Five local artists have been selected to serve for up to one year in various City of Sacramento departments to help to engage communities in the areas of climate and sustainability, community development, youth services, planning and transportation.
The full-time, paid positions are part of Capital Region Creative Corps program, which is managed by the City’s Office of Arts and Culture and funded by a grant from the California Arts Council.
The five selected local artists have backgrounds in media, performance and visual arts and will work closely with City department teams to create messaging that reflects both the priorities of the departments and the many communities they serve.
The artists will also engage in local outreach activities to better meet the needs of the City’s diverse neighborhoods and constituencies.
“Artists working in partnership with government are essential workers who bring creative practices and solutions to issues that municipalities face,” said the Office of Arts and Culture Program Manager Melissa Cirone. “Having an artist on board enhances our commitment to communities and may provide avenues of engagement not previously recognized.”
Meet the selected artists below:
Ember de Boer – Office of Innovation and Economic Development
Ember de Boer is a multidisciplinary artist with an emphasis on sculpture and sustainability. De Boer completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture with a minor in Philosophy from California State University, Sacramento.
De Boer has been involved in community development and cultivating the local art scene, as well as continuing to grow her own body of work while launching a new studio practice at Ember’s Forge.
Melissa Muganzo – Convention and Cultural Services Department
Melissa Muganzo is an actor, philanthropist, and cultural curator who believes in the influence that Black art and ingenuity has on global culture and racial justice.
She is a proud regional graduate of both University of California, Davis, and California State University, Sacramento.
Taner Pasamehmetoglu – Office of Sustainability and Climate Action
Taner Pasamehmetoglu is an award-winning multi-disciplined visual artist living in Sacramento, with an emphasis on painting and photography specifically. He has spent 13 years as a photojournalist and landscape photographer but also has 10 years of experience in marketing and advertising.
Recently, Pasamehmetoglu has focused more of his attention on his painting craft and over the last year has had work exhibited in several galleries and shows across the region, including the Axis Gallery’s National Exhibition in downtown Sacramento.
Angie Eng – Community Development Department
Angie Eng is a conceptual intermedia artist and designer of cultural programs who has received more than 50 awards, commissions and residencies for her creative work. Eng has been dedicated to equity and inclusivity serving underserved communities in programs such as the ones she designed and implemented in the South Bronx, Axum, Ethiopia, and the outskirts of Paris.
She became a strong advocate of arts education after growing up in the Meadowview and Greenhaven neighborhoods of Sacramento. Eng holds a doctorate in Intermedia Arts, Writing and Performance from University of Colorado, Boulder.
Jessica Wimbley – Youth Parks and Community Enrichment
Jessica Wimbley is an artist/curator whose work includes academic, museum, and public art collections in the California Public Digital Art Collection, Crocker Art Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Wimbley received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design, a Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Arts from the University of California, Davis, and her Master of Arts degree in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University. Wimbley is currently a teaching artist in residence with Twin Rivers Unified School District in Sacramento.
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