Arts DEVO

Mad Max Chico needs Max Infeld. My favorite local conceptual artist/shit-stirrer has raised his art bar with some mischievous spoofery of the popular Chico icons print series of both Jake Early and Aye Jay Morano. Infeld’s Is Chico Our Hometown? project features the landmarks that Chicoans don’t bring up in conversations about their hometown, but are no less present than our beloved Thunderbird and water towers. The series features 24 different locations—from Olive Garden to Walgreens—and each 8-1/2 by 5-inch print sells for only $10 (available at chicoourhometown.com).

“My idea was that Chico is becoming less ours, and more corporate,” said Infeld about his motivations for the think piece. “There’s nothing wrong with these corporations, until we start running out of options.”

What we need is… a Chico State art walk. Given the fact that the Art First Saturday art walk happens on a day of the week that Chico State is not open for business, some of the most compelling art in town is consistently left out of the fun. Let’s not wait for someone to figure this out. Just pick a weekday this month (I’m guessing weekdays during next week’s spring break would be a bad choices though), and go see the following offerings. You don’t even need a stinkin’ map—just go wander around the campus:

Hanna Hechler’s Once Upon a Time in the BMU’s Third Floor Gallery; Flash in the Spirit: The Music of Africa and Beyond in the Museum of Anthropology; BARE: Women’s Images in Print group show at the Janet Turner Print Museum; Lynn Criswell’s Selected Works and Kathleen Nartuhi’s To Map the Inner See at the Humanities Center Gallery; and Face: Contemporary Chinese Artists group show at the University Art Gallery.

Film festivities Up in Sundial Bridge, Calif., the beautifully restored Cascade Theatre will be hosting the first Sundial Film Fest this weekend (March 13-15). The schedule includes a documentary of the building of the Sundial Bridge (Friday); showing of the entries (Saturday and Sunday); and a gala reception/awards ceremony (Saturday). Go to sundialfilmfestival.com for more deets.

Planning ahead The days are longer and spring is already in the air. Time to start thinking about what glorious, and at times befuddling, live music performances will be taking place in and around Chico in the coming months. A sampling: J-Max Productions really mixes things up with a busy spring schedule that includes blues legend Robert Cray (El Rey Theatre, April 6), prog-metal originators Queensryche (Senator Theatre, April 19), and indie singer/songwriter M. Ward (Senator, May 18); Chico Performances winds down the semester with Malian super stud Habib Koité (Laxson Auditorium, April 4) and Chico fave Joe Craven opening for Laura Love and Orville Johnson (Harlen Adams Theatre, April 30); L.A. experimental punks The Mae Shi and U.K. noisemakers PRE join forces at TiON (April Fool’s Day); North Valley Productions brings legendary songwriter J.J. Cale to Paradise Performing Arts Center (April 14); Fugazi bassist Joe Lally drops in at Café Coda for a solo show (April 24); and with the Silver Dollar Fair comes none other than Brit/Aussie soft-rock icons Air Supply (May 20).

DEVOtions
&149; Clark Brown: Reading and signing of Brown's new book Down in the Valley Thursday, March 12, 7 p.m., at Lyon Books.

&149; These Are Powers: NYC experimenters (feat. ex-Liars bassist Pat Noecker) are joined by Dr. Yes! and The Amblers at TiON Thursday, March 12, 9 p.m.

&149; Ailey II: Chico Performances brings renowned dance company to Laxson Friday, March 15, 7:30 p.m.