Winston,” says Curran, the Zipgun publisher. “Sammy showed me that you really don’t need some huge budget and a big staff to be able to put something together that really visually makes an impact on people, and you can do it for super cheap too.”

And although Curran says his glossy, full-color zine may jump from its current $5 price tag to $6 a pop, he’s confident that small uptick in price won’t send fans running to their laptops instead of leafing through Zipgun’s graphic exploration of the graffiti subculture.

For fans such as Matt Rodriguez, a local skateboarding pro and musician, this alternative form of media is well worth the cost—and worthy of preservation.

“Convenience breeds laziness, and those who keep publishing the physical medium of a paper zine should be supported by the community,” Rodriguez says. “It’s the concept of supporting people who are willing to go out of their way to put their message out there. The Internet is the new status quo.”

Likewise, those who create say they’re happy to be part of a community that provides an alternative voice or glimpse into an unknown culture.

“I’ve been making zines for 20 years, and it’s become a way of life,” Taylor says. “I have never seen the mainstream media handle mental illness in a way that made sense to me and matched up with my own experiences.”

Lujan, the record store zine curator, agrees. There’s value, he says, in preserving this seemingly archaic aesthetic.

“A lot of people just want something tangible. It’s cool to read stuff on the Internet—you know we all do it—but sometimes, it’s nice just to sit down and read something,” Lujan says.

“Especially [if it’s] something that is not of the mainstream media—something handmade and something with a different opinion or a different point of view on things.”

Grace Raines, daughter of ArtBeast co-owner Blithe Raines, gets busy with a giant clump of clay. ArtBeast gives young kids access to an arts education that they normally wouldn’t receive at such a young age. Photo: William Leung

Midtown’s ArtBeast studio turns kids into creative little monsters

By Lovelle Harris

Originially published in Sacramento News & Review on 08.04.11

The scene here is pure energy in motion: A symphony of chirpy squeals rings out in an airy space as a parade of tiny hands smear red, yellow, purple and green paint down the once-pristine face of a white wall. In the background, quarter-sized metal discs jangle down a vertical xylophonic column of rebar pillars while a chorus of animated conversations flutters through the room like confetti shot through a circus cannon.

This explosion of frenetic force is the trademark of Midtown’s ArtBeast, a studio for children ages 6 and under where a dizzying array of art supplies and activities encourage kids to color outside of the lines, on the walls and even on themselves.

“ArtBeast is about creating the environment and sitting back and letting the kids drive their own experience,” says the studio’s co-founder, Bridget Alexander.

Alexander and her business partner, Blithe Raines, are former public-school teachers who, in January 2009, decided to take a gamble on the shaky California economy and open a studio for children.

The goal: to give kids access to the arts with a program with the same kind of flexibility and freedom as a gym membership.

“Kids need a place where they can go that is convenient,” Alexander explains. “You come, the environment’s always there, classes are happening throughout the week and you go to the ones you want.”

The vibe is chaotic but fun: Hordes of kids gallop around the room while others gleefully take to the “painting wall.” Meanwhile, some dig their fingers into the damp, vanilla-infused clay on one of the sensory tables as, nearby, the more gregarious tykes head outside under the ivy-covered patio to bang wildly on the pots, pans, empty soup cans and other assorted metallic objects on what Alexander proudly calls the “bang wall.”

The three-story art sanctuary is a labyrinthine network of spaces laid out to allow kids an unfettered artistic experience—from the open art studio to the theatrical play area. Here, kids are encouraged to explore freely, under the watchful eye of their parents.

“I find that a lot of the families are working families, [and] they don’t have a lot of time with their kids, so when they do have an opportunity to bring them, they kind of just want to be left alone to do their thing with their kid, which is just awesome,” Raines says.

While ArtBeast is an outlet where kids can explore their creativity, it isn’t all fun and games. The income generated by the studio goes directly to fund Alexander and Raines’ other passion—working as advocates, mentors and confidantes to young parents struggling with homelessness through their nonprofit Tubman House organization.

The two organizations, Alexander explains, are grounded by philosophies rooted in self-expression and self-empowerment.

“Through Tubman House, I became increasingly involved in working with children, and then, through having my own children, became interested in the importance of art in children’s lives,” Alexander says. “I’ve [also] worked with youth in crisis and have witnessed the transformative power of art.”

