Summer Guide 2013 Arts & Festivals picks

Origami overload!

Despite how simple it looks, origami, the Japanese tradition of paper folding, is incredibly complex and diverse. With more than 140 works by more than 50 international artists, the Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami exhibition at the Crocker Art Museum will impress with feats of design, engineering and technology. Along with paper, there are oragami-related woodblock prints, videos and photo murals. Plus, various programs during the summer include classes, author lectures and concerts that tie in with the show. Besides, the Crocker has a hella good air-conditioning system. Saturday, June 30, through Sunday, September 29, at the Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street; (916) 808-7000; www.crockerartmuseum.org. J.M.

Pop-up yurt goes classy

It’s nonprofit-meets-big budget on Thursday, July 11, when the Verge Center for the Arts, the gritty art gallery and studio, relocates (temporarily!) to team up with the Crocker Art Museum for the Art Mix/Verge Takeover. The event will feature various art installations, including a pop-up exhibit featured in a custom yurt and curated by Verge executive director Liv Moe. There will also be a special self-guided museum tour of photographs and videos depicting artists at work, live music, performance art, and films by Verge artists-in-residence and alumni. It happens from 5 to 9 p.m., and it’s free with museum admission ($5-$10). 216 O Street, www.crockerartmuseum.org; www.vergeart.com. R.L.

History in a shop

From the outside, the Chew Kee Museum Store is a small, rammed-earth building that appears time-worn and dilapidated. Inside, it’s a fascinating ode to an erstwhile community centerpiece. Dr. Yee Fung Cheung opened a practice during the gold rush and used herbs to treat Chinese miners and, later, Chinese rail-yard workers. By the 1880s, Cheung’s practice had given way to Chew Kee, a grocery store (named for its owner who was, reportedly, only known to others by the name of the shop) serving the area’s Chinese community. Eventually, Chew Kee, the proprietor, willed the store to his adopted son Jimmy Chow, who lived there until his death in 1965. Today, the building—still stocked with tiny glass jars of herbs—offers a brief, if illuminating, glimpse into a Fiddletown (and way of life) that no longer exists. Admission is free, but donations are accepted with proceeds going toward its restoration. Open Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. through October; Fiddlletown Road at Jibboom Street, www.fiddletown.info/chewkee.htm. R.L.

Golden suspenders and bonnets

Finally, a festival that the drummer from the Lumineers won’t have to put on a costume for to fit in. Actually, he and his 19th-century-inspired suspenders will be in Delaware with Tom Petty during the Grass Valley Gold Rush Days, but there will still be 1800s-garb wearers aplenty. Costumed merchants will likely be hot and bothered buried inside of voluminous prairie dresses, bonnets and stiff trousers, just like the townsfolk used to be in this old mining town. This inaugural event will feature re-enactments, gold panning and the requisite old-timey photos. It’s on Saturday, June 22, from noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday, June 23, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, and so is parking. While you’re there, set aside time to take a dip in or hike along the South Yuba River, walk across the 1862-built Bridgeport Covered Bridge and dip that pan in the water for some gold, you know, since you have your suspenders and bonnet on anyway. Mill Street in downtown Grass Valley, (530) 272-8315; http://historicgrassvalley.com; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=496. S.