OPENING NEXT WEEK

Art professor Robin Hill is curating an exhibition titled Touching Base, comprising new works by 11 undergraduate art major alumni from the past decade. The exhibition, which coincides with Hill's 10th anniversary at UC Davis, is scheduled to open Tuesday, March 8, and continue through April 21 at the Pence Gallery in downtown Davis. A curator's talk is set for Friday, March 11.

All of the participating artists have gone on from UC Davis to establish professional studio practices-exhibition records, and, in some cases, hold teaching positions of their own. The exhibition provides an opportunity to consider the artists’ distinct trajectories and to understand the myriad ways in which artists cultivate independent studio practices upon graduation from college.

“The exhibit provides a snapshot of a handful of artists who have come through the art major at UC Davis, and who have emerged as dedicated professional artists, living all over the U.S., and working in diverse media," she said in a news release. "It's gratifying to see how these artists are utilizing what they learned at UC Davis and how they are engaging in, if not creating, the broad and varied discourses of the art world in the 21st century.”

The artists:Hilary Alder (drawing), Caetlynn Booth (painting), Colby Claycomb (sculpture), Ryan Gallant (sculpture), Daniel J. Glendenning (drawings-sculpture), Matthew Gottschalk (video-photo), Kyle Hittmeier (video-prints), Amy Lincoln (painting), Elizabeth Ottenheimer (sculpture), Allison Taylor (sculpture) and Jason Trinidad (sculpture).

"These 11 exemplary young artists have not only blazed — and are blazing — interesting trails for themselves, but have also demonstrated a vital connection to UC Davis through their ongoing connections to faculty and to fellow alumni across the country, and through their continued professional and creative development," Hill said in an e-mail.

"This exhibition represents only a slice of the remarkable talent that flows from the program, and provides a rare opportunity to celebrate the artists' 'touching base' in Davis."

For her talk at 6 p.m. March 11, Hill plans to discuss the works in the exhibition, as well as the interesting paths that the artists have followed since graduating from UC Davis. The curator's talk is free and open to the public.

The Pence is at 212 D St. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

ON CAMPUS

• American Gothic: Regionalist Portraiture from the Collection — A survey of portraiture over the past 100 years, from the university’s Fine Art Collection. Guest-curator Lee Plested has selected more than 100 pieces, including several new acquisitions never exhibited previously at the Nelson. From Whistler through Warhol, the exhibition includes significant presentations of major artists with a special focus on the Davis Five: Robert Arneson, Roy de Forest, Manuel Neri, Wayne Thiebaud and William T. Wiley. Through March 13, Nelson Gallery, Nelson Hall (formerly the University Club). Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Friday (by appointment only). This is one of two shows that are the first to be presented in the gallery's new home. See separate story.

• BAG (Bags Across the Globe): Designing to Reduce Waste — Faculty member Ann Savageau is the curator of this installation, showing the environmental damage from plastic bags — and promoting (and showing) an alternative: reusable bags made from textile waste. Through March 11, Design Museum, 145 Walker Hall. Hours: noon-4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 2-4 p.m. Sunday. See separate story.

• Conversations About Race — Built around this year's Campus Community Book Project: Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum. The General Library Committee on Diversity prepared the exhibition. Through spring quarter, lobby, Shields Library. Regular hours: 7:30 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday and noon-midnight Sunday.

• Euclides da Cunha: A Life Between the Disciplines — This exhibition takes its name from a UC Davis symposium, held in November, about the Brazilian writer, poet and intellectual Euclides da Cunha, whose seminal work, Os sertões (Rebellion in the Backlands), published in 1902, recounted the messianic religious uprising that led to the 1897 Canudos War. Da Cunha also worked as an engineer, cartographer and geographer, and he was an early environmental scientist. This exhibition is the work of Myra Appel, head of the Humanities, Social Sciences and Government Information Services Department and bibliographer, Latin American Studies; and professors Leopoldo Bernucci and Robert Newcomb of the Department of Spanish and Classics, with assistance from Tim Silva (graphics) and Alison Lanius (display). Through winter quarter, lobby, Shields Library. Regular hours: 7:30 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday and noon-midnight Sunday.

