ATRIUM IN THE NEWS

Sacramento Art Spaces Are Embracing the Power of the ‘Little Treat’

May 12, 2026 – Comstock’s Magazine – Enter the magic of the “little treat.” As it turns out, having a snack or drink by your side while you create can make art feel more approachable and less intimidating. It harkens back to the days of crayon-coloring with a cup of Goldfish at the ready, doing art for the sake of enjoyment rather than accomplishment. Several Sacramento businesses have recognized this, and in an effort to encourage people to connect with art, have integrated the principle of the little treat into their offerings.

The Great Escape: Turning Back the Clock in Old Sacramento

April 21, 2026 – Salinas Valley Tribune – Down the way we ran into the Old Town Trainstop. There we discovered several people partaking in art projects at Atrium 916 community space, which was wonderful to see.

Within the area was Old Sacramento State Historic Park featuring an old makeshift Western town with the Big Four Building where four railroad tycoons ran the Central Pacific Railroad Company. It was also a connection for the first-ever transcontinental railroad that linked California with the rest of the United States. The gravel path also leads to the Sacramento History Museum and California State Railroad Museum, a must for locomotive enthusiasts.

Celebrate Earth Month with hands on learning at the Atrium 916!

April 18, 2026 – GoodDay Sacramento – Atrium 916 and Arden Fair have team up to present Earth Month: a Learn and Grow Celebration on Saturday, April 18th at Arden Fair. The community is invited to take part in a series of interactive, family-friendly activities focused on sustainability, environmental awareness, and hands-on learning between 1- 4pm today. Sustainable and eco-centric educational booths and vendors “Color Your Own” reusable tote bag activity at Atrium 916’s Zero Waste Mobile Art Café Sustainable art installation by local artist Yennie Zhou and live music by local musicians.

Celebrate Earth Month in Old Sacramento Waterfront

April 03, 2026 – The Sacramento Press – Now through April 30, participating businesses across the district will feature Earth Month-themed promotions, including sustainable products, plant-based menu items, eco-friendly actitivites, and special events that spotlight conversation and community stewardship. Guests are encouraged to explore the district, discover new favorites, and engage with businesses committed to thoughtful, environmentally friendly practices.

Film grants return to boost Sacramento productions

March 20, 2026 – The Observer – Sacramento filmmakers and production companies can now apply for grants that help offset production costs and support film and television projects shot in the city. One recent recipient, Atrium 916, received grant support for the Sacramento-produced documentary series “Citizens of Planet Earth,” which began airing March 14.

Atrium916 Launches Citizens OF Planet Earth Creative TV Series

March 11, 2026 – KFBK News Radio – On Friday, March 13th, from 6 to 8 pm at Sacramento’s Aggie Square, Atrium916 premiers Citizens of Planet Earth, a groundbreaking 6-part documentary series that pulls back the curtain on the invisible systems of everyday waste.
Atrium 916 invites you to the premiere of Citizens of Planet Earth, a new documentary-style TV series exploring the systems behind everyday waste, and the people working on real solutions.

Premiere of Citizens of Planet Earth, TV Series

March 05, 2026 – Herald Tribune – Citizens of Planet Earth, a new documentary-style TV series exploring the systems behind everyday waste, and the people working on real solutions, will premiere in Sacramento on Friday, March 13. Filmed in Sacramento, this series hired over 104 local creative makers, and was made possible with support from the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission, SMUD, the City of Sacramento, and many kind people who care for the environment.

Mobile Art Cafe to come to Tehama Library

March 04, 2026 – Red Bluff Daily News – After successful textile repair workshops to encourage the reuse and re-wearing of items, the Tehama County Library and Solid Waste agency are bringing more creative sustainability to the county, in partnership with the California Product Stewardship Council.
On March 11, the Red Bluff branch of the library will host Atrium 916’s Mobile Art Cafe. The art cafe is a solar-powered mobile pop-up that travels from place to place for art events, where visitors can create art pieces encouraging reuse and recycling.

