Sunday, July 27, 2008

IMPORTANT BATTLE: Davis VS. Sacramento

I have been to Sacramento approximately half a dozen times: Mayyors show, Crocker Art Museum twice, Bike trip to the drawbridge, Greyhound, Sac Airport, and perhaps another visit during childhood.

I have not left the city-state of Davis in at least 30 days.



Someone once told me at a show, "Davis seems more cultured than Sacramento; the university breeds culture." I am not sure if this is true but the person had come from Sacramento so I will accept the compliment on behalf of Davis.

KDVS is based in Davis, not in Sacramento. To a small group of people this is unimportant.

Davis has some art galleries. Sacramento has some art galleries. Draw.

I am friends with more Davis visual artists, but more Sacramento musicians. Double-draw.

Davis is bourgeois. Sacramento wants to be and sometimes is.

Mexican food in Davis is not good. I have been told Sacramento Mexican food is superior. Which brings me to my next point: I have been told Sacramento is the most culturally diverse city in the United States. Davis has too many white people. Davis legend Robert Roy says, "If you dislike Sacramento, you are a racist."

Arnold Schwarzenegger frequents Sacramento. His face frequently appears in the New York Times, occasionally on the front page. Rob Roy lives in Davis. His face, bike, and words appeared today in the New York Times. Advantage: Davis, as Arnold does not actually live in Sacramento.

Traditionally Davis is viewed as an Agricultural town. Sacramento is stereotypically defined by its Governmental presence.

Davis suffers from too many complaints from residents about not being Berkeley. Sacramento has every desire to become Nu-San Francisco. Sad sad Central Valley Draw.

This Blog is called "The Starving Artist... Sacramento & Beyond" as opposed to "...Davis & Beyond". Larger city takes precedent.

Sacramento currently has two main house-show houses. Davis has two semi-consistent show spots, one of which has been doing shows for almost two decades. Slight edge to Davis for epic consistency of the Dam Haus.

Daviswiki.org is a superior resource to Sacwiki.org

The UC Davis Art Department was famous in the 1970's. Sacramento State University Art Department, hmmm...

There are too many fixies for one city in Davis. I have heard many fixies linger on the grid of Sacramento also.

You fill in the rest...

9 comments:

Melanie G. said...

Word. This has been on my mind for the past two months way too much, since I'm trying to move out of my apartment and find a place in either Midtown or Davis. I always thought that it sucked how Davis' ArtAbout is insanely crappy compared to Sac's Second Saturday. Maybe I should start a "Davis ArtAbout" committee and make it super awesome! Yeah! Want to be the VP?

Elisa Rocket said...

Davis' Second Friday ArtAbout is lackluster and under-promoted, but Sacramento's Second Saturday is over-commercialized and overrun with drunken yuppies who are just out to enjoy the Midtown drink specials. I think. It doesn't feel like a very pure community gathering anymore.

Your Friend Morgan said...

Davis and Sacramento would both be better off if the two cultures cooperated and interacted more, rather than keep trapping themselves in a battle of who's more sophisticated. If Sacramento would stop seeing Davis as an insignificant hippie town with a superiority complex, and if Davis would get out of its cultural and communal bubble long enough to see what's truly good and useful in Sacramento, the two cities could be really exciting and powerful as far as art and music go. What's unfortunate is that I think on some level, everybody knows that already, but it remains easier to think divisively.

Anonymous said...

Whoa, I feel totally out of the metaphorical loop. I didn't know all yous guys were doing dis blog up in here. Additionally, I have never heard of ArtAbout in Davis (and I have lived here for about 4 years). Anyway, good work on maintaining the internet, guys!

Love,
Muckee the Turducky

Melanie G. said...

Elisa- Yeah, I agree that Second Saturday has gotten over the top a bit. My best memories are of about a year ago, though, when there were really awesome bands playing around Midtown, lots of great art and... yes.... free/cheap wine/beer at many locations. (I like to drink, okay?) Now it's a bit too crowded and yuppie, I agree. I just think that Davis' ArtAbout has some potential... if we could get some bands participating/ maybe some "youthful" art, maybe even some fun craft vendors, etc... it would be sweet. I think I've done Davis' Second Friday like 4 times since I've lived up here. I enjoyed it twice.

Anonymous said...

i've never done either. i just draw by myself, both midtown sac and davis.
interesting post!

oki said...

possibly incoherant:

davis, a suburb of sacramento
...and sacramento, not the most interesting city...
I think artwalks in general are kind of lame and I've been to some supposedly great ones. Good art would be a start to making them better.

unfortunately its hard to be talented and decide to stay in a place where the art scene sucks. so i hope some poor artists start to get shown...

oh yeah and do people in sacramento really buy art? or in davis?

Jon said...

Let's go ahead and not refer to Rob Roy as a "Davis legend," m'kay? Because if that's the case, I think Sacramento wins this battle.
.

Melanie G. said...

hahaha yes, jon! i'm in ventura this weekend, but you should call me back soon, so we can hang, biatch!