Now in its eighth year, Tubman House has served 150 young homeless parents and their children by providing them free housing, food, child-development classes, counseling services and college support as they make the transition from being homeless to becoming leaders in the lives of their children.

ArtBeast co-owners Bridget Alexander (left) and Blithe Raines. Photo: William Leung

“The thing that I love the most is that we employ former [Tubman House] residents and current residents here at ArtBeast, and having that relationship is the true bridge,” Raines says.

Down in the lower recesses of the art complex, the theatrical play area is home to a gallant castle, a spaceship fashioned out of recycled metal scraps, a puppet theater and a quirky collection of costumes and musical instruments.

And, it’s important to note, there’s not a Fisher Price play set to be found.

“We’re definitely embracing an aesthetic that’s a little more whimsical and homemade as opposed to things that are prefabricated. We don’t want it to look like McDonald’s Playland,” Alexander says with a laugh.

Certainly, the amusements here are anything but corporate. On the top floor, a large, sun-drenched dance studio plays host to several mini hula dancers as Don Ho’s classic song “Tiny Bubbles” floats through the air. The rustle of grass skirts mixes with giggles and toothy grins as the instructor leads the class of tiny undulating hips through the traditional Hawaiian symbolic dance.

The hula class is one of the studio’s new offerings, and judging by the big, beaming smiles and high-fives that mark the end of the class, it’s just one of the reasons why kids and parents alike come to revel in the “Beastie” experience.

For Alexander and Raines, ArtBeast is more than just a place where kids tap into their creativity; it’s a community as well.

“A lot of parents come in, and it’s like a hub where they’re all connecting and sharing ideas,” Raines says.

Accordingly, Alexander adds, the studio’s client base—about 300 visitors a week—has largely been formed by word of mouth via Facebook and Yelp posts, and its reach extends beyond the Midtown grid into the outer regions of Sacramento and beyond.

“The art materials are really high-quality, and for what you take away, in terms of their precious little art, is great,” says Kelly Amato, a Stockton resident who regularly visits Sacramento with her three small children just for the ArtBeast experience.

ArtBeast offers affordable drop-in rates, but many parents have also embraced the year contract, which works out to a $38-a-month membership fee.

“Preschool is so expensive right now,” says Tiffany Lillebo, parent to Mia, a precocious 4-year-old who enjoys the unlimited access to the studio that comes with the annual membership.

“I figured this is a lot like attending a school, but with many other benefits. So we are now annual members,” Lillebo adds. “It’s worth it for us, especially since we want to let her explore as much as she can artistically.”

As the studio’s creators look to the future, they are also toying with the idea of opening their doors to a slightly more grown-up group—the 7-and-older crowd.

“It’s not like we card people at the door, but there’re children that we’ve seen grow up over the last couple of years,” Alexander says. “That’s really rewarding, so we really want to maintain those relationships.”

By Lovelle Harris

Originally published in Sacramento News & Review on 03.24.11

In “Dancin’ in the Rain,” author Shel Silverstein writes about frolicking in a downpour. Had Silverstein written the poem today, an era of increasing need for water conservation, perhaps he would have focused on harvesting the rain instead.

Problem is, capturing rainwater is a gray legal area. But a new bill making rounds in the Capitol would, if passed, allow landowners to harvest rainwater. Introduced last month by Assemblyman Jose Solorio, Assembly Bill 275, or the Rainwater Capture Act, would permit homeowners to install, maintain and operate rain-capture devices for nonpotable, or nondrinking, purposes.

“It does rain in California,” observed Solorio, jokingly. “We just don’t do a very good job of capturing that rain for later use.”

Instead of letting the flood of rainwater go down the drain, securing it in barrels for landscaping and gardening use, known as “rainwater harvesting,” is gaining popularity among the water-conservation movement.

“There are many benefits of rainwater capture,” explained Sierra Club’s Jim Metropulos. “It allows a homeowner to recycle on their own. It allows them to store free water from the sky for outdoor gardens and lawns.”

On March 1, a report by Department of Water Resources hydrologists confirmed that the water content in California mountains’ snowpack is well above average, and readings indicate water content is 124 percent of normal statewide. So conservationists are calling for Californians not to take this winter’s robust snowpack and plentiful rainfall for granted.