Premiere of Citizens of Planet Earth, TV Series

March 03, 2026 – Desert Sun – Citizens of Planet Earth, a new documentary-style TV series exploring the systems behind everyday waste, and the people working on real solutions, will premiere in Sacramento on Friday, March 13. “While the series explores the staggering reality of our global waste streams, its heartbeat is the community of innovators, activists, and everyday citizens who are building tangible, local solutions.” Shira Lane, Atrium916 CEO

Follow the Hearts this February at the Old Sacramento Waterfront

February 01, 2026 – Sacramento Press – This Valentine’s season, Old Sacramento Waterfront is giving locals a new reason to get out, explore, and fall in love with their neighborhood. From February 1 through February 16, the district will host “Follow the Hearts”, a fun, district-wide Valentine’s experience designed to encourage residents and visitors to shop small, dine local, and discover everything Old Sacrament Waterfont has to offer.

Yennie Zhou’s young life informs her artistic expression Today as a Sacramento Creative

January 02, 2026 – Sacramento News & Review – When Yennie Zhou says she doesn’t believe in talent, just hard work and skill, it’s not self-deprecation, she’s drawing on a lifetime shaped by resourcefulness and the ability to create art from almost anything, including trash.

Sustainable Santa at Atrium916

November 21, 2025 – GoodDay Sacramento – Join Atrium 916 this holiday season for warm drinks, sustainable crafts, and a wonderful winter wonderland experience! Come learn how we all can help Santa keep the North Pole cold! Atrium 916 is an interactive space for art, community and sustainability.
Visitors can create Holiday creations, all while enjoying the garden patio and locally brewed kombucha or tea.
From 3:00-8:00pm enjoy warm drinks and family portraits!

Spirits of the Season at Atrium916

November 1, 2025 – GoodDay Sacramento – Atrium 916 is an interactive space for art, community and sustainability , where visitors are invited to participate in the Day of the Dead altar and make art at our Art Cafe. Visitors can sculpt with clay Halloween creations or create a trick or treat bag, all while enjoying the garden patio and locally brewed kombucha or tea.

Presented at Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum in Chicago on material choice trade-offs

October 29, 2025 – Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum – The key insight: sustainability isn’t a finish line — it’s a system of trade-offs. Our role is to make those trade-offs smarter, data-driven, and human-centered. Grateful to the Innovation Forum team for convening such thoughtful voices — and proud to have Veritiv in the mix driving practical progress.

Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum

October 27, 2025 – Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum – Hope to see you in Chicago in a few days. I am moderating a powerful panel discussion at the Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum, October 28th in Chicago. I’ll be joining industry leaders from Chick-fil-A Restaurants, Canopy, US Plastics Pact, and Veritiv to explore the material choice framework, balancing sustainability, functionality, cost, and availability. From fiberization to reuse and consumer perception, we’ll dive into the real-world trade-offs and how decisions are made that shape the future of packaging. Grateful for the opportunity to bring a systems-thinking and creative economy lens to this important conversation. Let’s make creative packaging that is smarter, kinder, and truly circular.

Aftershock, Taylor Swift and pumpkins: What’s happening in Sacramento this weekend?

October 3, 2025 – The Sacramento Bee – Fall traditions are happening all over the capital region with different events and activities to participate in, settling into October, where things tend to get a little spooky. Cat Xia (Hellxia) Art Collection, is being placed on display at The Atrium, 1020 Front St., in Old Sacramento. The free event is extended throughout the weekend starting at 10 a.m.

Nevada County Arts Council “Business of Art”

September 27, 2025 – The Business of Art – As California rolls out Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws like SB 54 and SB 707, new budgets open for reuse, refill, repair, and education. That creates real opportunities for artists and makers—as storytellers, fabricators, experience designers, problem solvers, educators, and community activators.

