Lunchable is a regular feature of the UC Davis Arts Blog that recommends an arts attraction that can be viewed during a lunch or other short break.
It’s spring break. Most students are gone, but if you are one of the faculty, staff or students or post docs or others hanging out on campus this week, there is more to life than catching up on work, having meetings and completing your “summary of accomplishments.” (this only means something if you, gentle reader, work at UC Davis).
Some projects and exhibitions are ongoing and open on campus. You can go to the Manetti Shrem Museum, of course, and take in Xicanx Futurity or the final days of Bruce Nauman, Blue and Yellow Corridor (this is the art on and in the walls referred to in the headline). You can even walk through bark to look at some of the art in Xicanx Futurity. It’s kind of like recess — with larger-than-life sculptures.
Now back to the library archives — Animals in the Archives, which is on view through Friday in the Shields Library lobby.
From the earliest days of campus as the University Farm to the Picnic Day “dachshund derby,” animals can be found throughout Special Collections and the University Archives. This exhibit puts a spotlight on animals and their place in Special Collections.
Curated by Special Collections; prepared by Jenny Hodge, special collections assistant. The exhibition is curated by Hodge and Christine Cheng.
Including rare books that depict unicorns and other fantastic beasts as well as faculty research on livestock, this exhibit explores the role of animals in the UC Davis Library’s Special Collections and University Archives, and the animals’ place in academia and research, artistic expression, and campus history. Within the six exhibit cases they provide a small sampling of the ways that animals have and continue to influence the campus, research, academia, and creative arts. The cases highlight:
- Instruction, Judging, and Study
- Veterinary medicine
- Faculty papers and manuscripts collections
- Historical Depictions
- Fine Press and Artists’ Books
- This and That (you have to go see it to see what this refers to)
And, if you are venturing off campus (Friday is a UC Davis holiday, by the way), the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento also has an “animals” exhibit, Modern Menagerie through the end of March. You can find more information here in a previous Arts Blog.
Next month at the library: A Sustainable Groove: 50 Years of the Whole Earth Festival.