NARR: COMING UP ON KVIE ARTS SHOWCASE... Over the last 9 seasons we'’ve showcased some of the most talented artists from across our region and beyond.

Join us as we take a look back.

NARR: A LOCAL ARTISTS GROUP FINDS COMFORT AND FRIENDSHIP WHILE CREATING WORKS OF ART.

Boyd Gavin: The one thing that is sort of important is that you always try for is to make your art speak of your life"” NARR: AN ARTIST KEEPING ALIVE AN OLD TRADITION Erin: it is just not as common anymore, that one artist will do both trades.

NARR: CREATING WORKS OF ART PIECE BY PIECE Maureen: I always thought that you had to paint to be a good artist NARR: A LOCAL THEATER PROGRAM CHALLENGING KIDS TO GROW.

Liorah: I think it is important for anybody to have an opportunity like this because I think it sort of brings out that enter personality in you that you may not have known.

NARR: MEET AN ARTIST WHOSE TALENT HAS NO END POINT Gerry: I wasn't going to waste any time competing with other people, my competition would become myself.

NARR: UP NEXT ON KVIE ARTS SHOWCASE... ♪♪ ♪♪ A GROUP OF SACRAMENTO'’S RENOWNED LOCAL ARTISTS COME TOGETHER TO HEAL, CREATE, CONVERSE AND COLLABORATE.

♪♪ ♪♪ Boyd Gavin: The one thing that is sort of important that you always try for is to make your art speak of your life.

Because it's so easy if you're an artist to become rote to kind of fit back into a grove.

Pat Mahony: Well, the group started about six years ago.

And I was approached by Marcy.

She was going through a very difficult time in her life.

And she approached me and said, "Would you be interested in putting together a group?"

And I said, "No" (laughs) Marcy Friedman: Pat had expressed to me that the reason she changed her mind was that she had lost her mother, and she said, "I relied on my mom for critique."

Pat: and I didn't know it until I got the group together that I needed that desperately, I needed someone to stand outside of me to say, "this is something that's good" or "this needs some work".

For me personally, That's what I have gotten out of the group.

Boyd: "It needs more work" Pat: "It's not tight" Boyd: "It will need more contrast."

Boyd: it's wonderful to have the outlet, a second opinion.

I mean, there is something, where, a group project like this it's a wonderful cure for magical thinking, because an artist will tell you straight away when something's not working' Pat: Boy you get together with a group of people who are trying desperately to achieve the same level of success, it helps support you.

Jian Wang: I think when we walk into the door here, at least I myself, able to put aside of whatever my daily life was.

And so we would concentrate on to place the model, set up the light, it take a while for us actually to settle down with the model and with the space.

Pat: "The light on you is awesome" Jian: And then they will argue about the pose.

(laughs) ♪♪ Pat: It was very important that we could not only give critique, but we could take critique.

We would spend a lot of time walking around and, and saying, "Well, you know, that's really good, but, you know, she's got six fingers.

(laughs) You know, you probably want to take one away."

Marcy: I think there's a natural ability when you trust the people that you're with to listen to the criticism.

Now- I probably have a little bit of a stubborn streak.

Pat: "You've got great color in the face."

I listen, I don't necessarily say, you're right in the beginning, but the criticisms were honest.

And I take it to heart.

Boyd: When you are in a group, it does give you permission to experiment more.

Pat: You sure try harder.

(laughter) You want to keep up with the crowd, It's probably like an athlete, (laughter) in some way, and we've all, whether one's an introvert or an extrovert, artists have an ego.

And, you want to be good, if you fail, you want to fail better next time.

And, so the, the higher the degree of competition, the greater you're going to try.

♪♪ Jian: it's very difficult to have a dedicated group artist to get together so regularly so that we can catch up and exchange ideas and critique on each other's work.

And amazingly this group artist not big, but functions, and the personalities, somehow just match.

Pat: We've had people come and go.

And we've had people that were very significant to our group who are no longer with it, either they've moved or they've moved on.

I think when you're uh, at the age that I am.

this is an older group.

you're not going to change who you are.

but you can be better at who you are.

