During the month of December, connect, share, and reflect with various activities provided throughout Friedman Court as two Art Carts, Café Society and Color!, reimagine the role of the Crocker Cafe and consider its potential as a space for convening and engaging in creative dialogue.
Coffee by Urbane Coffee will be available for purchase every Saturday and Sunday, excluding the 25 and 26.
Adult books are curated by Amatoria Fine Art Books and the Museum Store. Children's books are provided by the Crocker Education Department.
Art Cart: Café Society
Delve into “café culture" and enjoy activities that encourage reflection, cultural exchange, and social interaction. Also provided is a printed newspaper with a map highlighting the cafes, bars, and cultural haunts that enliven downtown Sacramento. Use it to explore a part of the City of Trees you have yet to experience!
Join us in person at the Café Society Art Cart for performances and presentations every Sunday from 12 – 1 PM.
- December 5 | MC HAM
- December 12 | Art Advice Booth
- December 19 | Stories on Stage Writing Workshop
Art Cart: Color!
The whole family can dive deeper into the fresh colors of Impressionism in Monet to Matisse: Masterworks of Impressionism from the Dixon Gallery and Garden with our color-themed Art Cart. Designed for intergenerational engagement, the Art Cart offers creative activities, children's books, and games to encourage everyone to view the art in new ways.
Join us in person at the Color! Art Cart for family fun on Saturdays and select Thursdays from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM.
- Saturday, December 4, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
- Saturday, December 11, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
- Saturday, December 18, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
- Thursday, December 23, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
- Thursday, December 30, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
About the Art Carts
Examples of artists, scholars, intellectuals, and bohemians holding court at cafes and bars in cultural capitals across the globe proliferate throughout history. Dorothy Parker’s Algonquin Round Tables are synonymous with the Algonquin Hotel. Likewise, Café Du Flore and the Lost Generation. As informal, socially vibrant salons, these establishments are a haven for an eclectic mix of eccentric personalities, and progressive ideas. Yet, not only do they serve as creative forums, but also places to see and be seen. “A society of persons who are regular patrons of fashionable cafés,” so reads the definition of Café Society.
For the month of December, the Museum will delve into this café culture with a pop-up installation in Friedman Court featuring two Art Carts: Café Society and Color! At a moment in the Crocker’s history when the Museum Cafe sits empty, and in-person social interaction remains limited, this project reimagines the role of the museum café and considers the potential as a space for convening and engaging in creative dialogue for adults and families.
Thus, over the next month, a schedule of performances, workshops, family-friendly activities, and games will populate the weekends and select Thursdays to encourage shared experiences.
For Art Cart: Café Society, we kick off with a DJ set performed by MC HAM. The following weekend features an Art Advice booth where local artists Gioia Fonda and Ianna Frisby offer a few words of advice on how to be an artist. The month ends with a writing workshop on collective storytelling led by Stories on Stage. These Art Cart activations will be accompanied by a selection of books curated by Amatoria Fine Art Books and the Museum Store.
Art Cart: Color! is the destination for family friendly activities, children’s books, and games. Designed for intergenerational engagement, the Art Cart offers creative activities to encourage everyone to view art in new ways.
Finally, don’t forget, docent spotlight tours, which begin at the café. These tours offer the opportunity to connect and share through the experience of viewing art in the Crocker’s permanent collection and the exhibition, Monet to Matisse: Masterworks of French Impressionism from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens.
Although the Art Carts are passive during the week, visitors can still connect, share, or reflect through the various activities provided throughout Friedman Court. Introspective questions, conversation starters, books, trivia, and reflective writing prompts—some of which have been designed by the Museum’s Block by Block Street Team—are key elements of an installation that hopes to serve as a place for rest and recuperation, meaningful and joyous social interaction, thoughtful reflection, and a good cup of coffee (or tea).
The Crocker invites you to spend your morning, afternoon, or the whole day working, relaxing, and/or participating in the activities provided by the Art Carts.