“Definitely in California, we should be very conscious of water use,” Metropulos said. “With population growth, urban development and climate issues, having your own way to store water limits the demand on potable water and reduces pollution from trash, chemicals and oil from running off into our oceans.”

Solorio, who is chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Regional Approaches to Addressing the State’s Water Crisis, wants to put water in the hands of the people and clear up misconceptions about the legality of rainwater capture. “Researching the issue here in California, we found that the law is ambiguous about whether it’s even lawful to have a rain barrel,” he explained. “We thought, ‘Let’s make it clear that it is allowable.’”

The Assembly member also wants to encourage communities to build more sophisticated rainwater-capture systems that empower individual homeowners and small businesses.

Although the Sierra Club, a nonprofit, public-interest organization that promotes environmental conservation by influencing public-policy decisions, hasn’t officially adopted a stance on A.B. 275, as its legislative committee will be meeting to discuss the bill at the end of the month, the organization supports rainwater harvesting.

“This practice allows a person greater control of their water,” Metropulos said. Rainwater harvesting can be as simple as installing a rain barrel, according to the Sierra Club, and it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Another component of the bill would also allow landscaping contractors, working within the confines of his or her license, to install rainwater-capture systems for landscape irrigation.

“It also becomes a job-innovation bill,” Solorio argued. “We talk about ‘green’ jobs, and this [bill] provides us an opportunity to talk about how there are also ‘blue’ jobs.”

According to Solorio, the bill will likely be presented to the Legislature for vote in April.

Illustration: Mark Stivers

A 21-day internal-cleansing kit brings acne, migraines and a $275 price tag. Is it worth it for a bikini body?

By Lovelle Harris

Originally published in Sacramento News & Review on 06.16.11

Ah, summer. Time to start thinking about triple-digit weather, trips to the beach and barbecues by the pool, not to mention that one article of clothing that terrifies those of us who have put on a few pounds over the winter months: the bathing suit.

With summer barreling down on me like a stampede of wild horses, I decided to clean up my act and go on an organ-detoxification program. I ordered the 21-day Internal Cleansing Kit produced by the Massachusetts-based medicinal-herb company Blessed Herbs, running $275 online.

The kit promises to nourish, heal and soothe the toxic weary, but the regimen isn’t for the squeamish or undisciplined. The pre-meal capsules can number as many as 10 at a time and resemble something that should be dispensed to the equine set. The herbal elixirs taste eerily like liquefied bark. In order to achieve the highest level of cleanse, the herbalists at Blessed Herbs suggest eliminating dairy products, fried foods, sugar, salt, alcoholic beverages and meat. As if this wasn’t enough of a challenge, my 21-day plan also coincided with my birthday and previously planned trips to Chicago and Las Vegas.

So long, happy hour!

The cleanse also requires plenty of time in the bathroom, between the copious amount of water I am instructed to consume and the recommended three daily bowel movements—aided in part by a component of the cleanse known as the “digestive stimulator.” Better splurge on double-ply toilet paper.

The system is a four-pronged attack on the toxins that ravage and deplete the body. Starting with the digestive system, the first seven days focus on the removal of mucoid plaque—a layer of adhesive, hardened mucus lining the inner walls of the intestine and typically compacted with old fecal matter, bound-up toxic waste and unwanted guests (i.e., parasitic organisms). Ick!

The first week also welcomed my birthday. Devastated by the prospect of no birthday cake, I searched for dining options outside my home that adhered to the strict guidelines of the program—slim pickings in Sacramento. Ultimately, I stumbled across Café Americain in Old Sacramento and found its menu embraces the organic, vegan lifestyle I was now part of. I abstained from the caviar and champagne, but welcomed the succulent, verdant selection of delicate vegetables artistically arranged on a canvas of white porcelain.

Week two of the program ushered in the purification of the body’s major detoxifying organs: the liver and gallbladder. Unfortunately, my second week’s voyage into clean living also brought with it a “health crisis.” It’s a perfectly normal reaction, according to the accompanying literature. My body begged to differ as migraine headaches wracked my brain and lethargy consumed what felt like every muscle, joint and ligament in my body. This just in time for my trips to the Windy and Sin cities. My liver and gallbladder had had enough. Darn you, happy hour!

