When money grows tight in a town like Sacramento, nonprofits must get creative to stay afloat. This is particularly true for the performing arts. But the region’s creative nonprofits have risen to the challenge in recent years, finding innovative means to engage the community and fill both seats and coffers.

Bryan Valenzuela’s sculpture, “Multitudes Converge,” will illustrate the convergence of the Sacramento and American rivers, and it is one of four pieces of public art commissioned for the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento.

Debatably the most exclusive event to come to the city, Le Dîner en Blanc is a pop-up posh picnic, designed to celebrate friendship and community — trés chicly.

Do you live in Stockton? Well then you can take your business across the street. That’s because the popular and ever-growing Stockmarket has officially moved its location from downtown to the Miracle Mile, as of this Saturday. 

At the young age of 11, Fred Uhl Ball had his artwork exhibited as a one-person show at the Sacramento Central Library in downtown, and by 13 years old he offered demonstrations as part of the Art in Action exhibit at the California State Fair where his artistic talents flourished for all to see. 

The 12 artists selected to paint murals throughout downtown and Midtown Sacramento are putting on their finishing touches and cleaning off their brushes, as the Sacramento Mural Festival draws to a close on Saturday.

When the Sacramento Mural Festival kicks off its weeklong run tomorrow, 12 artists will begin to transform blank walls into works of art. But is this public art or a private venture?

Maybe it’s both.

At its best, placemaking can bring attention to forgotten, underserved or otherwise blighted corners of a city, and build a communal aesthetic that empowers residents and visitors to celebrate a neighborhood. However, it can also go awry.

It may seem odd that a nonprofit named Rise Up Belize! would be based out of Sacramento, California. But spend some time with founder Joey Garcia, and it’ll all make sense.

One of the area’s biggest annual multi-act festivals, City of Trees, is set to draw up to 12,000 fans to Bonney Field on Sept. 10 when bands such as Weezer, and Panic! at the Disco take the stage.

Danielle Whitmore, YoloArts’ executive director, tells a story about a student named Diana. When Diana — a pseudonym — was a student in a local continuation school, she wouldn’t even get out of bed to attend classes.

George Lucas is reportedly considering his home state of California as the location for his proposed Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Let’s ponder for a moment why Sacramento might be the perfect place.

Oblivion Comics & Coffee was selected from five finalists to win a grand prize package of business services valued at roughly $110,000. As the winners, Estaris and Benson will be given $10,000 in matching start-up capital to help open the doors of Oblivion.

Oak Park’s Broadway throbs as bass bumps from one car and another’s engine belches. Someone honks their horn. Other cars buzz by well above the speed limit. This is urban living. But it doesn’t have to be. Thanks to Oak Park Sol, a newly-formed nonprofit serving as an urban land trust, this neighborhood is bringing nature back to its city-dwelling folks.

Before the nine-day Art Hotel exhibit opened last February in downtown Sacramento, M5 Arts, the nonprofit group behind it, expected a max of 5,000 people to attend. What actually happened: Nearly 13,000 people lined up, many from the Bay Area, and some from as far as New York. People waited hours, the line often snaked around the block and several thousand people had to be turned away.

Your Facebook posts and tweets may contain hidden creativity. In fact, they could be helping to write the next Hollywood blockbuster.

Living in Sacramento and making a living in the music industry are often seen as mutually exclusive. Musicians, music fans, venue operators, promoters and others who work in the industry in Sacramento tend to have varied thoughts on the state of the scene, but the question remains: Is music a viable business in the capital city?

Our hearts racing and stress levels high, the six of us aren’t sure whether our friendship will survive the next 10 minutes. We’re stuck in a small room together and can’t calm ourselves down long enough to agree on a system for tackling one of the final puzzles that will allow us to break through to freedom. Things are getting testy: We’re heavy sighing, and huffing and puffing. It’s possible I’m raising my voice.