How Sacramento Is Investing in Creativity

September 8, 2025 – Comstock’s Magazine – The EveryDay Creative program, operated by the community development cooperation CLTRE, is one of a handful of initiatives the OAC has funded in recent years aimed at growing the creative economy, which is typically thought of as all businesses making or selling cultural goods or services. More than 100 people applied, and 20 were selected. Among the chosen entrepreneurs were a bookstore owner, a podcast producer, a dance instructor and a fashion designer.

Last weekend of the Viva La Frida Exhibit in Old Sacramento

August 1, 2025 – PBS KVIE News Minute – “It’s time to say goodbye to the Viva La Frida exhibit at in Old Sacramento. The mixed-media collection at the Atrium celebrates the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. It’s last day is Sunday August 3rd”

Third Thursday Launches at the Old Sacramento Waterfront

JUNE 20, 2025 – SACRAMENTO PRESS – “We’re excited to kick off Third Thursdays! This vibrant community is home to talented artisans, makers, and designers who are eager to share their craft and connect with locals,” said Maggie Baker, owner of Threadeco in Old Sacramento Waterfront. “We hope this event inspires more people to discover the incredible small businesses here and enjoy a more relaxed Thursday evening vibe as the tradition continues to grow over the summer.”

Third Thursdays in Old Sacramento aim to bring more locals to historic district

JUNE 19, 2025 – CBS SACRAMENTO – More than a dozen businesses are kicking off a new event that showcases the one-of-a-kind crafts and merchandise that can’t be found anywhere else in Sacramento. Third Thursdays is scheduled to run through the summer and fall and could be extended if it becomes a popular monthly event. “My hope is that the locals understand that they can come down here to Old Sacramento for a great evening and not just come down when your aunt and uncle come to town,” said Glow Studio owner Katy Karns.

Sacramento awards $950,000 in cultural arts grants to 72 nonprofits

JUNE 17, 2025 – SACRAMENTO CITY EXPRESS – “This year’s grantees reflect the creativity, resilience and cultural richness that make Sacramento unique,” said Melissa Cirone, the City’s grants program manager. “By supporting these organizations, we’re investing in spaces where residents can connect, express themselves and celebrate community through the arts.”

Sacramento offers more than $2 million in financial support for local artists

MAY 5, 2025 – CBS NEWS – Artist Katy Karns has a passion for photography and owns a studio in Old Sacramento. She creates artistic composites and takes personalized portraits, but it’s still not enough to earn a full-time income. “It’s incredibly hard to be able to keep pursuing things that you want to be pursuing in art,” she said. Now, the City of Sacramento is trying to support the creative economy with a first-of-its-kind program, paying local artists $850 a month in guaranteed income. “I think it’s an incredible idea,” Karns said.

Zero Waste Symposium – Shira Lane Guest Speaker

MAY 1, 2025 – ZERO WASTE SYMPOSIUM – Shira Lane  was invited to speak at the Northern California ZERO WASTE SYMPOSIUM about the behavior change the Atrium has been able to implement.
Shira Lane is the CEO and founder of Atrium 916, a Creative Innovation Center for Sustainability in Sacramento, where she leads the charge in pioneering circular economy solutions through art, innovation, and community-driven initiatives.

Atrium hosts COLLAB event for Big Day of Giving

APRIL 15, 2025 – FOX40 – On Friday, April 25th, Sacramento’s Creative Innovation Center for Sustainability, Atrium 916 will host Collab, an evening of art, earth and community to celebrate Earth Week and to kick off fundraising for the Big Day of Giving, a community-wide movement to support local nonprofits organized by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. 

Sacramento Creative Economy Meeting April 16

APRIL 16, 2025 – ATRIUM916 – Creative Economy Meeting 2025 Sharing opportunities for Sacramento creatives and a new project in formation designed to uplift the entire sector. City has a $44 million deficit and budget negotiations are happening. If we’re not at the table with strong, solid ideas, we’ll find ourselves on the chopping block. Looking for creatives and groups who want to be part of these proposed project proposals.

Gavin Newsom delayed his own ‘nation-leading’ plastic policy. Why?

