Jun 28, 2026
Dr. Steven Taggart spent nearly 50 years practicing family and emergency medicine. Based in Atwater, he trained physician assistants and nurse practitioners from UC Davis and helped open rural health clinics throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
With the stress of his profession, the retired clinician and educator needed time away from medicine. Decades ago, Taggart turned to photography.
“It was an escape for me from the high tension of being a family practice person and having 50 employees at one point,” Taggart, 74, says of his hobby.
Jun 28, 2026
Clay bowls, cups, vessels and vases crowd open shelving. Some of the ceramic pieces are finished with swirling earth-toned glazes. Others await their turn in a kiln.
Buckets of home-mixed glazes line one wall from top to bottom. Ceramicist tools and art supplies fill plastic bins. Pottery wheels sit side by side, adjacent to long high-top working tables.
23C Studio is a ceramic arts cooperative tucked away in a warehouse at 23rd and C streets in Midtown. The space is dusty and rustic, open to the weather, no air conditioning and limited heating. But the studio is fully equipped for wheel throwing and hand building, creating and collaborating.
May 28, 2026
If Kate Farrall has her way, there will be no more starving artists.
As a visual artist, Farrall knows it’s hard to make a living. But as an experienced marketer and art business coach, she also knows the right tools and skills make all the difference.
“So many artists are so capable,” she says. “We can build walls, put colors together and problem-solve like nobody’s business. All of those skills are very transferrable.”
Farrall built her skills through school and various jobs. She majored in art history and photography in Maryland and worked at a Baltimore art gallery.
After grad school at California College of the Arts, she got a marketing job. A career path quickly came together.
Apr 28, 2026
Camille VandenBerge’s sculptures seem to step from a story in progress. Elongated figures tilt their heads, lift an arm or lean toward an unseen companion. They are human yet otherworldly, poised between motion and stillness, imagination and memory. Listen close. Their presence begins to speak.
“Words are not my medium,” VandenBerge says. “Clay is and paint is.”
That instinctive clarity guides her life’s work. VandenBerge grew up in a household where art was a daily language, not an extracurricular activity. She’s the daughter of ceramic sculptor Peter VandenBerge, a respected figure in Sacramento’s nationally influential clay community.
Mar 28, 2026
Valene Byrd is all about helping with art. She’s the founder of ART-TISM, a nonprofit that provides art activities, resources and advocacy for children on the autism spectrum and their families.
ART-TISM started as an act of love for Byrd’s son, Mateo. During the pandemic, longtime teacher Byrd transformed her living room into a classroom for Mateo, now 11, who has autism.
She worried about the impact of isolation and wanted him ready to transition back to the classroom. Byrd reserved half a wall for Mateo’s art. At the end of the year, the wall was full of his drawings.
Mar 1, 2026
For Luis-Genaro Garcia, art is more than pretty pictures. It’s social. It’s political. And everyone should see themselves reflected in it.
“As a teacher, I wanted to change the (school) experience for students who are creative,” the Sacramento State University assistant art professor says. “So I started developing projects where students were not only going to see themselves but also be able to make connections to what’s going on in their own communities.”
