When Wayne Thiebaud arrived at UC Davis in 1961, the university had been an independent campus for only two years. The art department was in an embryonic stage. Then in 1962, Thiebaud had a groundbreaking exhibition in New York and, during the decades that followed, his reputation only grew. Along the way he was joined by other art faculty who soon developed national reputations as well, and UC Davis became nearly as well-known for art as for agriculture.

More than $1 million in new awards from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the UC Davis Department of Native American Studies are strengthening Indigenous ancestral languages and contemporary art.  

The California Studio: Manetti Shrem Artist Residencies in the UC Davis Department of Art and Art History will welcome acclaimed painter Jennifer Packer to campus in February. Packer currently has solo exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. She will work with students and give a public talk.

The UC Davis Department of Art and Art History solidifies its place as a premier hub for artistic innovation and fine arts education with the launch of The California Studio: Manetti Shrem Artist Residencies. The department’s three-year program starts this fall with a lineup of internationally renowned “spotlight” artists Raúl de Nieves, Jennifer Packer and Ann Hamilton; and teaching artists-in-residence Tamar Ettun and Beatriz Cortez.

As part of a $1.8 million award from the UC Office of the President, Assistant Professor of Chicana/o Studies Ofelia Ortiz Cuevas will examine how artists around the world have created public protest art. She plans to bring artists from Cuba, Vietnam, the Middle East, Africa and other places together for a symposium, create a graphic publication and organize an exhibition of their work.

Julia Koerner, who worked on the Black Panther movie and is at the forefront of 3D printing and sustainable design, will be the guest for the UC Davis Alberini Family Speaker Series in Design. Koerner, whose creative endeavors include architecture, fashion, sculpture and product design, will give a presentation titled “Models & Models” on April 22 at 4 p.m.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, whose art negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in the United States and her native Nigeria through collage and photo transfer-based paintings, will give the seventh annual UC Davis Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Endowed Lecture on Nov. 12 at 4:30 p.m. This year’s free online lecture celebrates art professor emeritus Wayne Thiebaud’s 100th birthday on Nov.