Chicago, the meat capital of the U.S., is surprisingly vegan-friendly. Thanks to the all-vegetarian Chicago Diner, I have now embraced a new non-meat protein. So long tofu, all hail seitan!

In Las Vegas, I began to doubt I could continue faithfully on my journey to inner cleanliness. I should have known I was in for trouble by the nature of the trip—my cousin’s bachelorette party. There was bottle service at Pure Nightclub. There was the smarmy waiter at Mesa Grill who said to me, after I inquired about amending a dish, “Mr. [Bobby] Flay does not allow any substitutions with his dishes.” I barely made it out of the oasis of debauchery with my mission intact.

Having thoroughly annoyed all of my travel companions, not to mention the pitiable wait staff that had the misfortune of serving me (explaining the cooking techniques, lists of ingredients and subsequent substitutions for any dish that crossed my path), I returned to Sacramento and set out on the third leg of the program. It was time to move on to the body’s oxygenating and purifying organs: the lungs, kidneys and bladder.

Happily, this stage of the cleanse did not bring another health crisis. However, much to my surprise, I began to crave sugar. Ordinarily, I don’t yearn for the sweet stuff, but having completely eliminated it from my diet, my body went into shock. Again, I questioned my ability to forge on. Inspired by the kit’s $275 price tag, I trudged through.

Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly force down another beet, carrot and apple juice for breakfast, I embarked on the fourth and final stage of the cleanse. The focus this time is on the lymphatic system, blood and skin, or what the program calls “the rivers of life throughout the body.” Knowing that in just seven more days I’d have completed the most challenging and rewarding endeavor of my existence, I pressed on.

According to Blessed Herbs, by the time the body moves to the final stage of the program, the blood and lymphatic system is overwrought by a flood of toxins as the other organs flush out their chemicals during the previous phases of cleansing. Luckily, the scourge of acne and red, irritated skin that accompanied this stage soon gave way to clear, radiant skin. Finally able to leave the house without caking on the cover-up, I stopped thinking about investing in Clearasil stock.

While not endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration, the kit lived up to its promise. After completing the program, not only did I feel completely rejuvenated in mind, body and spirit, but I no longer had to pull, squeeze and tug to get into my favorite jeans. While I’m not quite ready to stay the course of a mostly raw, vegan diet, I’m inspired to continue with a more mindful approach to eating. Now, time to go bikini shopping!

By Lovelle Harris

Originally published in Sacramento News & Review on 12.16.10

With the return of the McRib and the appearance of KFC’s Double Down sandwich, consumers are being encouraged to gobble up processed foods in droves—a behavior some experts cite as a surefire way to a personal health crisis.

I decided to take a personal stake in the matter by participating in October: Unprocessed—a challenge set forth by Andrew Wilder in his Eating Rules blog wherein readers were urged to “eat no processed foods whatsoever during the month of October.”

Less than a week into the gig, however, I realized this would involve more than giving up Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. I found myself ill-prepared for the rigors of eating “clean.” So, to others looking to clean up their act, I offer three tips.

For those struggling for a definition, as I initially did, Wilder offers this: Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with whole-food ingredients.

It sounded simple enough; however, out of ignorance, I ate nothing but fruits and vegetables the first two days. By the time day three rolled around, I was a food-deprived, curmudgeonly shell of my former self. Taking to the blog, I discovered I had suffered needlessly, as a bonanza of foods were at my disposal.

First tip: Be sure to do plenty of research prior to engaging in a strict, processed-free food experiment; it just might save you from devouring an entire three-finger filet of beef in a matter of minutes, as I did after having discovered meat and poultry were acceptable.

The second week brought withdrawal-like symptoms—the cause of which I surmised to be from a severe hankering for Mexican food. Having eliminated white flour and table salt from my diet, my mind was aflutter with a chorus of dancing enchiladas. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to satisfy the craving at my favorite taqueria, I took matters into my own hands. After rehydrating the dried chile, blending it into a viscous paste, forcing it through a fine sieve, and assembling a procession of delectable cheese-filled cylinders, my craving was sated—along with any desire to build muscle mass in my right biceps.

Second tip: Be prepared to make just about everything from scratch, eating unprocessed is a laborious endeavor.

