Get 'Last Look' at fall quarter exhibits at Manetti Shrem; check out art, gifts at Gorman

In addition to regular hours through Dec. 22, special hours are Saturday, Dec. 28 and Sunday, Dec. 29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, 254 Old Davis Road

Gorman Museum of Native American Art: exhibition and gift shop hours until Dec. 22, 181 Old Davis Road

Looking for holiday break activity to get you out of the house? Visit the Manetti Shrem Museum Dec. 28 and 29 for a special opportunity to share the joy and wonder of art with family and friends during “Last Look” weekend. Experience thought-provoking exhibitions, make your own abstract art, and enjoy treats.

Ponder stunning, large-scale sculptures that explore the way that people and objects move across time and space in “Phillip Byrne, Beatriz Cortez, Kang Seung Lee, Candice Lin: Entangled Writing.” (Through Dec. 29) 

Explore the ways Bay Area ceramic artists channel ancient archetypes and spiritual mythologies as a way to reckon with inherited histories in “Ritual Clay: Cathy Lu, Paz G, Maryam Yousif.” (Through Dec. 29)

Discover (or revisit) abstract paintings by Francis Bacon, Salvador Dalí, Vassily Kandinsky, Wifredo Lam and Joan Miró in “Light into Density: Abstract Encounters 1920s–1960s | From the Collection of Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti.” (Through May 5, 2025)

Museum will be closed Dec. 23–27, then Dec. 30-January 25 for winter installation. For information about your visit, go here: Parking and Directions

Arts gift guide

And don't miss our "Arts Gifts Guide." Published last week, here is another look.

For the art lover on your gift list, UC Davis and other nearby entities carry plenty of art merchandise and giftable pieces of art. Whether your taste leans toward a scarf sporting the beloved Eggheads, a campus sculpture by Robert Arneson, or a handmade tote bag from the Gorman Museum of Native American Art on campus, there are plenty of great artsy places to shop in Davis and the greater Sacramento area for your friends and loved ones.

This holiday season, gift the joy of art with a variety of Native American items responsibly sourced from artists and artisans from Native American organizations at the Gorman Museum's Gift Shop. Some of the items they carry are artisanally made glassware, mugs, blankets, pillows, keychains, bags, cards, and prints. Visit the Gorman Museum of Native American Art at 181 Old Davis Road, open Wednesday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

See the full gift guide here. 

The Woodland Opera House stages White Christmas

Running from Friday, Dec. 6 through Saturday, Dec. 21, tickets starting at $9, 340 Second Street, Woodland

The Woodland Opera House showcases White Christmas, a musical rendition of the 1954 film. White Christmas tells the story of two former World War II friends, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, who became a successful song-and-dance duo after the war. Joining the singing sister duo Judy and Betty Haynes, the group performs a Christmas show in Vermont.

Look at different showtimes and get tickets here.

Art Spark’s December theme is “Hands”

Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 p.m., the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

Art Spark at the Art Studio within the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is a way for art lovers to create their own artwork inspired by current exhibitions going on within the museum. The month of December’s theme is “Hands.” Participants are encouraged to think about the histories, gestures, and tactile moments reflected in their hands to honor all they do.

Learn more about the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art on their website: Manetti Shrem Museum

Join the last ArtAbout art-walk of the year

Friday, Dec. 13, multiple times and locations

In Downtown Davis, the last ArtAbout art-walk of the year is happening this Friday. Thirteen different venues that celebrate art will be participating in this community event for the last time this year. 

For more information, visit ArtAbout – Pence Gallery

Upcoming exhibit opening at the Pence Gallery: All In by Stephen Giannetti

Opening Friday, Dec. 13, reception from 6-9 p.m., 212 D. Street

All In, an exhibit by Stephen Giannetti, is opening at the Pence Gallery this weekend. Giannetti’s work explores grids and circles in various media through using three primary and three secondary colors. This exhibit includes his sculptures that use poker chips, a building block he experimented with during the pandemic, which references simplified geometric forms and repeated patterns.

UC Davis alum Bianca Levan displays her paper-cutting artwork in exhibit Connecting Cuts

Running until Saturday, Dec. 14 at the Olive Hyde Gallery, Fremont

Bianca Levan, UC Davis class of 2006, curates and displays her paper-cutting artwork in exhibit Connecting Cuts. Levan’s work starts with an abstract idea that she funnels into what feeling an idea or experience evokes. In Connecting Cuts, Levan uses a range of traditional art styles of paper-cutting from Jianzhi (剪紙), originating in China, to Wycinanki (Витина́нки/Выцінанкі), a Polish folk style.

Read more about Levan and her work in the UC Davis Magazine: Great on Paper | UC Davis

Film Screening of 'Dongducheon New Town' comes to Davis

Monday, Dec. 16, 5 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art (part of conference)

As part of the Materiality of Migration in the Indian Ocean & Global Asia: Artifacts, Self-Fashioning, Belonging conference at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, this film screening of “Dongducheon New Town” captures the transformation of a small town in South Korea, a former US military base now a residence to the African migrant community. 

The conference, organized by the Middle East/ South Asia Studies Program, with support from History, Anthropology, Religious Studies, Art History and the Global Tea Institute at UC Davis, VCUArts Qatar, and co-sponsored by the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The conference uncovers the histories of mobility through the material culture people brought with them as they traversed the Indian Ocean and Asia.

Find the conference schedule of speakers here.

UC Davis's L.M. Bogad awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency

This December, Professor L.M. Bogad, theatre and dance and performance studies PhD program, has been awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency for summer 2025.

Every year, the Bellagio Center provides approximately 100 leaders from around the world with month-long residencies to advance their specific breakthrough projects while engaging with a globally diverse community. Former residents include: Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, renowned authors Maya Angelou and Michael Ondaatji, and international policy makers such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mary Robinson, and Montek Ahluwalia.

Read more about Bogad here and read the full story here.