FEATURED STORY: Meet Agustín Arteaga, the Crocker Art Museum’s new CEO. He wants the world — and people of Sacramento — to love his adopted city.

My grandfather used to take me to the Crocker when I visited him in Sacramento. It was there that I discovered the work of David Ligare during an exhibition. He’s the only contemporary artist I can confidently name, and maybe that’s why I remember him — something to pull out of a hat when questioned about art at a cocktail party.

That said, Ligare’s neoclassical, hyperrealistic Grecian figures and still-life compositions set against rocky seascapes have found a home in my psyche. The scale of the paintings — the crisp folds of a life-sized cotton sheet suspended in time — was close to magic. Years later, I still seek out original Ligare paintings in California galleries, a kind of easter egg hunt that’s added color to my life.

Shortly after I moved to Sacramento, my now-husband took me to the Crocker to see one of his favorite paintings on permanent display. Stephen Kaltenbach’s “Portrait of My Father” is a massive work, roughly 9 1/2 by 14 feet. Again, seeing it in person — its sheer size and its translucent overlay of some primordial tapestry — left a lasting impression.

Local museums are entry points for people to engage with art and understand its value. In Sacramento, we have the oldest art museum in the Western United States, housed in a transcendent hybrid of 19th-century Italianate and modern architecture. Yet it often doesn’t get the attention it deserves — even from its own city. The Crocker’s new CEO wants to change that. Get to know Agustín Arteaga in this month’s cover story.

– Dakota Morlan, managing editor

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Recommendations From Our Staff

Judy: I went to see Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays With Morrie” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” at the Sacramento Speaker Series. What a terrific appearance. I didn’t know Albom helped build an orphanage in Haiti and goes back several times a year. What a rich life. I also attended the grand opening of the new sports bar at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Wheatland. The sports bar is already equipped for when (and if) gambling is legalized in California. On hand were several Sacramento Kings sports legends, including Gregg Lukenbill, who brought the team to Sac from Kansas City; former player now Sac State men’s basketball coach Mike Bibby and former Kings announcer Jerry Reynolds. It was a nice reunion of the old guard.

Jennifer: I was recently charmed by a book on the 50 percent rack at a train station bookstore. “Love in the Library” tells the true story of author Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s grandparents, who met at the Minidoka Concentration Camp during World War II. Her grandmother worked at the camp’s small library; her grandfather took out as many books as he could to spend time with her. It’s a sweet, child-appropriate love story that also offers an introduction to a moment in history that shouldn’t be forgotten. 

Odds and Ends

Get to know Crocker Art Museum Director Agustín Arteaga in our November issue, where we also explore print’s resurgence, a technical skill renaissance and more. Read it today on your computer, phone or tablet.

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