And there's a pressure involved with that.

But it's good for you; I'm a much better painter for having exposed myself to this group.

NARR: WE HEAD TO PLACERVILLE, CALIFORNIA TO EXPERIENCE AN AGE OLD TRADITION.

FARRIER ERIN SIMMONS IS KEEPING ALIVE THE ART FORM OF BLACKSMITHING.

♪♪ Erin Simmons: There's steel that I have cussed, there's steel I have praised, there's some steel that I'm still trying to figure out what to do with.

This innate object has a life.

Some steel has but to whisper and you know what to do with you.

You get it a little bit hot and then "Ah, okay!"

this steel is good for this job.

I know what it's telling me, that's a relationship with the steel.

It's telling me okay it's good for this but maybe not for that, so I separate them based on the feedback I get.

Their parameters are already set for me.

I just have to work with it.

For me the actual craft puts an artistic stamp on your work that no machine can.

Some of the curves and lines that your eye will see are not from machine work, it's from the delicate art that a person's hands deliver.

♪♪ I create what I see, what I feel, that's the artistic side of it.

The item was always there I just chipped away the parts that didn't need to be there.

(Sound of pounding steel) Lot of trial-and-error you can only bend the rules so much before something breaks and then you start all over again.

(Laughs) (Sound of working steel) I can't tell whether the work found me or I found it.

I became a farrier and a blacksmith sort of by necessity, I owned a horse and I did a lot of ranch work on the coast near San Luis and it really nurtured my interest in livestock.

(Tapping on horseshoe) It's just not as common anymore that one artist will do both trades and that's me.

Now-a-days most of the farriers, which is specific for horse shoeing, they don't do the blacksmithing work so much.

They can make a shoe, which is common, but they won't make tools or hammers.

It's become a lot more specialized craft.

(Tapping in a nail) Ninety percent of my tools are handmade, what we're looking at here is just a small portion of what I've come up with to make my trade a little easier.

A lot of folks say oh my gosh you don't have to make this, you can go get it!

I want to make the one that will last me.

I know what I put into mine, so I can vouch for for it.

I was born they always say about 150 years too late I don't know why that is but I think I would've done all right there.

♪♪ For me, it's a challenge to work with the items that I have, and make the best of it, that's all.

Make the best of what I got.

♪♪ NARR: SACRAMENTO COLLAGE ARTIST MAUREEN HOOD ALWAYS KNEW SHE WOULD SOMEDAY BECOME AN ARTIST.

SHE DISCOVERED HER MEDIUM IN PIECES ALL AROUND HER.

Maureen: I think it was probably when I was about five years old I recall making the statement that I'm gonna be an artist someday.

[laughs] I'm the daughter of a carpenter and a seamstress, and so there was always wood lying around, pieces of wood, there were always pieces of cloth lying around, so it was a matter of like any child would do, putting them together and building on them.

So I took some painting lessons, some oil painting lessons.

They just didn't jive, so I thought well alright, I need to find something else to do I tried some mixed media things, tried some sculpture and I always thought that you had to paint to be a good artist, or to really be able to express yourself.

It took me all the way until my under-graduate work at Davis to figure out that I really didn't have to paint anymore, so that was the beginning of putting together things and pieces, papers and paint and all kinds of different things, cloth for a while and kind of distilled itself down to the paper and paint process that I do now.

I first choose the subject and most of the time it's photographically based, either on photographs that I've taken in my travels, or just around town sometimes the photographs are vintage photographs that I've found at garage sales.

Some are vintage photographs of my own family, and some are cutouts from vintage magazines.

Nothing current, I- I prefer images that are a little bit older.

I'm really into the natural beauty around us.

It's amazing and other artists, I never ever tire of looking at other artists' work.

Even if I hate it- it's just- there's something about that creative process that really, really inspires me.

I like to create a mixed media form of art.

If I had to describe it to a child, it would probably be that I'm just having fun with what I find, and trying to make a picture out of pieces and fitting the puzzle pieces together.

And so I build a huge stack of papers and after that stack of papers I just start putting them on the canvas and arranging them to whatever looks good at the time.