As I rummaged through the fridge under cover of night during the last week—cursing its contents with every failed attempt to find an acceptable midnight snack—my mind wandered back to the meal that initiated my search. A dinner engagement, scheduled before my journey into the unprocessed realm, led me to a destination I had avoided for weeks—a restaurant. As I watched my friends merrily guzzle down their pizza, I secretly hated them.

Third and final tip: If you have dinner plans with friends, consider rescheduling.

Despite my exasperation with this exercise in food-based masochism, the experience opened my eyes. I truly had no idea what I had been putting into my body. Yes, I still crave those cheesy bits of Styrofoam-like morsels, but have vowed to limit my intake to one snack-sized bag once in a blue moon.

Nic Offer of !!! rocks the mic at Harlow's in downtown Sacramento Monday, Sept. 13. Photo: Lovelle Harris

Harlow’s crowd welcomes back local band

by Lovelle Harris | Features Editor

Originally published in the Express on 09.21.10

With a Facebook page dedicated to it and its ever-present existence in email, text and instant messages, be wary of the exclamation point and the urge to abuse it because the punctuation police just might come knocking on your door.

For Brooklyn dance-punk rockers !!!, (pronounced Chk Chk Chk) who performed  at the club, Harlow’s, Monday night on Sept. 13, the punctuation police won’t be knocking on their door any time soon because all three exclamation points are necessary in conveying the intense, raw energy they bring to every performance.

Led by the energetic frontman Nic Offer, who cavorted about the stage in tiny blue shorts, dancing wildly and at various points in the performance jumping off stage to interact with the audience, the band turned Harlow’s into a wild and frenetic dance party that left the sweaty crowd begging for more.

The band, while based out of the New York borough, formed in Sacramento in 1996 and the hometown crowd welcomed them back with open arms.

“We only get nervous playing two places,” Offer says. “Sacramento and New York — you don’t want to suck in front of your friends.”

While most of the set was focused on its new release “Strange Weather, Isn’t It?”, the band rounded out the performance by throwing in a few old favorites from their wildly popular third LP “Myth Takes,” sending the crowd into a roaring frenzy with synth-dance tracks like “Must Be the Moon” and “Heart of Hearts.”

Joining Offer on stage was a new vocalist, who Offer introduced simply as Savannah. The leggy brunette took a bit to get into the groove, but managed to complement Offer’s intense energy with a restrained, almost quiet performance.

“Meet Savannah, she just learned these songs on Friday,” Offer shouted. “What the f–k have you done?!”

As the Facebook page says, “You only need one exclamation mark to get your point across. Seriously.” But in the case of Chk Chk Chk, those three punctuation marks are a defining moniker that is synonymous with high energy and good times.

To find out more about the band Chk Chk Chk and its tour, click here .

Jairus Tonel dries his hands and laughs after installing art at another Sacramento gallery, er, bathroom. Photo: Shoka

Fed up with Sacramento’s galleries, Jairus Tonel turns to the toilet

By Lovelle Harris

Originally published in Sacramento News & Review on 05.20.10

A garbage can brimming with soggy, wadded-up paper towels isn’t usually the first thing patrons notice upon entering an art gallery. But, then again, the bathroom at Midtown’s Naked Lounge coffeehouse isn’t your ordinary venue for an art installation.

Eight framed illustrations hover inexplicably on the wall next to the toilet, begging for attention. These paintings were clandestinely hung by local visual artist Jairus Tonel, whose new project challenges both the Sacramento art community and also coffee-shop owners: He’s setting up guerrilla galleries, unnoticed, in coffeehouse bathrooms throughout Sacramento.

“The scene seems like it’s just a big fashion show now,” says Tonel, frustrated. “There’s no venue to show at anymore, and when you try to show in these other galleries, they don’t want to, because, for one, half of us don’t do landscapes.

“[And] landscapes suck.”

Tonel sighs. “How many times can you paint the Valley? How many times can you paint the Sierra Nevadas? How many times do I have to see the old Alhambra Theatre?”

Tonel’s new project, titled The Cobwebs Series, is part of his mission to provide free art to the masses. The work is intellectually engaging, yet humorous. And provocative, of course, because installing art in the toilet tends to shake things up.

A Sacramento transplant by way of the United Kingdom, Tonel arrived on the local scene in 2005 and quickly made a name for himself among locals.

