Arts Devo

Don’t wait for art There is nothing Arts DEVO enjoys more than sharing his excitement over new work by local artists he loves, and over the past year or so I’ve loved the wild, fun art of local collage-maker Molly Amick more than nearly everything I’ve seen in town. So, I’m especially stoked about her upcoming blowout—Paper Art Collage—at Beatniks Coffee House for the month of March. The pieces I’ve seen so far (such as “The Ferryman,” with a deer-headed skeleton dude canoeing through a dark water-garden) are out-of-this-world.

Those who know her already know that Amick has been living (“really well,” she says) with breast cancer, and she expects that this is probably her last art show in Chico. The retired family practice and psychiatric nurse practitioner is now in hospice care, but Amick says she’s looking forward to joining her family and the “always wonderful and inspirational Chico community” to celebrate the show during the reception this Sunday, March 4, noon-3 p.m. I encourage everyone who knows Amick and everyone who loves art and the people who make it to show up for what promises to be a very special event.

Paradise songbird Big props to Amber Sauer, the Paradise-raised musician who made it to the tryouts for the new season of the singing competition show The Voice on NBC. Now living in Los Angeles, Sauer is part of the pool of singers in the first “blind auditions” phase of the show, and her audition could potentially be on any of the first six episodes (Mondays and Tuesdays, 8 p.m., through March 12). As of press time, Sauer had yet to appear on the televised broadcast; tune in the next two weeks to see if she makes the cut.

Here to entertain you Hey, would you look at that! New CN&R staff writer Ashiah Scharaga is the lead in a local musical, starring as Doralee (the Dolly Parton character) in Chico Theater Company’s production of 9 to 5. The CN&R has a long history of employing creative types who live second lives as part of the fertile local art scene, and we now have two more: Scharaga, a singer with impressive pipes (which she’ll need to hit Dolly’s notes), who’s been in previous CTC shows as well as musical productions of the Uncle Dad’s Art Collective; and Nate Daly, our new calendar editor, rad dude and drummer for a range of local bands, including garage-punk duo Sex Hogs II, rock quartet Royal Oaks and (formerly with) sludge-metal crew Amarok.

You can catch Scharaga during opening night of 9 to 5, Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m.

Up on creepy creek Nothing out of the ordinary here. Just a random creepy head on a stake down by the creek. Carry on, Chico.