Welcome to the weekend (almost)
In this week’s Arts Blog, you can catch artist Ruby Neri talking about her art at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art and an opera at The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. (Tickets are almost out for the opera though). Also, the annual Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Endowed lecture features Mexican American painter Enrique Chagoya. All these events are free. And there’s much more.
Also, in the Arts Blog, catch a story about a ٺƵ historian who discovered an opera written by a free Black man in the 1800s that is only now being performed for the first time.
Karen Nikos-Rose, Arts Blog Editor
Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Endowed Lecture features Mexican American painter, printer, educator Enrique Chagoya
Thursday, Jan. 30, 4:30 p.m., in the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at ٺƵ, free
Using his art to comment on social and environmental issues, Enrique Chagoya’s prints, drawings, collages and multiples offer critical commentary on the global reach of the United States and its cultural, political and historical tensions with Latin America.
Chagoya is a Mexican-born American painter, printmaker and educator. He received an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Art Institute and has won awards and fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, National Academy of Arts and Letters, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation. He received the Lifetime Achievement in Printmaking Award from Southern Graphics Council International and was inducted into the National Academy of Design in 2021. Chagoya is a Professor of Art at Stanford University.
Read more about
This week’s Shinkoskey Noon Concert features solo guitarist Andy McKee
Thursday, Jan. 30, 12:05 p.m., Recital Hall at the Ann E. Pitzer Center, free
Andy McKee’s crossover success has helped him achieve millions of YouTube viewers, underscoring his emergence as one of today’s most unique and influential artists. His song Drifting became one of the first YouTube viral videos with almost 60 million views.
Live performances of McKee's have become a point of fascination with his loyal followers. So, in late 2015, McKee decided it was time to release a live album. This week’s Shinkoskey Noon Concert features works from this live album.
“I’ve always wanted to do a live album; for quite a few years I’ve felt it’s something that has been missing from my collection of releases. This album will feature some of my YouTube hits like ‘Drifting’ and ‘Rylynn,’ some songs from my 2014 EP Mythmaker, and a cover of a Michael Hedges song called ‘Because It’s There’ played on harp guitar that I haven’t released before.” — McKee
Program
To be announced from stage.
The Human Rights Film Festival screens ‘So Surreal: Behind the Masks’
Thursday, Jan. 30, 7-9 p.m., Room 1002, Cruess Hall, free
The Human Rights Film Festival — a collaboration of Human Rights Studies, Cinema and Digital Media, Global Affairs and the College of Letters and Science at ٺƵ — begins with a screening of “So Surreal: Behind the Masks” on Jan. 30.
The festival’s screenings are part of a larger academic series, "The UC Confronts Hate, Violence and Mass Atrocity: Conversations about Human Rights, Humanity and Peacemaking" administered by Human Rights Studies at ٺƵ with funding from the UC Office of the President to develop educational programs to “combat antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bias, bigotry and discrimination.”
So Surreal: Behind the Masks unveils the fascinating connection between the work of famed Surrealist artists and Yupʼik and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw ceremonial masks, and the quest to bring some of the masks back home. The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
Following the film there will be a discussion with Chuna McIntyre (Yup’ik) — who is featured in the film — and moderated by Professor Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole, Muscogee, Diné), faculty director of the Gorman Museum of Native American Art.
Ongoing Exhibitions on Campus
Read about ongoing art and design exhibitions in the Arts Blog.
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of ٺƵ and The Global Tea Institute’s Annual Colloquium
Thursday, Jan. 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., ٺƵ Conference Center, 550 Alumni Lane
The Global Tea Institute celebrates its 10-year anniversary with a Colloquium on Tea and Peace: Bringing Communities Together. The speakers will discuss the role that tea plays in bringing people together and the wonderful properties that tea can provide. During this daylong event, experts will demonstrate through engaging presentations how the theme of tea can impact culture, society, science, health, and other industries. Katharine Burnett, director of the , or GTI, is also a co-chair of the Department of Art and Art History in the College of Letters and Science.
To get tickets, please go to . To read more about tea and The Global Tea Institute, read Maria Sestito’s in-depth article here: .
Art Spark is back with new themes for a new year
Saturdays and Sundays 1-4 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art in the Carol and Gerry Parker Art Studio, free
Spark your creativity this winter with an afternoon in the Carol and Gerry Parker Art Studio. Drop in to experiment with new materials, make art with others, and express yourself. In February, take inspiration from the artists featured in Through Their Eyes and create sculptures using items of clothing, compose colorful contorted portraits, make images with yarn, and combine text with found images.
Ruby Neri gives artist talk
Sunday, Feb. 2, 2-5:30 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, free
Artist talk featuring Ruby Neri in conversation with curator Ginny Duncan will be from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Celebrate the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art's winter season with Through Their Eyes: Selections from the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection, the first U.S. presentation of the renowned contemporary art collection, and Ruby Neri: Taking the Deep Dive, Neri’s first solo museum exhibition. The exhibitions join . Neri is the daughter of renowned artist and late ٺƵ Professor Emeritus Professor Manuel Neri.
Experience art and space through a new interactive work created especially for the museum galleries by Dorte Bjerre Jensen, Danish artist and current ٺƵ Ph.D. student. Jensen’s practice explores how we experience art through relational presence, offering a fresh opportunity to see and sense the exhibitions from new perspectives.
