Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum will reopen in-person camps, classes this summer
Starting this summer, the Crocker Art Museum, located in downtown Sacramento, will welcome the public back for age-inclusive in-person camps, studio classes and public programs after more than a yearlong closure.
The Crocker Art Museum has operated at 25 percent capacity since its reopening in March. But with the highly anticipated June 15 statewide release of social distancing restrictions, the museum plans to continue to adhere to the local and state officials’ recommendations, according to Elizabeth Baidoo, the Crocker Museum’s director of communications.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen June 15 as far as what it means for a museum but we just really want to err on the side of safety for our guests,” Baidoo said.
Currently, in-person participants over the age of 2 must wear a mask — including those who have been vaccinated — practice social distancing and comply with health and safety protocols. Food services and drinking fountains remain closed as well as shared gallery activities.
A complete list of offerings is available on the Crocker Art Museum website.
Crocker Art Camps
The Crocker Art Museum’s new outdoor studio is set to offer week-long learning experiences including art projects, recreation, creative free time, gallery lessons and tours of the Museum’s special exhibitions. Each camp has two sessions to choose from.
Crocker Art Camp: Animal Adventures
Session 1
Date: June 21 to June 25
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Session 2
Date: July 19 to July 23
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Cost: $295 members, $340 for non-members
Learn to draw, paint and college real (or imagine) animals while taking inspiration from featured artwork in the Crocker’s collection.
Crocker Art Camp: Art and Nature
Session 1
Date: June 28 to July 2
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Session 2
Date: August 2 to August 6
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Cost: $295 for members, $340 for non-members
Examine and explore nature through art with inspiration from the art-filler galleries at the Crocker’s Art Museum as they draw and paint.
Crocker Art Camp: Trains, Plains and art Mobiles
Session 1
Date: July 12 to July 16
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Session 2
Date: August 9 to August 13
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Cost: $295 for members, $340 for non-members
Public Programs
The Business of Beauty: The Life and Work of Louis Comfort Tiffany
Date: Sunday, June 13
Time: 2 p.m.
Live stream
Cost: Free for members, $10 for non-members
Virtually join the Crocker Art Museum for a deep dive into renowned artist Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Icons in Conversation: Alison Saar, joined by Samiya Bashir
Date: June 27
Time: 3 p.m.
Live stream
Cost: Free for members, $10 for members
Icons in Conversation returns with world-renowned artist Alison Saar. Known for her powerful sculptures and prints of the African Diaspora, Saar’s work is featured in collections across the world including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Studio Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Sacramento’s own Crocker Art Museum.
Family Fun: Portraits
Date: July 9
Time: every 15 minutes starting at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Capacity: five people per slot
Cost: $6 for members, $12 for non-members, children three and under are free
Details: designed for ages four to nine with caregivers, but all are welcome to participate.
Explore the art of portraits with an interactive, guided family tour of the Crocker’s collection and the exhibition For America: Paintings From the National Academy of Design. Get creative with an art-making activity inspired by the exhibitions.
Family Fun: Tiffany Glass
Date: August 13
Cost: $6 members, $12 nonmembers, children 3 and under free
Time: every 15 minutes starting at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Capacity: five people per slot
Details: designed for ages 4 to 9 with caregivers, but all are welcome to participate.
Explore an interactive, guided family tour of Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection. Then get creative with an art-making activity inspired by the exhibition.
The Tiffany Tour
Date: Thursdays, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29; Fridays, August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27
Time: 10 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m.
Cost: free with museum admission.
Details: advance registration required, groups of six or less per tour.
Enjoy an intimate guided tour of the art featured in Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection along with other glass art in the Crocker’s collection.
Tour: For America and Beyond
Date: Fridays, July 9, July 16, July 17, July 23 and July 30; Thursdays, August 5 and August 12
Time: 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Cost: free with museum admission.
Details: advance registration required, groups of six or less per tour.
This guided tour includes masterworks by American artists featured in For America: Paintings From the National Academy of Design and Legends from Los Angeles: Betye, Lezley and Alison Saar in the Crocker Collection, currently on view.
Studio Experiences
Artists, You Should Know: Marsden Hartley
Date: June 20
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Via Zoom
Cost: $55 for members, $75 for nonmembers
Examine the life, legacy and art of Marsden Hartley, an LGBTQ artist who played a pivotal role in the development of American Modernism.
Nature In Watercolor
Date: July 6, July 7, July 8
Time: 10:30 a.m. to noon
Via Zoom
Cost: $95 for members, $125 for non-members
Learn how to emulate the hues and shapes of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s decorative artworks with watercolor paints in a series of online, beginner-level classes. Participants will gain a variety of skills including knowledge of watercolor as a medium, color theory and mixing, brushwork, washes, wet-on-wet, and other techniques.
Beginning Drawing and Color Theory
Date: Wednesdays and Thursdays July 7 to July 15
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Via Zoom
Cost: $85 for members, 105 for non-members
Learn the basics of art with a crash course for beginners that covers observational drawing and color theory. Discover how to achieve 3D effects using shading and blending with colored pencils.
(Socially Distanced) Plein Air Painting
Date: Three Saturdays, starting July 10, 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Cost: $95 for members, $125 for non-members
Get inspired by the great outdoors in a class that covers composition, drawing, atmospheric perspective, color mixing and more. Increase your ability to define objects using light and shadow as they change throughout the morning. All participants, regardless of experience level, will receive individualized feedback.
Socially Distanced Portrait Painting for Beginners
Date: Mondays and Wednesdays, August 2 to August 25
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Cost: $220 for members, $240 for non-members
Details: Supplies are included.
Lose yourself in the array of portraits featured in the exhibition For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design and discover the essence of portrait painting, specifically how to capture facial proportions, consider the setting and apply acrylic painting techniques.
Socially Distanced Drawing the Nude
Date: August 7 and August 8
Time: 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Cost: $75 for members, $95 for non-members
Observe and analyze the human form and draw from nude models.
Socially Distanced Jewelry Making
Date: August 14
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cost: $40 for members, $55 for non-members
This class is centered around the jewelry of the Gilded Age, inspired by the holdings of Margaret Crocker. Designers from Design with Fire Studios will help you construct glass beaded jewelry work and establish your skill foundations in wire manipulation, balance and clasp fabrication.
School + Teacher Programs
Gallery Bytes
Date: July 20, August 3 and August 17
Time 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and noon
Cost: free
Livestream
This new program invites you to virtually drop into different Crocker galleries and explore art through thought-provoking conversations with museum staff, guides and guests. Get to know works of art from the convenience of your own home. Each session will focus on a theme and a few artworks.
11 a.m. – Elementary school students
11:30 a.m.– Middle and high school students
noon – Teachers and adults
Teacher Workshop Series: American History and the Arts
Dates: July 27, August 10 and August 24
Time: 10:30 a.m. to noon
Cost: free
Details: participants can register to attend all, some, or one of the sessions.
This professional learning series will take an integrated approach to learn about 20th century American history. Co-presented by experienced, innovative teachers, this workshop will use artwork at the Crocker as a jumping-off point to examine the nation’s history through three lenses: industry, people and place. In addition to the Crocker collection, the curriculum will explore two temporary exhibitions: Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection and For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design.