Arts Blog Content

Unexpected Art: Wine Tasting as Art — Movie and Library Archives Event

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — June 08, 2026 - 1:29pm

At a recent event at UC Davis Shields Library, I learned a little about wine tasting as art and a lot about the “Judgment of Paris.” I knew little about either before this. This event was held on the first floor of the library in room 167, one of multiple weekly events that the library hosts in classrooms throughout the quarter.

Weekender: Grad Exhibition Grand Opening; Classic Piano at Mondavi

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — June 04, 2026 - 9:29am

Grad exhibition Thursday will showcase health, technology, art, design

Show on exhibition June 4 through through June 20; prizes given Thursday, Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, UC Davis

Weekender: Choirs, Bands, Comedian, and More

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — May 28, 2026 - 10:59am

Get tickets

UC Davis Choirs and Symphony Orchestra perform Rosephanye Powell’s ‘The Cry of Jeremiah’ at Mondavi Center this weekend

Nicolás Dosman conducts the UC Davis choir (Carol Kepler/photo)

UC Davis Basement Gallery Showcases Student Work

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — May 19, 2026 - 10:29am

Weekender: See ‘Relative Motion’ in Dance; Hear Music in May

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — May 14, 2026 - 9:35am

UC Davis Dance explores ‘Relative Motion’ in spring dance performances this weekend and next

Performances are May 14, 15, 21 and 22 at 7 p.m. and May 16 and 23 at 2 p.m., Wright Hall, UC Davis

“Relative Motion,” the UC Davis 2026 Spring Dance Concert, showcases new works by student choreographers. The Department of Theatre and Dance is presenting the concert starting on Thursday, May 14 and runs for two weekends in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall.

Weekender: Noon Concert Features Major Works; Book Talks; Get Tickets for May Concerts

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — May 07, 2026 - 10:53am

Noon concert features music of Haydn, Schubert, Mozart

This week's Shinkoskey Noon Concert features George Hayes, violin; István Polonyi, viola; Susan Lamb Cook, cello; Sandra McPherson, clarinet; and Hrabba Atladottir, violin performing Joseph Haydn's String Trio in G Major, Franz Schubert's "Allegro" from String Trio in B-Flat Major, D. 471 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A Major. Thursday, May 7 at 12:05 p.m. in the Ann E. Pitzer Center. Free and open to all.

'The Mother Road' Exhibition at Library Celebrates Route 66

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — May 05, 2026 - 1:28pm

To commemorate the centennial of America’s most famous highway, Route 66, the Archives and Special Collections Department is joining statewide celebrations with a two‑case exhibition of select materials from its collections in Shields Library. “Celebrating 100 Years of the Mother Road: Route 66” is located in the lobby, next to the main stairwell.

Although Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1985, much of the roadway still remains and endures in the popular imagination as a symbol of adventure and road trips across the desert in the American West.

In Library Exhibition, View 'The Past in Practice: Interpreting the Ancient World'

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — May 04, 2026 - 9:21am

The Past in Practice: Interpreting the Ancient World is on view on the first floor of the UC Davis Shields Library until the end of the quarter. Entering the library, past the left hallway beside the courtyard, on the first left wall near the stairs, the pieces hang elegantly.

Weekender: Symphony Holds Spring Concert; Design Museum Symposium; Last Call for Backstory

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — April 30, 2026 - 7:12am

UC Davis Symphony Orchestra performs classics, contemporary works in spring concert

7 p.m., Friday, May 1, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis

In a concert titled “Orbiting Spheres,” the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra explores three unique orchestral works under the baton of conductor Matilda Hofman. The concert is Friday, May 1 at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and begins at 7 p.m.

Restoration of Paintings Can Reveal What the Artist Intended

Karen Michele Nikos-Rose — April 28, 2026 - 10:02am

Mark Tucker, a UC Davis alum and conservator, visited UC Davis as the Art History department’s guest speaker on “The Challenges of Altered Paintings” in April, explaining how restoration can reveal art in new ways for viewers.