And of course that changes day to day, so it makes it a little more difficult.

I have an emotional response to every piece of paper that I put on, and that's something that's so deep inside that I don't even realize it's happening.

And once they're all in one place and I seem to be fairly satisfied with the way they look on the on the canvas or the paper, then its gluing them down.

It's an art history lesson on the canvas.

I think my art is a little bit different than most collage makers.

I think other artists could do maybe something similar, but I think it's really impossible for anyone to do the same art as another person.

It's because it- it comes from such a deep place emotionally and intellectually, and no two people are alike.

It's just because it's me and I made it, [chuckles] and it's just gonna be hard for anyone else to do the same thing.

It's wonderful to come up here in my studio and shut the door and turn on the music, just to let go.

You know, you can't ask for more than- than having fun.

♪♪ NARR: SACRAMENTO'’S YOUNG ACTORS STAGE COMPANY HAS BEEN INSPIRING CHILDREN: NOT ONLY TO HELP THEM FIND THEIR LOVE OF THEATER, BUT CHALLENGING THEM TO KNOW THEMSELVES.

Liorah Singerman: Theater helps kids learn in different ways.

It nurtures teamwork and cooperation, creativity, imagination,it bridges a gap, or makes a connection, with the other aspects of learning.

"We're going to do it one more time, go from the very top, And then, everyone who is in Miss Saigon head over to The theater" It's very inclusive.

Everyone's just working together for the same goal.

Young Actors Stage is a children's theater company.

We started in 2008.

It was right when all the cuts were happening in the school district.

the arts were being decimated.

we were losing music and art programs, and there was definitely no time for a school play in the curriculum.

My mother was a teacher in the district, and she introduced me to her principal, who was a very supportive of the arts, and she allowed me to start an after-school class, one day a week, at the school.

we started out with 11 kids, and now I'm teaching hundreds every year.

Gianna Solari: It is an amazing experience to, for everyone coming from different schools, different places, different neighborhoods, different communities and you get to all come together and put on a performance.

♪ "Sharing the sky" ♪ Jennifer Muchowski: it's crazy, she has all these little kids, I mean, we're talking first graders through sixth graders and she puts on this amazing play and you're like, "What?

How, how does she get all those kids to do it?"

Liorah: Coming up with a show itself is always a challenge.

It's really hard to decide which one.

We've done Alice in Wonderland, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Annie Junior, Beauty and the Best, Little Mermaid, Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, Sound of Music, Les Mis, Peter Pan, Mulan, Miss Saigon, and the Addams Family.

I'm sure I left out a couple.

(laughs) depending on the show we're doing, we have about eight weeks of the rehearsal process.

Alexi Ishida: Having to come up with a character and think about the ways that they're thinking, and how they're reacting, and finding motivations for those actions.

You really develop your character so that when you go on stage you don't have to think about it, everything comes organically.

Yahmonee Hedrick: I do believe that, that skills that I've learned, speaking and how to be a better version of myself.

I feel like I've really kinda emersed my own character and who I am since I've joined Young Actor's Stage and it's really been just helpful to it's easier for me to make friends, it's easier for me to just kinda be myself.

"Welcome to Dreamland!"

Jennifer: It's just been an amazing experience, I am so, so thankful that Liorah came and started this program.

I would have never looked for a theater program for my daughter, I mean she really found something that she loved doing, and finding her passion.

I think that is so important that you want your kid to love what they do.

Liorah: The parents are an integral part in the process.

we would not be able to do it without them.

They help with the crew positions, and the costumes, and building the set, and getting the word out, the marketing and the front of the house There's so many moving parts to putting on a production.

Gianna: I think that it's important for anybody to have an opportunity like this because, I think that it kind of brings out that inter personality in you that you might not have known.

Colette Loncher: I have definitely become more confident "I am in love!"

"Awwwwww"O I have played so many different characters.

In this past summer I was in Miss Saigon and The Addams Family so on the same day I would be Uncle Fester and a showgirl so I'd have to go backstage put my bald cap on.

Liorah: it's our goal to bring a quality performing arts program to the community, and instill a love of the theater.

