On a rainy September morning, a long-time 16th Street resident was pulled away from home, dirty, faded and in disrepair. Nine months later, its homecoming was cause for celebration. And in between, the Mercury Cleaners sign was restored, re-engineered, re-wired, repainted and returned to its 1947 glory.

A calm and graceful response to any negative publicity is the best way to maintain control over your own narrative.

Houses of worship are an important element in Sacramento’s architectural history. From century-old churches to facilities that incorporate modern and sustainable technologies, religious buildings knit together the very fabric of the communities they serve. Here, we feature five local houses of worship, each with its own unique story.

When asked if the perception of graffiti art has softened over time, artist Anthony Padilla pauses before tentatively responding, “A little bit. Obviously vandalism is wrong, but then there’s also the art side of [graffiti]. I think when you see writing on a wall, it shows that there is life in that city.” 

Amy Sieffert, a Stockton native, has been running a vintage clothing business since 2010 — but she had to leave her hometown to make a profit. On weekends, she would travel to Sacramento and the Bay Area because there were no local makers markets where she lived. To help turn this ghost town into a local hotspot, Sieffert and business partner Katie Macrae created the Stockmarket, a seasonal market that showcases Central Valley artisans.

Attendance is up, and that’s translating to big bucks for the Capital Region and beyond. 

Comic-themed conventions, or cons, have been around since the 1970s. Even the Capital Region has had its own Sac-Con since 1989. In those days, the events were small affairs attended by a hard-core smattering of lonely youth and middle-aged men speaking their own jargon-filled language. But in the past five years, something changed. Cons became cool.

I know how to do Sacramento weekends right — it’s sort of a point of pride. 

The day Superman died, I was one of millions of people in line throughout the country. It turned out that I could not have picked a worse time than the early 1990s to start collecting comics. I knew nothing about speculation, and larger economic forces of which I was completely ignorant were at work.  Shortly after Superman died, he nearly took the entire comic industry with him.

Are you a successful professional yet perennially single? Your refusal to get digital might be the problem.

These local businesses take teamwork to the next level with bold colors and innovative designs that inspire creativity and collaboration. Show us your company’s collaborative space for a chance to take over our Instagram account! 

Last year, the Downtown Stockton Alliance in partnership with the Stockton Mural Art Resource Team launched the second phase of “Out of the Box,” a mural program to beautify utility boxes in downtown Stockton and showcase artwork created by local students.

The Entertainment & Sports Center art panel of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission met on Monday, March 30, at City Hall, which was officially closed for Cesar Chavez Day. Last fall, the panel recommended the $8-million purchase of a Jeff Koons sculpture to anchor the new downtown arena. 

To find the kind of innovative employees needed to continue pushing the food movement forward, it’s important to look as much as listen. For instance:

“This position requires a vegetable costume as occasional work attire.”

Stephen Lyman, owner of Fence World, has been in the family fencing business since he was a boy (on payroll since the age of 10, he says). “This is one of the decorative arts that is just limitless — the things you can’t do in wood, you can do in iron,” Lyman says with pride. “You can’t build a bridge like the Golden Gate out of wood. It has to be steel.”

Which activities would you like to see?