2019
#3 Art Space
#3 Place to Buy Art
(the only non-profit)
2018
#3 Art Space
#3 Place to Buy Art
2017
#1 Art Space
2015
#2 Place to See Art
Best of Chico
Event
Champion of the Arts Celebration
Thursday, April 18th from 5:30 - 7:00 pm at the Museum of Northern California Art (MONCA)
The Chico Arts and Culture Foundation (CACF) is hosting an event to recognize six local arts heros, celebrate our organization's 2018 achievements, and highlight one of the artists in our community, Jenise Coon.
The program is on Thursday, April 18, 2019 at the Museum of Northern California Art
(MONCA) located on the Esplanade, 5:30-7:00 PM. Jonathan Richman will be providing a musical interlude before the program begins.
The program will include honoring the 2019 CACF Champions of the Arts with a Certificate of Recognition to:
- Amber Palmer, MA, MFT, Fine Art Consultant & Artist
- Cameron Kelly, Gallery Director, Chico Art Center
- Christine Mac Shane, Artist and Owner, The Studio 561
- Jessie Mercer, Artist, Key Project Tribute, Butte County Art on Wheels
- Marc Edson, Executive Director, Chico Theater Company
- Rebecca McIntyre Senoglu, Coordinator, Enloe Regional Cancer Center, Healing Art Gallery
All of the Champions of the Arts acknowledge that awareness, education, and maintenance of public art is good for our city and the people in our community.
Jennifer Parks, President of the Chico Arts and Culture Foundation, stated recently, “These Champions provide great vision, problem solving, and leadership in supporting arts as a central part of Chico’s cultural vibrancy.”
Butte County Art On Wheels
Project Nest Birdhouse Fundraiser
JUNE 13th + 14th, 2020, 9:00AM - 3:00PM
Come support Summer Services for the youth in Butte County at this fun and socially safe fundraiser. 75 birdhouses built by local students have been decorated by 75 local artists. Silent auction will run all day Saturday and Sunday and highest bid at 3pm Sunday wins! You do not need to be present to win.
Rotary Plaza Sensory Garden
Boys & Girls Club, 601 Wall St., Chico
Butte County Art On Wheels
Butte County Art on Wheels is a mobile art studio that aligns displaced artists from the Campfire with positive community oriented projects for the betterment of physical, emotional, and mental health. Partnering with schools, companies, and community members!
Jessie Mercer is a local visual artist from Paradise. The 2018 Camp Fire claimed her art studio as well as her parents home. She has always wanted to help people and believes in the power of community. She's found her visual voice after many years of working in the field of foster care, youth counseling and special education, creating set design in collaboration with artists with developmental disabilities.
Through her community passions, she received funding from the North Valley Community Foundation, with 501c3 affiliation with Chico Art Center and was loaned a utility vehicle from Phoenix Solar to produce her concept, Butte County Art on Wheels.
In 2019, Jessie Mercer partnered with displaced artists and students to paint 11 murals at schools effected by the Camp Fire. Mercer also worked with the new Boys & Girls Club facility to create a mural with the children. in 2020, She has stationed Art on Wheels at many local, public events like Pioneer Day to offer art activities to one and all. Mercer provided "You Matter" art kits for kids that attend Ridge Schools while they are home during the COVID-19 pandemic and creating a "Butte County Art On Wheels" YouTube channel for families to help
maintain a sense of community. Jessie Mercer can be emailed at jessiemercer15(at)gmail.com.
COVID-19 SPECIAL COVERAGE: Resources for parents staying home with kids
March 17, 2020
Jessie Mercer of Butte County Art on Wheels has used her grant for folks affected by the Camp Fire to prepare 1000 "You Matter" art supply kits for kids. Pick one up at the following schools. Way to go Jessie! Thank you! Check her out on minute 11:10 in the NSPR feature on resources for parents.
Ridgview High, Paradise Ridge Elementary, Pineridge Elementary, Cedarwood Elementary, Achieve Charter School, Paradise Charter Middle School.
Action News Now featured Jessie Mercer and Butte County Art on Wheels as an independent community arts project that Butte County Office of Education has recognized as a proven value and used as a model, along with Sonoma County's Arts Residencies for Schools to apply for grants to implement a similar program for Paradise K-12 Schools.
PRESS
Featured Artist: Jessie Mercer brings Camp Fire community together through art, The Orion, May 10, 2019
Awarded "2019 Champion of the Arts" by Chico Arts & Culture, April 18, 2019
After Camp Fire, An Artist Helps Students In Hard-Hit Town Cope Through Color, Here & Now, WBUR April 3, 2019
Artist Jessie Mercer Paints Murals With Kids Who Are Camp Fire Survivors, NSPR MAR 21, 2019
#UnlockPossibilities – Paradise Arts Creates Town Memorial Out Of Keys, WNIN Dec 27, 2018
Paradise Artists Creates Piece for Town Made of Keys, Action News Dec 13, 2018
Paradise artist to make Phoenix from keys of Camp Fire victims, Dec 9, 2018
Women’s Retreat for Camp Fire Survivors
Saturday, August 10, 10:00 AM at Chico Art Center
Instructor: Lynn Abbiati, (530) 520-1513, lynabbiati@yahoo.com
$5 Fee, All Materials Provided
This retreat is a place for women to stop, take time for self care, to dream a little, to look to the future and begin to form a vision for the next 3 to 6 months. Each person will leave with a Dream Girl Vision Board. These boards are multi-media collages, which contain your dream girl image, with images and words supporting short and long term goals for the immediate future. Your goal can be as simple as identifying time to relax or as big as starting a new business. At this retreat, you will be in the company of women, where we can all laugh, love and share. This retreat will be opened to the first 20 people, who register. To off-set the cost of supplies, a $5.00 material fee is required, to register for this retreat.
