Ukrainian and Native American Artists Explore Cultural Identity in Talks at UC Davis

The UC Davis Department of Art and Art History will launch its 2023–24 public lecture series with talks by artists Katya Grokhovsky (Oct. 12) and Sky Hopinka (Oct. 26) at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. The talks are free and open to the public. 

Katya Grokhovsky is a Ukrainian-born, New York City-based artist and a founding director of The Immigrant Artist Biennial. Grokhovsky’s work explores cultural identity, labor, body, history and the self through installation, sculpture, painting, drawing, fiber, video and performance. She is a recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the New American Fellowship: American Immigration Council. 

Grokhovsky is the fall teaching artist-in-residence for The Manetti Shrem California Studio, teaching both undergraduate art majors and studio Master of Fine Arts students. She will give a public talk on Oct. 12 at 4:30 p.m. at the Manetti Shrem Museum. This event is co-sponsored by the Manetti Shrem Museum and Global Affairs at UC Davis.  She will also give a talk organized by the UC Davis Global Migration Center and co-sponsored by the Department of Art and Art History on Oct. 24 at noon, in Room a 2203 of the Social Science and Humanities Building. 

Sky Hopinka, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, is a visual artist and filmmaker. His work centers around Indigenous homeland and landscape. Hopinka’s films have been screened at the Sundance Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, and he recently had a solo exhibition at LUMA Arles in France. In 2022, Hopinka received a MacArthur Fellowship. 

Hopinka will give a public talk on Oct. 26 at 4:30 p.m. at the Manetti Shrem Museum. His presentation is part of the Art Studio Visiting Artist Lecture Series and is supported by the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis and co-sponsored by the Manetti Shrem Museum. 

Throughout the academic year, art studio at UC Davis hosts numerous public lectures with leading contemporary artists and art professionals. It is home to the Visiting Artist Lecture Series and the Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Lecture Series, as well as The California Studio: Manetti Shrem Artist Residencies.  

The Department of Art and Art History is part of the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. 

For more details on these programs and upcoming events, please visit artstudio.ucdavis.edu.