“I have a friend, Joey Miller; she introduced me to the skate scene—and once you know the skate scene, everybody knows everybody.” Tonel recalls. He quickly exhibited some art. “And in that one show, I got introduced to all the friends I have now, and from there it just kind of snowballed.”

Inspired by ’80s cartoons and illustrations from the 1930s and ’40s, Tonel’s work brings a bit of humor. “There’s this painting I did, called ‘24-Hour Party People,’ and it’s a bunch of grown men acting like little kids wearing cargo shorts and pocket pants,” Tonel explains. “Yeah, I think I put it up in one of those bathrooms.”

Tonel’s “guerilla style” art evolved out of a suggestion by artists Jackson and Laura Hayes, who are doing similar things across the pond to beautify depressed and neglected neighborhoods in England. “[But] they do giant walls on buildings,” Tonel says. “They’ll do it without asking the building owners and whatnot, because they’re more lax overseas.”

Tonel says the two encouraged him to do more guerrilla art in Sacto. “I was talking with them, and they’re like, ‘You kind of mentored us, dude, why don’t you do it?’” He was skeptical at first—Tonel would rather sit around “lazing,” his term, watching reruns of The Price Is Right—but eventually he realized the genius of this suggestion. The motivation: He simply had a ton of art filling up his house.

The aptly titled “Democraps” by Jairus Tonel (mixed media on wood). Find it in a bathroom near you? Photo: Shoka

“[It was the] stockpile of work, dude. I just have way too much stuff at home,” Tonel explains. “And there’s just nobody doing anything like this here. I think that if someone does something like that here, it just might ignite somebody to do something else.”

And Tonel insists that you don’t need formal training; he received a degree in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2004, but rejects an arts education. “I don’t think anybody should go to art school,” Tonel says. “You can learn nowadays just hanging out with the right people.”

Critics have referred to Tonel’s art as “a kid messing around with crayons”; Tonel is undeterred and confident in his artistic vision. “I personally don’t care,” he says. “The moment you start thinking and caring about what people think, you’re not doing it for yourself, and you lose the humor in it.

“I like anything that’s humorous. The moment you lose your personality in your work, there’s no point in doing anything else.”

Tonel sits at a small cafe table smoking a Nat Sherman cigarette. His eyes are hidden behind black-and-turquoise-rimmed Ray-Ban sunglasses. After finishing his last drag, he grabs a messenger bag, which is filled with framed prints and industrial Velcro adhesion strips. Casually lifting himself up out of the chair, he saunters sheepishly into the bathroom. No more than three minutes pass, and then he’s out. Success: Tonel’s undercover art installation is complete.

Tonel says Sacramento will not flourish without a strong and passionate arts-scene backbone. “We were at a point five or so years ago where there was a genesis, almost a renaissance, of young painters that were putting out quality work. And it just seems like the city is stopping that from happening.”

Tonel’s new philosophy is to “just put stuff up and let people have it for free,” he explains. “It’s there and, if you want it, you can have it.”

But Tonel says he’s not trying to cheapen or “dummy down” his art by giving it away or exhibiting it in the bathroom. “At the same time, some people don’t know the work is out there. Some people don’t know that humor is out there, or that conversation is out there,” he explains.

The bathroom is one of the few places where people will stop, look and discover.

Tonel strolls down 15th Street and then heads into his studio apartment. He leaves a drink-coaster-sized creation—made of varnished wood and featuring one of his illustrations painted on—as a freebie on the staircase railing.

“I’m all about giving free art to the right people,” explains Tonel, with a wink and a smirk. “If it’s going to a good home, I’m happy.”

Later, Tonel leaves another collection of eight illustrations in the Old Soul Co. coffeehouse bathroom. The work is in his trademark style: zippy caricatures of people and animals, intermixed with provocative one-word messages such as “striptease” and “sex.”

The 28-year-old artist doesn’t deny the thrill. “I won’t lie, there’s a sort of rush to it,” he gushes. “Just like back in the day when everyone used to do graffiti; you know you shouldn’t be doing it, but being self-centered and being pretentious as most painters are, you think what you’re doing is right.”

So the next time you visit the bathroom at one of your favorite Midtown coffee shops, don’t be surprised if you look up and see a collection of quirky illustrations hanging above that musty garbage can in the corner. Just finish your business and enjoy the view.

