Two teams from the Pocket Softball League are headed to their age level’s respective Western National Championships, representing the Greater Sacramento Softball Association.

Under the tutelage of volunteer Coach Steve Cobb, the “Pocket Aces” fast pitch team ripped through a two-day, six-game competition in Lincoln, June 23 and 24, and won the ASA Association Championship handily. The team qualified to compete against teams from other California regions at the California State Games in San Diego July 19 to 22.  They now boast a record of 12-0.

Competing in the 10-U, or ‘Mini-Minor’ division, athletes range in age from nine to just-turned eleven and are entering 4th through 6th grade. Selected from four teams, the twelve members of The Aces attend neighborhood schools, including Didion, Matsuyama, Crocker, Sutterville, Bidwell and Leonardo Da Vinci Elementary. They were awarded the Games’ entrance fee, tournament winner t-shirts and medals for their victory in Lincoln.

The California State Games (CalStateGames.org) is a co-ed festival of Olympic-style competition for California’s amateur athletes. The State Games is a community-based member of the United States Olympic Committee and features 25 other sporting events, 22 of which are held in San Diego in July. With an Olympic-style torch run, parade of athletes in Qualcomm Stadium, and similar Olympian pageantry, this is a very exciting opportunity for these neighborhood athletes.

Victory at the San Diego games would lead to participation at the State Games of America in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The 12U Pocket All Stars qualified for the Western National Tournament  on June 23-24. The team took 3rd third place in the ASA Association Championship in Folsom, posting a 4-1 record in the “B” Division.  They logged wins against Elk Grove, Five Cities, Foothill and Roseville, eventually losing to another Elk Grove team in a semi-final game.  The team received a large team trophy and all of the girls received medals.

The Western National Tournament in Salem, Oregon, scheduled for July 30-August 4, will host 50-70 teams. The week-long tournament features an opening ceremony, skill event competition, and pin-trading between teams, in addition to high level fast pitch play.

The twelve girls on this All Star team have only played together for three weeks, but they practice and play hard and have embraced their new roles quickly.  The group is a young 12U team that plays loose and has fun together on and off the field, which is a key to their success.  They continue to improve and push themselves at every practice and game and look forward to the challenge of traveling 540 miles to battle some of the best softball teams in the Western United States.

Since 1969, Pocket Girls Softball has been providing recreational softball playing opportunities for girls, age 4 ½ -16, from Land Park, Pocket, Greenhaven and South Sacramento neighborhoods. As part of the Northern California Girls Softball Association, the nonprofit, volunteer-run Pocket Softball organization depends on support from the community for assistance with the Wenzel field conditions, equipment, umpires, tournament entry fees, underwriting needed player participation, and more.

The League and these teams are actively fundraising for their continued participation at these respective July events. Pocket Softball seeks local business and family sponsorships for $50-$1,000 and is offering promotional opportunities for this and next year.  On July 14, the teams are hosting a Pancake Breakfast with car wash and rummage sale at Caroline Wenzel from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees can enjoy breakfast and some browsing while their car is washed.

As they continue to play weekend tournaments to continue their development, both teams can be found practicing four nights a week at Caroline Wenzel, Pocket Softball’s home field. The public is welcome to come by and see these great athletes hard at work.

To follow their success, Pocket Softball has created a Facebook page and has a website at PocketGirlsSoftball.org.

Sacramento partied like it was 10-10-10 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to celebrate the re-opening of the Crocker Art Museum and the grand opening of its 125,000 square-foot expansion.

Members of the public were treated to a wide variety of multicultural events, as well as a free day to tour the museum.

 

Special to Valley Community Newspapers 

Sacramento - In recognition of the substantial ongoing support of Crocker Art Museum capital campaign co-chairs Mort and Marcy Friedman, the Crocker will name the position of the director in their honor—the Mort and Marcy Friedman Director of the Crocker Art Museum. The Friedmans have not only donated 10 million dollars to the Crocker’s capital campaign, they have inspired the local community to support the Crocker and Sacramento’s growth as a prominent center for arts, culture and education. Both have been active as Board members and have dedicated countless hours to the Museum. 

 

Lial A. Jones, the Mort and Marcy Friedman Director of the Crocker Art Museum, states, “Building a great art museum takes great leaders who possess the vision, determination and action to ensure the goal becomes a reality. The Crocker’s unprecedented campaign success is the result of incredible community leaders. While the Friedmans didn’t seek personal recognition, the Museum wanted to be certain that they were acknowledged and honored. Naming the directorship of the Museum is a way to convey the gratitude we at the Crocker feel for the enormity of the Friedmans’ support. Their passion for the Museum has helped re-shape this institution in a way that will benefit the community for generations to come.”

 

The Friedmans’ tremendous generosity and dedication to the Crocker expansion is testimony to their passionate commitment to enhancing the quality of life for Sacramentans and the standing of the city on the national scene. Their extraordinary contributions to organizations in the region also encompass active support of higher education, which includes funding student scholarships and speaker’s programs at California State University, Sacramento. They are also ardent supporters of Capital Unity Council and Mosaic Law Congregation. Together the Friedmans have been named Sacramentan of the year by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and Philanthropist of the Year by the National Society of Fundraising Executives.