MARCH 20, 2025 – GRIST – “It’s kind of like we just got slapped with a wet fish,” said Shira Lane, founder and CEO of a zero-waste organization in Sacramento called Atrium 916. Lane said she’d participated in two years of long, complicated meetings with CalRecycle officials to provide input on the regulations, and that it was unclear why the governor had now decided to reject them.

Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy, and Transportation

MARCH 19, 2025 – ASSEMBLY BUDGET MEETING – Thank you Chair and members of the committee for your concern and highlighting the SB54 delay in regulations and the impact that it has. My confusion in this matter is that it was the Governor’s office that delayed the regulations from moving forward, not Cal Recycle. The Governor’s office claimed regulations were too expensive with no further details. Unclear on what things the regulations made more expensive that wasn’t already in the bill.

Environmental Leaders Condemn Plastics Industry Betrayal of Compromise in California and the State’s Failure to Implement SB 54

MARCH 07, 2025 – BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC – California’s packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law is the only one of the five existing packaging EPR laws that includes explicit, numeric reuse targets in statute. Many schools and organizations that have already adopted reuse systems have seen a return on investment (ROI) and cost savings within months of implementation. The delay in enforcing these provisions will have significant health and environmental consequences for Californians.

California Senate Environmental Quality Committee Hearing

FEBRUARY 25, 2025 – CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL SENATE HEARING – When we are talking about reuse. Reuse should not be a burden on the consumer. Right, like some products it’s ‘well they can reuse it at home, they can do this at home’. No, reuse needs to be on the producer. It’s also hard to quantify. When we quantify reuse we need to talk about the returnables. How much was actually returned and how much was successfully reused. So how much was returned back into the marketplace. When talking about reuse we need to start thinking about really creating cohesive systems that make it possible for reuse. So that way small and large companies can utilize reuse.

Old Sacramento’s New Year’s Eve celebration returns. What to know about the light show.

DECEMBER 9, 2024 – CBS SACRAMENTO – The City of Sacramento is bringing back a family favorite tradition that hasn’t happened in years this New Year’s Eve. The city is once again sponsoring a New Year’s Eve party in Old Sacramento, calling it the Countdown on the Cobblestones, a nod to the historic streets. “The atmosphere is real nice and it’s friendly and it’s just a lot of fun,” said Ben Modlin. For years, fireworks and a New Year’s Eve street party had been an Old Sacramento tradition. But the midnight countdown was canceled in 2016 and all celebrations ended during the pandemic. The city says due to economic and logistical challenges, they were never brought back.

OVER $450,000 AWARDED TO SUPPORT SACRAMENTO START-UP BUSINESSES AND ENTREPRENEURS

DECEMBER 9, 2024 – SACRAMENTO CITY EXPRESS – The City’s investments are not just an investment in supporting startups, but an investment in Sacramento’s future,” said Denise Malvetti, Deputy Director of the Office of Innovation and Economic Development. “These programs will empower a diverse group of entrepreneurs and spur innovation.” Six innovation and entrepreneurship organizations were selected from 70 applicants, with their programs slated to begin in the first quarter of 2025. Selected programs aim to make measurable impacts, such as business launches, revenue growth, job creation, and increased access to Sacramento’s innovation ecosystem.

Shira Lane strives to foster a creative, environmentally friendly Sacramento

DECEMBER 6,2024 – SOLVING SACRAMENTO – Today, Lane’s vendor market idea has evolved into Atrium 916, which she is the founding director of, located in Old Sacramento. Here, she aims to foster creativity and provide resources for artists in an effort to create a sense of community and advocate for a more environmentally-friendly Sacramento. “I’m always blown away by artists’ creativity,” Lane says. “I’m blown away by their capabilities, and I believe that if you bring together artists that have the same values, it’s like magic. If we could create a space that could attract artists with the same values of sustainability and community and kindness, imagine the things that we could do.”

