Manetti Shrem Museum opens with fall exhibitions Thursday

Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, UC Davis, Old Davis Road

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday

Exhibitions featuring new sculpture and installation commissions, paintings from world-renowned artists, and large-scale ceramics debut this fall at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California, Davis.

Phillip Byrne, Beatriz Cortez, Kang Seung Lee, Candice Lin: Entangled Writing opens Aug. 8. Four California artists working in sculpture and installation each present a new installation — the largest group of works the Manetti Shrem Museum has commissioned to date. The exhibition explores the way that people and objects move across time and space, allowing for multiple potentialities to exist. The exhibition ends Dec. 29.

“Entangled Writing grew out of early conversations between Beatriz Cortez and Phillip Byrne, and builds upon existing relationships between Cortez, Lee and Lin,” said Susie Kantor, associate curator and exhibitions department head. “The resulting exhibition opens a portal to new and imagined worlds, allowing us to envision different futures and shine a light in difficult times.”

In the planning stages since 2022, Entangled Writing features artists making a splash on the international arts scene: Cortez, a UC Davis faculty member whose works are in the current Venice Biennale, along with those of Lee, and Lin, who was in 2022’s biennale. 

Two other exhibitions start in September. More in the full story. 

Delbert Anderson Quartet Merges Navajo music with jazz and funk in free concert Aug. 13 at Gorman

The Mondavi Center in partnership with The Gorman Museum of Native American Art at UC Davis presents Delbert Anderson, a Diné jazz trumpeter, compose and educator, merging Navajo “spinning songs” with jazz and funk. Anderson leads a quartet that creates a unique sound in the Native American jazz scene.

The concert will take place Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. outside the Gorman Museum.

This performance is free. While seating is limited, no tickets are required. The museum opens at noon the day of the concert. The museum, also free, is located at 181 Old Davis Road, Davis. 

See full story for more information. 

Professor publishes book to guide new choral directors

Nicolás Alberto Dosman was just 10 years old when he decided he wanted to run a music program. He quickly achieved that goal after graduating college, becoming a high school and middle school music teacher and choral director in Miami, Florida. The reality of the job, though, wasn’t exactly what he’d expected.  

“I realized I didn’t know enough and many of the wonderful scholarly things I learned in school as an undergraduate were not applicable or practical,” said Dosman, a UC Davis assistant professor of teaching and director of choirs at UC Davis. 

Dosman majored in music education. He didn’t know how to deal with administrators or parents. He didn’t know how to help students who were navigating social and emotional issues. Even holding rehearsals was a challenge when dealing with high schoolers, especially those who had little experience, and who were juggling homework, jobs and other activities.  

Hungry for answers, he read books, attended conferences and reached out to mentors. As he became more experienced and confident in his position, he realized up-and-coming choral and band directors were facing the same gaps. Dosman shared what he had learned, but wondered why all these basics weren’t being taught or, at least, available in an accessible, easy to read book.  

In the two decades since starting his career, Dosman earned a doctorate in music education and led the choral program at the University of Southern Maine, Osher School of Music, among other school, church and community choirs. He joined UC Davis last year as the director of choirs and an assistant professor of teaching. And, in July, his book Growing Your Choral Program: A Practical Guide for New Directors was published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.  

The guide is meant to provide solutions to some of the common problems new choral directors face. 

Read the full story.

— Maria Sestito, College of Letters and Science

Maurice Prize for fiction accepting submissions

Submissions are being accepted for the 2024 Maurice Prize for Fiction, a $10,000 award for the best novel written by a UC Davis graduate who has not yet published or been accepted for publication by the contest deadline. Submissions are limited to novels; no short story collections.

The deadline for submission is Aug. 25, 2024.

The award was established in 2005 by bestselling author and Davis resident John Lescroart in honor of his father. The prize is co-sponsored by the College of Letters and Science. Literary merit will be the overriding criterion in the selection of the winning entry. Works are judged by established authors, selected annually.

In creating the prize, Lescroat said that it took winning a prestigious award early in his career to “believe I could be a writer.” He works with the winners in helping them pursue publication of their works. 

How to enter

To enter, submit a manuscript as a PDF by email to rradvincula@ucdavis.edu. Remove the author's name from the PDF — works will be judged anonymously. Include name, mailing address, email address and phone number in the body of the email. There is no fee to enter. The winner will be announced in November.

'To the Max' at di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art

Gallery 2,  through Aug. 25, 2024, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, dirosaart.org

To the Max! brings together California artists resisting the minimalist ethos of 20^th century modernism. Beginning with the Pattern & Decoration movement of the 1970s, these artists reject minimalist austerity in favor of excess and abundance. Spanning a variety of media, works drawn from the permanent collection defy minimalist dictates with bold layers of color, pattern, material and texture. The late Roy De Forest, a professor at UC Davis, is among those artists featured. 

Featured Artists

• Franklin Williams
  K. Lee Manuel
  Mike Henderson
  Tom Holland
  Carlos Villa
  Jim Melchert
  Roy De Forest
  Frank Hamilton
  Tim Cooper
  Robert Hudson
  Sono Osato