Chico State School of the Arts presented Keep Chico Creative on Thursday night downtown at the Farmer’s Market.
The idea behind Keep Chico Creative is to encourage and inspire creativity in the community by showcasing the work of local musicians and artists, and allowing the organizations in Chico’s art community to engage and inform community members.
The event featured live music from local bands including Dakota Cree.
Community members of all ages enjoyed live music as they explored booths run by different artistic groups in Chico.
There was a printmaking station run by Chico States’ Print Club, where people could pick an image and watch as a member printed it onto paper right in front of their eyes.
The Print Club, a growing student organization, does regular print and T-shirt sales as well as commissions for other groups on campus, but for the event, they gave away prints of choice for free.
Bringing printing out to the Thursday Night Market allows the club to really show people what printmaking is, said Hayden Senter, a senior bachelor of fine arts major and member of the Print Club.
The members can bring people into the studio process with the portable press, said Max Valentine, a member of the Print Club and a junior art student.
“We can reach the whole community too, not just the art department at Chico State,” Valentine said.
Members of the community are impressed with the club’s work.
“It’s the best printing I’ve seen since Johannes Gutenberg!” said Max Feiler, a Chico local.
Idea Fab Labs, a facility that combines technology with art and the creative process, also came and demonstrated the art they create using 3-D printing and laser cutting technology.
At Fab Labs you can design and make your own models with 3-D programs, said Ty Mensoza, a Fab Labs member and Chico local.
“You can take a computer file and turn it into a physical, tangible thing,” Mensoza said. “You can use leather, wood or stone and put in the laser cutter to print designs or images onto the material.”
The facility is a great resource for art students as well as tech students or anyone else who wants to get creative with this incredible technology.
“We’re looking to reach out and get more members involved,” Mensoza said.
There were also opportunities to sign up for all kinds of art education, such as guitar lessons. Many local arts-based businesses promoted their work.
Keep Chico Creative was a great opportunity for community members to see all the opportunity for art in Chico. It was also a great way to show great work by local artists.
Sarah Scharf can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.