Special to Valley Community Newspapers 

Sacramento – The Crocker Art Museum has received a gift of 37 works by ceramist Rob Barnard, one of the foremost practitioners of the wood-fired tradition. The collection, given by Rob Wood, brings to the Museum a fully developed view of Barnard’s studio practice up to the present. This generous gift enhances the Crocker’s ceramics holdings, contributing to its status as an international destination for the research and exhibition of contemporary ceramics.

 Collector Rob Wood first became aware of Barnard’s work in 1988 and met Barnard later that year during the artist’s solo exhibition at Washington, D.C.’s Anton Gallery.  Wood has been collecting Barnard’s work since that time. “What struck me about Barnard’s work then, and continues to resonate with me today, is just how complex ‘simple’ can be,” Wood said. “Barnard’s work is the physical manifestation of that riddle. It is everything the early 21^st century is not—profoundly minimal, quiet and restrained—yet it is also unmistakably a product of our time.”

 

Barnard began studying pottery at the University of Kentucky in 1971. He went on to study under the distinguished Kazuo Yagi at Kyoto University of Fine Arts in 1974. He has participated in numerous juried and solo exhibitions in the United States and Japan. Currently, he is a lecturer in ceramics at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

 

“We are deeply appreciative of Mr. Wood’s generosity in making this gift to the Crocker Art Museum,” said Diana L. Daniels, associate curator, Crocker Art Museum. “Rob Barnard has been an influential maker, author, and advocate for ceramics appreciation. This gift makes us the first major museum to receive a thoughtfully developed survey of Barnard’s production.” An exhibition and catalogue of Barnard’s work is being planned.

 

“As one of the premier institutions in the United States committed to the field of international ceramics, the Crocker Art Museum is the obvious choice for this gift,” said Wood.

 

On October 10, 2010 the Crocker Art Museum will celebrate the public opening of its dramatic 125,000-square-foot expansion designed by Charles Gwathmey and Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects. The new Teel Family Pavilion complements the 125-year-old Crocker’s historic structures and more than triples the museum’s current size, enhancing its role as a cultural and educational resource for Sacramento and California’s many visitors. Extensive new galleries enable the Crocker to present an expanded program of traveling exhibitions and exhibit significantly more of its permanent collection, which has grown by more than 4,000 objects in the past decade.

Everyone deals with a traumatic event differently. Some get depressed, others get angry while some shut down completely. For East Sacramento resident Jeff Mains, he found art to be his coping mechanism.

On September 10, 2001, Mains was shot in the abdomen by Joseph Ferguson, who killed five people and then himself in one of the most horrific rampages in Sacramento history.

“I just got caught in the crossfire when he was shooting at the police,” Mains said. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Understandably, the event caused Mains’ life to flip upside down.

He moved to Napa for three years to recover from his injuries, both physically and mentally, as well as work.

“(Napa) was a nice place to be,” he said. “But I was at a crossroads in my life.”

The time he spent in Napa gave him time to reconnect with drawing, a passion that lay dormant since high school. He drew a lot as a child but never considered it to be something he could do for a living.

“Half the time in school I was drawing instead of listening,” he joked. “But I kind of lost direction after high school.”

After he recovered from his injuries, Mains moved back to Sacramento. He went on to get a job at the Crocker Art Museum where he worked for three years. His passion for the arts continued to grow and his work at Crocker qualified him for a new job.

“A friend of mine at Crocker introduced me to Dave DeCamilla (owner of the Brickhouse Gallery & Arts Complex) and it just kind of went from there,” he said.

 

Life at the Brickhouse

Three months ago Mains was hired as the gallery director of the Brickhouse in East Sacramento. And if Mains has his way, the Brickhouse will become a shining example of Sacramento’s burgeoning art community.

“We have pretty much everything on display here,” he said when asked what kinds of art can be found at the Brickhouse. “I would say that it’s borderline abstract with paintings using all kinds of materials.”

Mains’ vision of what the Brickhouse could eventually be has impressed DeCamilla. “Before Jeff was here we had some people that were talking about art more than they were making it,” DeCamilla said. “We had all kinds of noise and parties but no real body of work.”

The talent currently on display has Mains excited about the future of art not only at the Brickhouse, but in the Sacramento area.

“I think people who come in and look at the pieces we have in here will come away with an understanding that the art is pretty raw and that the place has a positive energy,” he said. “I want the place to give off a strong vibe of the local art community.”

Along with the pieces that can be enjoyed from the perspective of an art-lover, the Brickhouse also offers classes as well as studio space to perspective artists. Move quick, though. Eight of the nine workspaces were taken as of Monday.

“We’re going to try to have classes for all kinds of art,” Mains said. “Oil painting, charcoal drawing and mixed media as well.”

And while Mains himself is an artist, none of his works adorn the gallery walls. Instead, Mains’ paintings, which he calls “representational with a twist of impressionist,” are often given away to interested parties. However, all the art in the Brickhouse is for sale. According to Mains the prices vary but nothing inside the shop is outrageously priced.