Alexi: I love going on stage and being somebody else for a couple of hours.

I think it's really important that people just have that outlet for themselves.

Because arts, it's-it's a reflection of life.

Liorah: I hope they leave with more confidence.

I hope they leave with a better sense of self and community, and they can look back at their time here and think of it as a family, and have wonderful memories, and that it takes them somewhere with what they've learned.

♪ "So stay with me, and hold me tight" ♪ ♪ "And dance, like it's the last night of the world!"

♪ ♪♪ NARR: MEET SACRAMENTO ARTIST GERRY SIMPSON WHO CONTINUES TO DISCOVER MORE AND MORE ABOUT HIMSELF IN HIS QUEST TO SHOW THE WORLD SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

Gerry Simpson: I started painting for one reason, I couldn't afford to buy nobody else's art so I'd paint my own pictures and put them on the wall.

I wasn't going to waste any time competing with other people, my competition would become myself.

♪♪ I've been a singer.

I've done off Broadway in New York.

Fashion design, visual art, photography.

I'm writing.

Teaching.

I've done acting I've heard often that if you don't use the talents given, it's a sin.

I'm trying to get through life without sinning.

[laughs] My mom always sewed, she made clothes and stuff so there was always a sewing machine hooked up in my house.

When I became a junior in high school I developed a career as a singer.

So I went from there to making the clothes for the guys I sang with.

In 1982, I won this trip to California modeling and designing clothes.

And when I got ready to move from the Bay Area to Sacramento, I got this job as a stylist for Nordstrom.

I was at Nordstrom and I got this phone call, well I answered a phone call because they didn't call for me!

And this teacher called from American River College.

She wanted to know if she could bring her class in for a visual merchandising tour and I told her yeah, c'mon bring your class!

About two days later, 35 people showed up at the door looking for Gerry Simpson, and I took them on this in depth tour of Nordstrom.

And one year later this teacher called back and said to me "Would you like to teach at American River College" I ended up teaching at American River College for ten years.

Teaching fashion promotion and visual merchandising ♪♪ It was in the last couple of years that I said, okay, I'm going to make this return trip to being a fashion designer.

My attitude is that if you're not hanging my art on your wall, hang it on your back.

And I came up with the idea of a show called From the Canvas to the Runway.

Crazy enough, right after I thought about that I got a phone call from the Crocker Art Museum asking me would I come and be a part of this event that they were going to have- and would I do fashion?

That was like Heaven.

What made me do the denim thing was, I kept noticing everybody that went past my studio had on denim, Today's fashion being the second most highest polluter to the world next to oil.

That's kind of crazy.

So where does it end up?

In the wasteland.

So I'm trying to keep some of this stuff from going in there, I take your jeans and serve them back to you in a way that you're not expecting them.

I don't know where it ends.

My wife asked me, "So when are you going to retire," and I said, "You know, in reality people like me just die."

I have to give it to my wife for being very, very understanding and allowing me to have the room to be Gerry Simpson.

Even when I'm at home I'm creating something.

I'll be celebrating 20 years of being creative in Sacramento.

It's not always been easy.

Coming to a place where you don't know anybody And you are doin' somthing like creative.

Then you have to find an audience.

Who wants to see you?

Who wants to be spending thier time looking at what you do.

So that's why I just work as much as I do and I work in as many different spots as I do because it might not happen over here this week, it might be over here this week so you have to just put yourself out there.

Don't be afraid to make a mistake because out of mistakes come great things.

If you look at my art, there are circles in all of my art.

That came about because of a mistake.

I was working with a pen that exploded on one of my paintings and so I couldn't get the paint off.

So what did I do?

Covered it with a circle, so there's been circles in my art ever since.

You do what you do.

♪♪ Having this gallery has been a dream come true, a dream that I never knew I had, a dream that I never thought would come to me, so I don't take it for granted.

I use it as a platform for me to show young folks that this is all possible.

I hope that somebody got something out of my time being here.

It means a lot to me to have had the chance.

♪♪ ♪♪ Episodes of KVIE Arts Showcase along with other KVIE programs are available to watch online at KVIE.org/video