Not everything is virtual (anymore). Local galleries (see below), and Pence’s auction starts Tuesday. All are hoping that museums can open locally in time for the Crocker’s Wayne Thiebaud exhibition in commemoration of his 100th birthday. (UC Davis’ Manetti Shrem Museum hopes to have a celebration and exhibition in the new year.) Stay tuned.
Also, UC Davis Theatre Festival starts next week.
Compiled by UC Davis Media Relations Intern Leigh Houck
Axis Gallery is open again
Axis Gallery in Sacramento is reopening. You must comply with safety guidelines and make an appointment here to visit the gallery.
- If a virtual visit is still more your speed, you’re also in luck. For every two weeks the Axis Gallery has been closed, they have uploaded a virtual exhibit to their website under the heading “Past, Present, and Future, a Celebration of Axis Gallery.”
- The exhibits include words from the artists, photos and even videos. Click here to learn more and view the virtual exhibits.
Verge has class Thursday evening
The Verge Center for the Arts remains closed, but offers an online class today and an in-person class in October.
- It’s not too late! Today, Aug. 27, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., join Kate Farrall for the online class “How to promote and sell your work on Instagram and Facebook Live.” Register here.
- Click here to register for the in-person class “Slab Building: DIY Wall Hanging” that will take place on Oct. 4. Masks are required.
- For the 15th year, the Verge Center for the Arts is presenting Sac Open Studios. The Sac Open Studios event typically allows you to view local art and meet local artists in their own studios. This year Verge is making their event virtual “...so you can see art and meet our region’s talented artists all from the comfort of your own home. Mark your calendars for Sept. 10-13 and 17-20.” Check vergeart.com for updates.
SFMOMA offering online materials
While the SFMOMA remains closed, the museum continues to offer a wealth of online materials.
- Learn about the history of photography by watching charming animated videos here.
- Participate in artist Mark Bradford’s art activity “RE-RE-Process: Rearranging the familiar” here. While the prompt is designed for high school students, use your imagination to adjust it to your situation.
Pence Gallery open Tuesday through Friday, Art auction starts Tuesday
- The Pence Gallery is now open Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 to 5 p.m, and Sunday 11:30 to 5 p.m. No appointment necessary. Visitors must wear a mask and practice social distancing.
- The Pence Gallery is hosting their Art Auction 2020 from Sept. 1-26. Go to their website pencegallery.org on Tuesday, Sept. 1 to view the 150-plus available pieces and place your bids.
Coming soon...
UC Davis theatre festival goes virtual in early September
The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance has announced that “Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank” (formerly the “Ground and Field Theatre Festival”) will be virtual this year. Catalyst will take place online on Sept. 2, 10, 11, and 19.
- As in previous years, “...playwrights, composers, and lyricists will develop new works under the guidance of the festival’s co-artistic directors Mindy Cooper, UC Davis professor of theatre and dance, and alumna Lisa Quoresimo (Ph.D., performance studies, ‘18), assistant professor of theatre and dance at Southern Utah University.” This year, highlights of Catalyst include a webinar and readings of two new plays. Click here for more information.
Celebrate Thiebaud: Crocker Museum presents retrospective for artist’s 100th birthday
Wayne Thiebaud, a world renowned artist and professor emeritus of the UC Davis Art Department, celebrates his 100th birthday this Nov. 15. In honor of this occasion, The Crocker Art Museum is planning a special exhibition:
The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento presents Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings, an extensive, celebratory retrospective featuring the full range of the Sacramento artist’s achievements on canvas and on paper in an exhibition at the Crocker from Oct. 11 to Jan. 3, if the COVID-19 regulations allow the museum to open.
Opening shortly before Thiebaud’s 100th birthday, the career-spanning exhibition of 100 objects made over more than 70 years (1947-2019), is the largest survey of Wayne Thiebaud’s work in in two decades. Works drawn from the Crocker’s holdings and the collection of the Thiebaud Family and Foundation, many of which have never been shown publicly, as well as the artist’s newest body of work, circus clowns, reveal an extraordinary, expansive practice. Accompanied by a full-color, richly illustrated publication with fresh scholarship by Crocker Art Museum’s Associate Director & Chief Curator Scott A. Shields and others asserts that Thiebaud’s body of work is singular and visionary, informed by memory, tradition and imagination.
“Wayne Thiebaud is a national treasure, Sacramento is his hometown, and we are delighted to celebrate his 100th birthday with an exhibition that honors the vitality, vibrancy, and wit of his art and civically engaged life,” says Lial A. Jones, the Museum’s Mort and Marcy Friedman Director & CEO. “Wayne Thiebaud 100 continues a Crocker tradition of organizing an exhibition of the artist’s work in every decade since 1951, when the Crocker accorded him his first solo museum show. We will recognize his achievements through an important publication alongside virtual exhibition tours and programs, fresh and archival interviews with the curator and the artist himself, plus fun and engaging digital activities for all ages.”
Click here to read the full news release describing the exhibition and the new scholarly publication/catalog.
Record birthday wishes for UC Davis
UC Davis Art Studio is creating a compilation video to celebrate UC Davis Art Professor Emeritus Wayne Thiebaud, whose 100th birthday is on Nov. 15, 2020. You are invited to create a five-second long video to be included in the compilation. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 1. For more information and to submit your well wishes, click here.
Art Tweet for Fun
Find a fun art tweet out of UC Davis Biological Sciences here. (It's from July, but it's still a great sculpture).
