Arts Devo

Dollar rap Arts DEVO and the poodle Honey were walking the downtown lunch loop last week and unbeknownst to us, it was Freestyle Friday. Luckily, we ran into Waldough West on the corner of Second and Broadway and he was offering up raps for cash. I had $1, and in exchange, the Sac MC spit about a minute of smooth freestyle and gave Honey some dap as we went on our way. His best line? “I went to rehab to relax/when I got out I relapsed.” Dang, wish I’d had more cash on me. Stay strong, WW. #freestylefridayforeva

Out with the old art The Beatles mural is gone. Many people are pissed about it. Personally, I always thought it was kind of cheesy to have a copy of a British band’s album cover on a Chico wall. It was an advertisement for the different music stores that used to occupy the Main Street space, but its emergence as an iconic local mural never made sense to me. Now, if it had been a painting of some local musicians—maybe local faves the Mother Hips—I’d be on board. Downtown bar kingpin Will Brady’s latest venture is going in on the other side of the now blank wall, and he says a new, different mural will be put up in its place. Might I suggest an extended Mount Rushmore of Chico tunesmiths? How about Tim Bluhm, Moriss Taylor, Barbara Manning, Danny Cohen and Sourdough Slim? I’d bet the original mural’s artist, Gregg Payne, would be down for the commission!

In with the new art Some fresh art in our little city this week:

• Art at the Upper Crust: Badass local photographer and heavy-metal videographer Michelle Camy also dabbles in other media, and a new show of her painted and silk-screened works is on display at the downtown cafe. My fave is probably “Amaraok Wolf” (No. 2 in a series of four), a print on wood of a striking woman-and-wolf portrait. Exhibit shows through May.

• Art at the Municipal Building: A new César Chavez painting just went up in the lobby of the third floor of City Hall. “Si, Se Puede” (“Yes, you can”), by Will Mobley and Shannon “Shay” Taylor—was painted as part of J. Pouwels’ public mural course at Chico State and features the labor leader’s portrait against a backdrop of farm fields, the university campus and the black eagle of the United Farm Workers flag.

• Art at the Matador: Once again, Mrs. DEVO and I found more amazing art than we could afford at the annual art expo. The best were the incredible, magical woodprints of local artist David Plant. We settled on only one—“The Tree of Life” (other versions were titled “The Secret Garden”) with birds and butterflies and a dignified owl enjoying the fruits of a big tree—but I need more. I have my eye on a big Noah’s Ark piece with a spouting white whale swimming alongside. Find “David Plant Art” on Facebook.