Arts DEVOté

Making the grade?
Hey Chico State, it’s the last week of the school year (before finals). How’d you do? Arts DEVOté was looking back at his (and Arts Editor Mark Lore’s) beginning-of-the-school-year arts recommendations, and he decided to add up what was actually provided for us by that list of busy local arts providers for the past nine months. The results, as you will see, are astounding.

Inhale … There were 53 Chico Performances; 30-or-so AS Presents presentations; 10 North Valley Productions; 315 live music shows listed on ChicoList.com; 25 Sierra Nevada Big Room shows; 10 Blue Room plays; six Rogue Theatre productions; probably 40 Pageant films and another 20 (decent) ones at Cinemark; 14 plays between the Chico Cabaret and Chico Theater Company; 54 student/faculty-created presentations from the School of the Arts; 75 art shows, lectures, readings and films hosted by the Humanities Center; nine Art First Saturdays (featuring, on average, 30 art galleries, half of which had at least one new show per month—meaning at least 135 different exhibitions); a couple dozen more art shows on the Chico State campus; not to mention Artoberfest, Open Studios Tour, the CAMMIES Awards Show and a bunch of Crux Artist Collective and Chikoko art happenings. Or, about 800 legitimate, original art experiences to choose from over 38 weeks.

That’s more than TWENTY(!!!) choices EVERY SINGLE WEEK! Choices that are in addition to your parties, holidays, pickup basketball, music downloading, plein air painting, farmers markets, Bidwell Park hikes, river floats, burrito lunches, disc golf, beer pong, band practice, road trips, camping, coffee-shop chilling, happy-hour chilling, work, school, sex and/or sleep.

If you were completely insane and could actually fit in something every night of the week, you’d still only witness one-third of the art Chico offers. If you went out four times a week in search of creative stimulus, you’d still only catch one-fifth of Chico’s program. With his packed schedule of work, school, wife, family, friends, playing music, reading, writing, listening to new music, NBA basketball, American Idol and semi-regular time on the treadmill, A.D. is lucky if he can fit in more than one art experience per week. So, even the guy with “Arts” as a first name missed at least 90 percent of the art, music, film and theater that Chico had to offer this school year.

No one in Chico is ever again allowed to say, “There’s nothing to do in Chico.” Dig?

Extra credit
In case that wasn’t enough, here’s yet another new venue to add to Chico’s list. The folks down at Chico Imports have added Felver’s Corner (196 E. 15th St.) to their auto compound. It’s an art and antique gallery featuring works from the collection of Stan and Marie Felver, plus rotating monthly exhibits. Featured for the opening are the human figure studies of Angela Buckner, Sat., May 24, 7-10:30 p.m., and Sun., May 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Bi-weekly Devotions

• City of Chico arts meetings (in City Council Building): Public Art Policy (May 15 and 22, 5 p.m.).

• DaDa Art Education Club of CSU, Chico: A DaDa exhibition in the BMU’s Third Floor Gallery featuring works by future art instructors—Ends Fri., May 23!

• Wine and Art: The ARC’s 3rd Street Gallery hosts its monthly wine tasting/art reception Fri., May 16, 5-7 p.m.

• Artoberfest program: Go to www.artoberfest.org and get your arts organization listed in the annual arts celebration’s program—deadline is June 20.