The Nelson Gallery recently got a special gift from the Andy Warhol Foundation in New York. On April 11, after waiting two days to open it, the gallery staff — and a veritable media horde — finally got to see what was inside.

What everybody saw were 102 small color, Polaroid photos and 50 large black-and-white photos taken by the late artist. There are pictures from the Schwarzenegger's wedding in 1986, and new bride Maria Shriver sneaking a little chunk of cake. Overall, the package's contents are valued at $188,000, according to the Warhol Foundation.

Media interest was huge, and 23 print and broadcast representatives visited the campus that Friday afternoon. Stories appeared in the Los Angeles Times and in news publications and broadcast outlets as far away as New York and Dayton, Ohio.

The Nelson Gallery is one of 183 academic art museums that were given a box of photos from the foundation's archive of 23,543 pictures taken by the prolific artist.

"This is like time travel to go back to those times and look over his shoulder and see where he was hanging out and what he was doing and what he was looking at," said Renny Pritikin, the gallery director.

About a year ago, Pritikin got a form letter in the mail asking if UC Davis would like some of Warhol's photographs. The package arrived last Wednesday.

The Nelson Gallery is digitally scanning all of the photos and will send the images back to the Warhol Foundation within the next six months. Plans call for the images to go on display in a Nelson Gallery exhibition later this year.

In addition to providing public entertainment, the photos will offer students and art scholars the opportunity to learn more about Warhol and his techniques.

Many of the Warhol photos were of celebrities from the 1970s and '80s, including the four portrayed here. On the front: From the top left and then clockwise: Maria Shriver, journalist and future First Lady of California; Deborah Harry, singer with the group Blondie; Jack Nicklaus, professional golf champion; and Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilder, actor and future governor of California. Inside: Robin Bernhard, Nelson Gallery collections manager, examines the contents of the university's new Andy Warhol collection on April 11 while members of the media look on. A slideshow of the Warhol photos can be viewed on the UC Davis home page at www.ucdavis.edu.