![Pandemic delays led to a glut of weddings in 2022, filling up the calendar at the Lake at Apple Hill and other local venues. (Photo courtesy of the Lake at Apple Hill)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0623_feat_weddings_courtesy_lead.png?1687544435)
Getting Back to the Happiness Business
Capital Region wedding venues share lessons learned from the pandemic years
After more than a year of canceled or postponed nuptials in 2020 and 2021, last year saw a wedding boom as many of those couples finally took their vows, spurring opportunities for growth and renewed hope for wedding venue owners across the Capital Region.
![Topstitch owners Mallory Maupin and Samuel Rose teach workshops, fulfill custom orders, consult on product development and work on their own projects in their new Midtown shop. (Photo by Miranda Culp)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/img_0838.png?1685654956)
Getting to Know: Mallory Maupin and Samuel Rose
Local fashion duo launches Topstitch, a production house for education, design and manufacturing in Sacramento
In their brightly lit, smartly appointed shop in Midtown, Topstitch owners Mallory Maupin and Samuel Rose teach workshops, fulfill custom orders, consult on product development and work on their own projects.
![Rinabeth Apostol plays Afong Moy in Capital Stage’s production of “The Chinese Lady,” based on the story of the first documented Chinese woman to come to the United States. (Photo by Charr Crail | Courtesy of Capital Stage)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/the_chinese_lady_img_6294_edited.png?1684503112)
That’s Show Business
The complex economy behind the Capital Region’s thriving local theater scene
COVID-19 exposed the stark realities of the precarious economic state of the theater industry, but even regular theatergoers may not look past the glamour and drama of live theater to the grit, sweat and dollars that go into it.
![Davis-based artist Betty Nelsen is planning to move to a Buddhist community after a lifetime devoted to art. (Photos courtesy of Betty Nelsen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/betty_at_show.png?1684549320)
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.
![A mural of Betty Inada by artist Shaun Burner is painted on the side of the Bryant Christie offices in Midtown Sacramento. (Photo by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0523_blog_inada.png?1684295157)
A Japantown Jazz Star Comes Home
1936 film starring Sacramento-born singer Betty Inada is screened in Sacramento
Betty Inada, a Japanese American jazz singer born in Sacramento in 1913, sought fame in Japan in a time when American screens and stages had little space for Asian women.
![Beti Masenqo is a singer and songwriter who was born in Ethiopia and now lives in Sacramento. (Photo by Miranda Culp)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/img_0582.png?1681832493)
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.
![A 175-foot Golden Dragon, carried by members of nearby Beale Air Force Base, closed the Bok Kai Festival parade at the intersection of 1st and D streets in Marysville Feb. 25. Senior Airman Zoey Martins held the “pearl” during the dragon dance, a mystical object the dragon chases in the continuous pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/kai_temple_dragon.png?1681258133)
Bok Kai Temple in Marysville Preserves Centuries of Culture
The temple is one of the oldest Taoist places of worship in the country
The temple and museum is usually a quiet respite for visitors, open by appointment only. But during one weekend, the serenity is replaced by bursts of firecrackers and thousands of visitors attending the Bok Kai Festival weekend, honoring Bok Eye.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/heavier_than_air_last_day_of_exhibition_2.png?1680715693)
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.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/comstocks_mag_illustration_spread.png?1679937995)
Cultural Capital
Who benefits from arts and culture in the Capital Region, and who owns it?
Some members of the arts sector experience instability due to a lack of ownership in the creative movements they build. A year out from pandemic reopenings, city and state programs are supporting artists in unprecedented ways — but the relief is temporary.
Sponsored
![Pictured [L-R]: Stephanie L’Estrange, IIDA, CID, Director of Interior Design; Lauren Wagner, CID, LEED GA, Lead Interior Designer; Linda Taylor, AIA, LEED AP, Founder, Taylor Design; Caitlin Stevenson, AIA, Assoc. DBIA, Project Director / Office Leader, Sacramento; Claudia Mendizabal, AIA, CID, NCIDQ, LEED AP BD+C, Project Manager; Teresa Endres, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, AAH, Medical Planning Director](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_gtp5642.jpg?1677710631)
TAYLOR DESIGN
LINDA TAYLOR’S LEGACY LIVES LARGE IN LEADING DESIGN FIRM
In honor of women’s history month, Taylor Design is reflecting on our legacy as one of the earliest female-founded U.S. architecture firms. Nearly 45 years after Linda Taylor set out on her own, we proudly carry on her tradition of 100-percent employee ownership in an organization with more than 50 percent female employees.