Artober Arts Picks

Back on the horse

Saddle Up & Paint

When two nonprofits team up for a single fundraiser, it’s bound to be greater than just the sum of its parts. Such is the case with La Raza Galeria Posada and the Sacramento Police Mounted Association’s Saddle Up & Paint event on Saturday, October 5. It’ll offer Dia de los Muertos sugar-skull and mask-painting workshops for the kids, the presentation of two new saddles to the SPMA, barbecue, and live music with the Josh Macrae Band and the College Fund Band. Have fun, help raise funds for Sacramento police horses and scholarships for children’s arts-education programs. Noon to 4 p.m.; $10 suggested donation, free for kids ages 12 and younger. La Raza Galeria Posada, 2700 Front Street; (916) 446-5133; www.lrgp.org. J.M.

This is your art on acid

Night

Get ready to feel like you’re on psychedelics when you peep this show, because Jose Di Gregorio and Jared Tharp aim to stimulate your visual system and trip you out. With Night on display this month at Bows & Arrows, Di Gregorio (whose work is pictured above, top right) continues his Sacred Geometry series of rainbow-hued combos of outer space and precise line work. Tharp also works the optical-geometry vein, but takes inspiration from more Earthbound sources: 1980s skate graphics and animation. Tharp says that he and Di Gregorio are aiming for an “overall hypnotic and visceral effect.” The opening reception is on Friday, October 4, from 6 to 9 p.m.; show ends Thursday, October 31. 1815 19th Street, (916) 822-5668, www.bowscollective.com. B.G.

Lose yourself

Loose Ends

Featured artist Birgitta Franzen-McCarthy, who signs her work under the name “Bittan,” works mostly from nature and scenes outdoors. Lose yourself in her “action paintings,” and feel the branches swaying in the wind. A new exhibit at the Axis Gallery, Loose Ends, highlights her work, including the abstract pieces that Franzen-McCarthy says were inspired by observing the fluid changes of her natural subjects. Loose Ends opens on Saturday, October 5, and runs through Sunday, October 27. The Second Saturday reception happens on October 12, from 6 to 9 p.m. 1517 19th Street, (916) 443-9900; www.axisgallery.org. C.D.

All in the family

Eames Generations: A Legacy of California Design

Following in their family’s acclaimed footsteps, Lucia Eames and Llisa Demetrios, daughter and granddaughter of legendary California designers Charles and Ray Eames, have forged their own path in the art community. Now The California Museum has honored them with an exhibition, the aptly titled Eames Generations: A Legacy of California Design, which runs through December 1. Staying true to their California roots, Eames, who created the 92-foot-tall “Wind Harp” in South San Francisco, designs functional indoor and outdoor pieces laser-cut in metal, and Demetrios, who creates large-scale sculptures out of bronze, hammers out her creations in their shared studio space in Sonoma County. Admission is $6-$8.50, free for children 5 and under. The California Museum, 1020 O Street; (916) 653-7524; www.californiamuseum.org. L.H.