The Brickhouse participates in Second Saturday festivities, which has brought people in the doors to see the raw works of the talented local artists.

“We have all kinds of finger foods available for people who want to walk through and look at everything during Second Saturday,” he said. “People can walk through workspaces and we’re trying to get to the point where we have demonstrations in the gallery such as ice sculpting.”

While the Second Saturday event is a good way to bring people in the door, Mains wants to eventually host events specific to the Brickhouse. “I’d like to mix it up in terms of the art we have here,” he said. “Different people enjoy different types of art and I think we can provide that.”

The Brickhouse Gallery & Arts Complex is located at 2837 36th Street. For more information on the gallery, its works and operating hours, call 457-2502 or email art@brickhouseoakpark.com. The gallery’s Web site can be viewed at www.brickhouseoakpark.com.

 

E-mail Benn Hodapp at benn@valcomnews.com.

It is said that great cities have great museums. If that is so, one might also postulate that great communities have great museums. The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, as the first art museum established in the Western U.S., is greater than the sum of its parts. It is both a great city museum and a great regional museum.

A $100 million expansion project, slated for completion next October, will permanently establish the Crocker as a museum of national significance for generations to come. A brilliantly conceived “classic contemporary” structure by the late architect Charles Gwathmey, the expansion will improve visitor amenities, enhance museum operations and provide new resources for collections care. The project also ensures that the Crocker Art Museum, founded in 1885, will enjoy another 125 years of inspiration and education.

The numbers are impressive. The new Crocker expansion adds some 125,000 square feet to the existing museum. The structure will contain: 8,200 square feet of glass, in the form of windows that feature views that highlight the beauty of the original Crocker and the natural beauty of Sacramento’s many trees. The exterior will be covered by 4,000 aluminum panels and 4,500 zinc panels. Underlying it all at the foundation, some 320 auger-cast piles were driven 60 feet deep to support the three-story structure.

Spacious new galleries already have 15 skylights specially designed to let in natural light – but without its destructive effects.

There is 12,000 square feet of exhibition space to display works of art.

“Not only will we have the ability to host some of the larger traveling art exhibits, we will be able to display some of the more massive works of art that were originally intended for display in grand homes or castles,” said Kathleen Richards, marketing communications coordinator for the Crocker. “These pieces can be very tall. The new expansion has spaces where these art works will be able to be seen and appreciated.”

A 7,000 square foot open air courtyard at the new museum entrance will allow the Crocker to host more than 1,200 people at outdoor events. The design of the courtyard allows visitors to enjoy and appreciate the architectural styles of both structures. A beautiful two-story atrium will have the capability of seating 400 for dinners. There is a 250 seat auditorium for presentations and educational events. There is handicapped access throughout. And – the new facilities will be available for special events, making Sacramento now capable of hosting some national cultural events.

“All of us at the Crocker are very excited to serve our community in ways that literally weren’t possible before and to be an even more integral part of civic life in Sacramento and the region,” said Lial Jones, museum director.

“This is an exhilarating time for the city of Sacramento, and the Crocker Art Museum’s expansion exemplifies the changes taking place,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. “The museum is vital to the region’s cultural and economic development, and the new Crocker is an important icon for Sacramento’s ongoing emergence as a cultural destination and a world-class city.”

 

The new Crocker

There will be more to the Crocker’s expansion than the 14,000 cubic yards of concrete and 1,400 tons of steel that make up its infrastructure.

“This will be one of the largest venues in Sacramento, if not the largest,” Richards said. “Hospitals and museums are the most expensive structures to build, due to the massive amount of infrastructure that is required. The building has to be able to withstand having many people visit it every day, year after year. The walls have to be able to bear the weight of heavy artwork. There has to be climate control and light control to preserve the art, and so on.”

Visitors will be able to walk up to windows on the first floor that look into the conservation area. It will be an opportunity for everyone, from school children to adults, to learn about the science of preserving art.

“Conservation is a very interesting field,” Richards said. “You have to have a master’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in art. The conservation center will enable us to provide better collections care and restoration, as well as education.”

The museum staff will have something they have never had before: ample modern office space. Located on the third floor, the architect’s design provides each worker with desk space and personal space, while opening the larger space to the eye.

The opening of the new facility is planned for Oct. 10. The Crocker plans a series of special exhibitions that will feature highlights of the museum’s permanent collection. Many pieces have never been displayed to the public before.

The Crocker’s expansion is supported by a $100 million capital campaign. More than $90 million has been raised to date. The campaign has received generous donations of $1 million or more. The new wing of the museum will be named the Teel Family Pavilion in recognition of a lead gift from the Joyce and Jim Teel Family Foundation. Building on this success, the museum is launching a broad-based fund-raising and member campaign.

 

E-mail Susan at susan@valcomnews.com.

 

Crocker Art

The Crocker Art Museum is located at 216 O Street in downtown Sacramento. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors 65 and better, $3 for students with a valid ID and free for children ages six and under. Thanks to a generous grant from Bank of America, admission is free on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with extended hours on first and third Thursdays until 9 p.m.

For more information about the Crocker, call (916) 808-7000 or visit www.crockerartmuseum.org.