• Gordon Cook: Out There — Twenty paintings, drawings and lithographs by San Francisco’s Gordon Cook (1927-85), focusing on Cook’s fascination with water views, including many sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, while at the same time giving a strong sense of the wide range of his work: still-life paintings and an example of the freestanding painted cutout constructions that Cook liked to make for his friends and family. Guest-curated by renowned San Francisco critic and poet Bill Berkson. The exhibition comes 22 years after the Nelson’s presentation of a Cook show organized by Price Amerson. In recognition of that event, people who visit the Out There exhibition will be able to view a video of Professor Emeritus Wayne Thiebaud’s 1988 tribute to Cook. Through March 13, Nelson Gallery, Nelson Hall (formerly the University Club). Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Friday (by appointment only). This is one of two shows that are the first to be presented in the gallery's new home. See separate story.

• Harvesting Sugar Beets, 1942 — Comprising work by F. Hal Higgins, a prominent California agricultural journalist of the early to mid 20th century, who had been asked to document — in words and pictures — the importation of Mexican guest workers under a U.S.-Mexico agreement that later became known as the Bracero Program. Patsy Inouye of the University Library's Special Collections Department assembled the exhibition from the library's F. Hal Higgins Collection, one of the largest and most significant agricultural technology history collections in the United States. According to the University Library's website, Higgins' photographs offer an extraordinary look at the optimism and promise that the Mexican guest workers brought to California agriculture. Through winter quarter, lobby, Shields Library. Regular hours: 7:30 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday and noon-midnight Sunday.

• Hidden Gems — Corrine Singleton presents photos depicting her new bronze sculpture series. "My inspiration for the Hidden Gems comes from New Mexico's Northern Mountains," the artist said. "The Land of Enchantment fills me with a deeper connection and understanding of nature and its transformation process. Each of my rocks is a small reminder of nature's scenic splendor; whimsical, delightfully energetic formations to wonder about. What are they?" Singleton is not a UC Davis alumna, but her husband, Joe, served as a coach and athletic director here from 1969 to 1987. Through Feb. 28, Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

• Sa Moana: The Sea Inside — American Samoan artist Dan Taulapapa McMullin presents oil paintings and installation sculptures that express the complexities of contemporary life for Pacific Islanders. The exhibition, comprising new works developed recently in the Cook Islands and Fiji, and in California, address the issues of tsunami, climate change, the indigenous body, communal traditions and urban change. “From indigenous icons and social media images, Taulapapa investigates the critical position of Pacific Islanders in contemporary Oceania in works that challenge perceptions about Polynesian art," reads a postcard announcement for the exhibition. Through March 10, C.N. Gorman Museum, 1316 Hart Hall. Hours: noon-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Artist's talk, 4 p.m. Thursday, March 10, followed by closing reception.

• Shiny Fancies: Playing with Glass and Silk — By Kim Nguyen, spinning, weaving and small glass sculptures instructor at the Craft Center. Feb. 12-March 11, Craft Center Gallery, South Silo. Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekends. Reception for the artist, 5-6 p.m. Friday, March 11.

• Words Take Wing: Honoring Diversity in Children's Literature — This exhibition comprises selected works by Joyce Carol Thomas, the poet, novelist, playwright, educator and motivational speaker who was the featured author for the School of Education's seventh annual Words Take Wing program (Feb. 9). The General Library prepared the exhibition, which is scheduled to stay in place through the winter quarter in the Shields Library lobby. Regular hours: 7:30 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday and noon-midnight Sunday

OFF-CAMPUS

• TANA Student Art Exhibition — The first such exhibition ever at the UC Davis-affiliated TANA youth art center, which opened in December 2009 at 1224 Lemen Ave., Woodland. The Department of Chicana/o Studies conceived of TANA and runs it; TANA stands for Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer, or Art Workshops of the New Dawn. The exhibition is scheduled to run through May. Viewing hours: noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Workshops are in session 3-6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Earlier coverage, with images of some of the students' artwork.

• Wayne Thiebaud, professor emeritus of art — Five of his paintings are on display at the California Museum in Sacramento, in conjunction with his induction Dec. 14 into the California Hall of Fame. See separate stories on Thiebaud, "Painter, teacher, visionary" and his induction into the California Hall of Fame. The museum has gathered personal items from all of the 2010 inductees, for an exhibition that is scheduled to run through next Oct. 31. Thiebaud's picks: Bikini Figure (1966), Waterland (1996), Two Tulip Sundaes (2009), and Intersection Building and Cliff Ridge (both from 2010), all oils, on canvas or wood. The museum is in the California State Archives building at 1020 O St., at the corner of 10th Street, one block south of Capitol Park. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. (No one admitted after 4:30 p.m.) Closed all major holidays and furlough Fridays.