Get in the holiday spirit with art this December

DECEMBER 3, 2024 – SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW – With opportunities for crafting and family photos in a magical winter wonderland setting all month long, visitors can celebrate the season without all the waste. Sip on warm drinks as you create your own clay ornaments on the patio overlooking historic Front Street or browse this sustainable art gallery’s shop for gifts that give back by protecting the environment. No reservation is required but photo sessions can be scheduled for an additional fee to avoid wait time. For pricing and additional information, contact Atrium 916.

The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide: Made In Sacramento Edition

NOVEMBER 28, 2024 – SACTOWN MAGAZINE – ’Tis the season to be jolly—while shopping local. From Capitol-themed wallets that are right on the money to Sacramentoland onesies that are just aw-dorable, we bring you dozens of great locally crafted gifts for everyone at the top of your nice list.

Christmas in full swing with annual Old Sacramento tree lighting ceremony

NOVEMBER 27, 2024 – CBS SACRAMENTO – “We are so looking forward to doing our sustainable Santa photo experience this holiday season,” said Laurel Marana, the gallery director of Atrium 916. Small businesses though are going big with displays and ready to serve people with holiday cheer all season long.

Painting our future: Can’t have art without the heart

NOVEMBER 26, 2024 – SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW – Heart is the basis of art. Young people may feel an urge to create, but they count on parents and teachers to paint a path to success. To some adults, that means respecting and encouraging creativity. To others, it means raising money to augment school arts programs.

Mayoral candidates share visions for Sacramento’s creative economy

NOVEMBER 1, 2024 – SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW – Sacramento’s mayoral candidates presented their visions for the city’s creative economy at a two-part “Meet the Candidates for Mayor” Creative Economy meeting hosted by Atrium 916 in late September and early October.

Sacramento Creative Economy Meeting October 21

OCTOBER 21, 2024 ATRIUM916 – We will be discussing upcoming grants and opportunities while engaging with Sacramento’s future leadership. In this two-part “Meet the Candidates for Mayor” series, you’ll have the chance to hear directly from the candidates about their vision for the creative economy.
In Part 2 Kevin McCarty will present his plans to foster local artists and support creative organizations.

KC Kombucha

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 – FOX40 – Sacramento’s first Kombucha taproom, offering their own hand-crafted bubbly flavors in-house using organic teas, sugar, and flavorings. At KC Kombucha, every batch starts with their signature blend of black and green teas— the same high-quality mix we’ve perfected for over 6 years. Their taproom is open 10-6 pm Tuesday – Sunday.

Sacramento Creative Economy Meeting September 23

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 – ATRIUM916 – Get updated on upcoming grants and opportunities. Meet the Mayoral Candidates. In this first of a two-part Candidate Meeting, Dr. Flojaune Cofer will share her vision for the future of our city’s creative economy and her plans to support local artists and organizations.

Spacepig Press

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 – FOX40 – Spacepig Press offers fine letterpress goods lovingly printed with great force on antique presses. It is a one-woman labor of love (and snark). Established in 2018 in Sacramento, CA, Spacepig Press provide custom letterpress printing as well as a range of handmade letterpress products including notebooks, gift tags, stationery, & overly honest greeting cards.

RENEWED FOCUS ON OLD SAC Why now may be the time for the long-delayed revitalization of the waterfront

AUGUST 29, 2024 – SACRAMENTO BUSINESS JOURNAL – Mayor Darrell Steinberg believes the city of Sacramento, once again, has a golden opportunity to remake its historic waterfront area in Old Sacramento. “There’s no question it needs updating,” Steinberg said. “It needs to be modernized to bring in more restaurants, a hotel, more access to the river, and greater utilization of the existing market spaces. It’s not living up to its potential.”

Gary on the Go – Atrium 916, an Artwork of its Own

AUGUST 29, 2024 – FOX40 – Gary On the Go paid the Atrium a visit and learned about how we provide an sustainable creative innovation center and are taking the steps toward a more fun and eco-friendly future. He took a tour of the shop, learned about our Art Cafe and all of the programs and opportunities we provide for artists in Sacramento.