Originally published in the Express on 04.05.10

Illustration: Daniel Curran

The proposal to bury 250,000 cubic yards of toxic soil, in an effort to cut costs in the embattled Curtis Park Village project, is a disturbing development in the Petrovich Development Company’s plan to convert the old Union Pacific railyard into the mixed-use community composed of residential and commercial properties that has been under debate for more than five years. Ranked as the largest property development company in the Sacramento region the past two years, Petrovich has developed 30 projects totaling 4 million square feet in 11 years.

A festering cesspool of toxic matter has plagued the site of the former Union Pacific railyard behind City College for decades. Activities conducted at the Union Pacific railroad maintenance facility included sandblasting, painting, machining, welding, dismantling and reassembly of trains and rail cars — activities that left toxic materials in the soil.

Citing a changing market and increased cleanup costs, Petrovich proposes to bury the soil, an amount so large it will need a 7-acre hole 20 feet deep to contain it. According to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the toxics in the chasm will be topped with a plastic geomembrane material used for capping buried toxic materials, then covered with 2 feet of clean soil.

Considering the neighboring community of Curtis Park —with some homes over 100 years old — the proposed decision to cover toxic soil, under a park no less, with a cap that has an estimated shelf life of 30 years is not only an irresponsible direction for the land, but it begs the question: Has careful and thoughtful study been completed to determine the safety of such a measure?

Geomembranes are typically designed not to be load bearing, according to a 1997 study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, Petrovich proposes to bury the remaining contaminated soil under the community’s planned 7-acre park.

Loads applied to geomembranes may have large effects on the properties of the liner, according to that same EPA report. The effect of recurring loads, like the construction of a playground, can adversely affect the integrity of the liner material, which could potentially expose people to health risks.

Unknown are the potential risks to those who would play, live or work near the park should this plastic membrane fail. With the health and well-being of the community at stake, the primary contaminant being lead, which interferes with the development of the nervous system and is especially toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning and behavior disorders, this is unacceptable.

Contamination in the soil consists primarily of lead, arsenic, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and cleanup activities have been ongoing since August 2003. According to the DTSC, the cleanups are slated to continue through 2010.

If Petrovich’s plan is approved by the city, those who live and work in the Curtis Park Village development should be able to have confidence that their community is free from environmental toxins. The EPA indicated additional analysis of the reliability of these type of liners use needed to be conducted, it would be wise for Petrovich to conduct an investigation of his own — whatever the cost.

by Lovelle Harris | Print News Editor
Additional reporting by Crystal Anderson

Originally published in the Express on 02.08.10

City College earned the highest rating possible when its status as an accredited institution was reaffirmed recently by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, according to a Feb. 2 announcement by City College President Kathryn Jeffery.

Accreditation, according to the ACCJC’s Web site, is granted to an educational institution that has been found to meet or exceed stated criteria of educational excellence.

“We’ve decided ourselves, as an institution, as a district, that we are going to follow a certain set of standards. It’s a voluntary decision,” said Kelly Irwin, senior IT technician and the classified chair of the Accreditation Steering Committee’s tri-chairs. “What that means for the institution, and for students, is that if we are accredited your units can be transferred to other accredited institutions.”

City College earned the commission’s highest rating of reaffirmation of accreditation, but must submit a follow-up report by March 13, 2011. According to the letter of accreditation issued Jan. 29, the commission recommends the college begin an assessment of student learning outcomes at all levels of instruction in order to meet the standards by 2012.

The process of accreditation involved administrators and the student body.

“Student input was obtained in three ways,” said Marybeth Buechner, City College dean of Planning, Research and Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation Liaison Officer. “Through an opinion survey, by having student input to writing the self-study, and by the visiting accreditation team talking with students.”

The accreditation team visited the City College campus last October and spoke to students about their educational experiences.

According to their report, seven standards were evaluated in the process. From institutional effectiveness to information technology, City College met or exceeded most of the standards. Other recommendations included implementation of a more interactive process to keep the campus informed of capital construction projects, Web site re-design and “implementation of reciprocity of student placement evaluations district wide.”

“If we were to not be reaffirmed all of the units that you just did would be non- existent,” Irwin said. “It’s a big deal.”

“[It’s] sort of like making it legit or something,” said student Priscilla Rincon.