Parking update: On Feb. 2, the parking lots around the Manetti Shrem Museum will be subject to event parking rates starting at 2 p.m. due to the opera event at the Mondavi Center. Those parking in nearby lots — Visitor Parking Lot 1 and the Gateway Parking Structure — will be charged a $17 event fee if using the AMP pay-by-phone app.
Rising Stars of Opera
ٺƵ Symphony Orchestra, singers from the San Francisco Opera Center, come together in performance
Sunday, Feb. 2, 2 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, limit of two tickets per person, free
Since its inception in 2010, The Barbara K. Jackson Rising Stars of Opera has featured vocal artistry, stirring arias and a glimpse at the opera stars of tomorrow; and every ticket has been free to the public thanks to the generosity of Barbara K. Jackson.
Today, Rising Stars of Opera features several singers from the acclaimed San Francisco Opera Center performing a wide range of arias with full orchestral accompaniment from the ٺƵ Symphony Orchestra.
The event is at or near capacity, but free tickets are here:
Immerse yourself in Citrus Season: A Splash of Color now at the Artery
Running from Friday, Jan. 31 through Monday, Feb. 24, 207 G Street
Exhibit reception on Friday, Feb. 14, 6-9 p.m.
Citrus Season: A Splash of Color is a bright new exhibit opening at The Artery this Friday. The Northern California artists included in the exhibit display and celebrate the bright colors and textures of winter fruit like oranges and lemons. For fruit lovers and art lovers alike, Citrus Season: A Splash of Color is sure to be a refreshing and uplifting expression of creativity.
See new signage in the Manetti Shrem Art District
Alumni, donors and university officials were on hand last weekend for the dedication of the newly named Maria Manetti Shrem Art Disrict. Read the story and see photos here.
Next Week
Real Food, Real Facts: Processed Food and the Politics of Knowledge
A book launch with Professor Charlotte Biltekoff
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 4:30-7:30 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
The Manetti Shrem Museum will be hosting an engaging evening featuring American Studies and Darrell Corti Endowed Professor in Food Wine and Culture Charlotte Biltekoff. The author of Real Food, Real Facts (UC Press, 2024), Biltekoff will discuss the powerful forces shaping consumer perceptions of processed food and the food industry’s campaign against “misinformation.”
Graduate Food Studies Reading Group members Elizabeth McQueen (postdoctoral fellow) and Stace Baran (Ph.D. candidate, English) will give opening remarks. Following her talk, Biltekoff will be joined in conversation by acclaimed author and scholar Julie Guthman (Agrarian Dreams, Weighing In, The Problem with Solutions), known for her critical insights into food justice, knowledge politics and capitalism. Together, they will explore the intersections of food, health and politics, challenging perceptions of both the public and experts in the food system. Light refreshments will be served following the conversation.
4:30 p.m. Doors Open
5 p.m. Opening Remarks
5:10 p.m. Talk by Professor Biltekoff
5:30 p.m. Conversation with Professor Julie Guthman
6 p.m. Q&A
6:30 p.m. Reception in Lobby
Read more about Professor Biltekoff's research in the .
Real Food, Real Facts is Open Access and available as a website.
Registration for this event is recommended but not required. Get tickets
Sasha Velour to dazzle the Jackson Hall stage
Friday, Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
The Big Reveal: Why Drag Matters, Now & Forever talk
Critically acclaimed gender-fluid drag queen, visual artist, speaker, illustrator and author, Sasha Velour has been a force in the international drag scene long before her scene-stealing, rose-petal-filled win on season nine of the Emmy Award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race.
In her talk titled The Big Reveal: Why Drag Matters, Now & Forever, Velour will delve into queer history and the importance of drag as an expression of oneself, as a revolutionary act of visibility for queer culture, and as a rich, multifaceted and politically-charged art form that delights and disrupts.
Drag embodies the queer possibility that exists within each of us — The infinite ways in which gender, good taste, and art can be lived.” —Velour
Following the talk, Sheri Atkinson, associate vice chancellor for Student Life, Campus Community and Retention Services, will moderate a discussion and Q&A.
Get tickets here:
Coming soon
‘Olé Ham Nees: We Call Him Coyote’ by Harry Fonseca coming soon to the Gorman Museum of Native American Art
On view from Wednesday, Feb. 12 through Sunday, Aug. 31
The solo-exhibition ”Olé Ham Nees: We Call Him Coyote” features the artwork of Harry Fonseca drawn from the Shingle Springs Band Collection. Embracing the lifework of this former tribal citizen, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians acquired an important collection of works spanning his career.
The exhibition considers multiple series and stylistic shifts from his earliest pieces reflecting his Maidu heritage, the Coyote series for which he is most recognized, the influences of rock art in Stone Poems, the political views of Discovery of Gold and Souls in California, to the abstraction and examination of painting in the Stripes and Seasons series.
Keep an eye on the Arts Blog for more information on the exhibition and programming as it becomes available.
For more information on the exhibit, visit .
Media Resources
Arts Blog Editor, Karen Nikos-Rose, kmnikos@ucdavis.edu
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