If the American Dream includes hope of a better life in a promised land, then the story we tell must also acknowledge that dream has not always been equally available to all Americans. This concert gives us both sentiments of this “American Story.”

Rollo Dilworth set his choral and wind ensemble work “Weather” to the poem of the same name by Claudia Rankine. “Weather” (the poem) appeared in the New York Times Magazine shortly after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. It  captured in a few pointed phrases the pain of the pandemic and of America’s racial conflicts. Using American-born musical traditions, including the Blues, Rollo Dilworth juxtaposes Rankine’s words against a musical fabric, which challenges us to accept this part of our American story, and in time weather that challenge.

André Thomas, a composer known around the world for his spirituals, wrote his “Mass of Love and Joy” (filled with moving and joyous spirituals) in 2018 upon his own retirement, and which concludes and lifts up this choral concert. Thomas says of his work, “anyone can relate to spirituals. Everyone goes through trials and everyone looks for comfort.”

Program

Chamber Singers

Norman Dello Joio: A Jubilant Song

Samuel Barber: “Anthony O’Daly” from Reincarnations

William L. Dawson: Soon-Ah-Will Be Done

Concert Band

Carlos Simon: Amen!

— Intermission —

Combined Choruses

Rollo Dilworth: Weather
with the UC Davis Concert Band
and Shinae Kim, piano

“Historically, the arts have always fulfilled the dual roles of responding to change while at the same time creating change. Claudia Rankine’s poem, Weather, is a poem that gives voice to the voiceless, especially those who have been and continue to be marginalized because of difference. It responds to and reflects realities that are both culturally specific and humanly universal. Claudia Rankine challenges all of us (no matter your background or lived experience) to know better, to do better, to take action, and to become agents of social justice and social change.”

    —Rollo Dilworth

André Thomas: Mass of Love and Joy

$12 Students and Children, $24 Adults (Open Seating)

Arts and Humanities 2024 Graduate Exhibit features art from multiple fields of study

On Display June 6-24, Opening event Thursday, June 6

Every spring, UC Davis arts and humanities graduate students across the College of Letters and Science give their peers and the public a glimpse at what they've explored during their time at UC Davis. This year’s participants utilize sculpture, poetry, painting, drawing, video, textiles, digital fabrication, installations, multimedia and augmented reality to explore emotional states, gender and cultural identities, sustainability and authenticity.

This year’s participants use sculpture, poetry, painting, drawing, video, textiles, digital fabrication, installations, multimedia and augmented reality to explore emotional states, gender and cultural identities, sustainability and authenticity. 

“UC Davis arts and humanities students excel as experimental makers and thinkers,” said Rachel Teagle, the museum’s founding director. “During this year of celebrating the Eggheads and the arts at UC Davis, we’re especially proud to highlight their innovative work, along with the unique collaboration among the museum, the Office of the Chancellor and Provost, and the College of Letters and Science Dean’s Office that supports it.”

Read the full story on the graduate exhibition. 

Opening Celebration

Thursday, June 6, 5:30 p.m., The Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

UC Davis graduate students in the Arts and Humanities present their work at the Manetti Shrem Museum. You’ll experience new ways of seeing and understanding the past, present and future in this multidisciplinary exhibition. The free public opening celebration features performances by master’s and doctoral students, as well as the presentation of the LeShelle & Gary May Art Purchase Prize, the Keister & Allen Art Purchase Prize and the Savageau Award in the Department of Design.

The New Collections Gallery closing soon at Gorman

Available until Saturday, June 15, The Gorman Museum of Native American Art, UC Davis

Moving museum collections from off-site storage and placing artworks into prominent long-term exhibits in the main public galleries, the Collections Gallery provides enhanced visibility, access, and engagement to collections for visitors while also furthering university teaching and research.  

The Collections Gallery regularly features artworks from the Gorman Museum’s permanent collections on rotation, and presently include artworks by Native American foundational artists including Oscar Howe, Allan Houser, Allan Sapp, George Morrison, Kenojuak Ashevak, Bill Reid, Benjamin Haldane, Jennie Ross Cobb,  Lee Marmon, and others. More information on the Gorman.

Design by Design: Creuss Cruise

Closing June 21, the Design Museum, Creuss Hall

Cruess Cruise is the 2024 undergraduate showcase highlighting the versatility and creativity of the Department of Design, as shown through the outstanding course work produced over the past year by senior undergraduate students.

The Department of Design offers a challenging curriculum combining design history, theory, and studio courses. Faculty members assist students with the complex practice of translating ideas into realities and the important process of shaping culture, form, and content. Students are trained in combining design factors with technical skills to fluidly navigate the design discipline in the areas of Textiles and Fashion, Exhibition, Visual Communication, and Interior Lighting & Architecture.

'Hatched: The Making of Robert Arneson’s Eggheads' extended until June 30

Available until Sunday, June 30, The Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, UC Davis

This special lobby display shows early clay models of Robert Arneson’s iconic Egghead sculptures. Most of these models, known as maquettes, have never been shown before. Also, a visual display of photos and stories submitted by Aggies about their memories and moments with the sculptures accompanies the Egghead models. The Egghead popup shop at the museum is also extended. 

Read this Arts Blog review of the Butterfield exhibition, also extended through June 30.