by: Barbara Steinberg

Sacramento has finally come into its own. The Central City is evolving, and Midtown is emerging as a swish and swanky scene for every age (and not just the 20-something crowd).

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With the approval of building owners, artists 2Hermano, Shaun, Daniel, Josh, Miguel, Steve, and Max (there may be others) have given everyone a new reason to walk. Not just during the Second Saturday Art Walk, but every day. Retro, free-hand spray-painted images now embellish Two Women & an Armoire and American Market & Deli. At Bon Air Sandwiches, their new urban tattoo playfully promotes sandwiches, sodas, and Sacramento’s skyline and includes the likeness of the store owner’s son.

A collaborative-work by Shaun, Daniel, and Miguel, on the 24th Street side of American Market & Deli, a peacock, a woman soulfully singing, and a modish chick – friend of one of the artists – is probably one of the most colorful tattoos. And the market’s shabby interior is enlivened by Shaun’s fanciful forest of trees with faces, blowing autumn leaves, and a young girl with wind-swept hair. A once less-inviting environment is welcoming and full of life.

Over in Del Paso, on the Boulevard, the half-face of Frida Kahlo bedecks a wall at Sol Collective an arts and cultural center located at 2010. Other examples of this new urban street art can be seen on display inside. To be expected, not everyone embraces this artform. Someone complained to the City about Frida, but fortunately she lives on. The artists have specifically chosen images to balance this artform so “not to frighten people” – to make it more acceptable. The point isn’t to encourage tagging and unsolicited graffiti.