
A Sugar Plum Season
‘The Nutcracker’ is an annual boon for the Sacramento Ballet
Ever wonder about the economics of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s classic 1892 ballet, “The Nutcracker”? The show is far from the only thing a company like the Sacramento Ballet does, but with its ticket sales, it can bankroll much of the rest of the year.

Getting to Know: Tom Meschery
The former basketball pro settles into a peaceful life as a writer in Sacramento’s University Heights
Writer and Sacramentan Tom Meschery is celebrating the recent release of “The Case of the ‘66 Ford Mustang.” The series is set in Oakland, and Meschery draws from his time spent in the Bay Area, which includes playing basketball for the NBA’s Warriors during the 1960s.

Protectors of an Honored Heritage
How Indigenous tribes are using business revenues to maintain and celebrate their cultures
“When you talk about business, ours has allowed us to bring our culture back,” Tayaba notes. “Building our dance arbor, having our ceremonies — obtaining eagle feathers, abalone, clam shells, pine nuts, items that aren’t easily foraged today — it all costs money. Now we hold workshops, classes, dance practices. We’re trying to rebirth weavers, because our grandmothers were weavers.”

With ‘Boulevard Dreams,’ the Sacramento History Museum Focuses on Lowriders — as Cars and as a Cultural Touchstone
A ‘paradigm shift’ for a treasured local institution
More than two dozen 1950s and ‘60s vintage cars were parked in a semi-circle in front of the Sacramento History Museum’s entrance, heralding attendees to enter a world they had likely encountered over the past several decades but may have feared or simply misunderstood.

Sacramento Republic FC Celebrates 10 Years in the State Capital
The soccer club has captured the heart of the region with its successes
While other professional soccer teams have come to town with hype and promise, only to flicker briefly before disappearing — teams like the Gold, Spirits, Geckos, Scorpions, Senators and the Knights — the United Soccer League’s Sac Republic connected with the Capital Region in a major way.

Small-Town Roots and Big Dreams for Amador Arts
Amador County’s arts council looks to the future with rural youth programs, education, advocacy
Driving among the idyllic rolling hills, storied wine country and charming Gold Rush-era towns of Amador County, you might think you’ve stepped back into the past. But one organization in this small rural county is looking to the future — and working to build a sustainable creative economy to meet it.

Book Review: ‘Artists Remaking Medicine’
Health care professionals and artists learn from each other in a new anthology
Just released in September of 2023, this anthology on the intersection of art and medicine offers a poignant look at the history, practice and future of radical creativity in the industry.

Art Exposed: Tracy ‘Indi’ Carlton
Meet the Amador County artist who traded in a 21-year nonprofit career to become a creative expression coach
Tracy Carlton took an unconventional path to her art career, launching a as a creative expression coach and teacher last year following a 21-year career at First 5 Amador, the Amador County branch of the statewide nonprofit commission dedicated to improving early childhood development.

A Fire in the Sky
Family business spotlight: From Macy’s Fourth of July to the Space Needle, Pyro Spectaculars produces more than 400 fireworks shows a year
The show producer opens his laptop, and with a touch of the keyboard the magic begins. Music swells, and a spectacular vision of multicolor sparkling flowers explodes in the night sky, along with golden starbursts and shiny cascading waterfalls.

Mud, Music and the Man
A Sacramento Burner shares thoughts on the community spirit of this year’s rainy Burning Man
While reporters and commentators struggled to understand why
73,000 would choose to isolate — and unintentionally strand —
themselves in the desert, Burners lived out the experiment Black
Rock City was built for.