
Art Exposed: Carrie Hennessey
The vocalist, instructor and writer emphasizes positive energy and risk-taking, whether onstage or coaching others
Carrie Hennessey has been known to belt out a tune while walking her dogs outside of her South Natomas home, but the neighbors in this otherwise quiet neighborhood don’t seem to mind. She picked up the moniker “Opera Mom” while her two children (now in their 20s) were in elementary school, but there is a lot more to her.

Art Exposed: Betty Nelsen
On the art of how to look in the mirror
In revisiting her early self-portraits, Betty Nelsen has zeroed in on the strongest elements, cropping the drawings into pages that will go into a series of handmade books.

Art Exposed: Beti Masenqo
The musician-singer-songwriter blends folk and rock with the Ethiopian songs of her childhood
When she performs, singer and songwriter Beti Masenqo leaves this earthly plane in a way that seems entirely effortless.

Art Exposed: Summer Ventis
Artist and Sacramento State educator tackles the individual and collective trauma of the pandemic
With her recent exhibition “Heavier Than Air,” artist Summer Ventis encouraged viewers to externalize their held breaths by inflating a balloon.

Art Exposed: Neighbor Program
Founders of Oak Park’s Neighbor Program promote community healing through art
Art has been used to capture the moments in society that have
forever altered the course of history, and to translate complex
emotions. With this philosophy, two artists and educators formed
a community healing practice.

Art Exposed: Vincent Pacheco
A graphic artist blurs art and design and plays with the cultural language of piñatas
The artist builds piñatas in various forms of cultural artifacts. Each is a temporary monument to family, identity and cultural heritage.

Art Exposed: Unity Lewis
A curator, artist and musician carries the legacy of his grandmother’s groundbreaking work documenting the Black experience
Unity Lewis recently curated a series at Crocker Art Museum that brought his grandmother’s book into the three-dimensional world by pairing works of artists from previous generations with their modern counterparts who will carry the torch.

Art Exposed: Diana Ormanzhi
A Sacramento artist reinterprets surrealism through a feminist lens
At Twisted Track Gallery in Sacramento, which recently emerged as
a keystone of the thriving R Street art scene, one wall is
devoted to a triptych of the feminine divine.

Art Exposed: Celeste Perez
Multimedia artist Digital Mami paints the town pink
To Celeste Perez, who goes by Digital Mami, urban scenes are
canvases waiting to be glossed up by saturated color and saucy
sayings.

Art Exposed: Donco Tolomanoski
Collage artist helps upcycle monthly art events into new vision
As lead organizer of WAL’s First Friday events, the collage
artist is focusing less on the “party” aspect and more
on the artists and their work.