‘Unexpected Legends’ premieres on KVIE television 

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m.

Unexpected Legends will make its television debut on KVIE at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 13. It will also be streaming on-demand through the PBS app.

The film is an extension of the Year of the Eggheads, a campuswide celebration of Robert Arneson, a longtime professor at UC Davis and the creator of the five sculptures comprising the Egghead Series on campus that have elicited joy, engagement and conversation since their installation in 1994. A preview of the film, with an accompanying panel discussion of UC Davis Art faculty and a student, was held at the Manetti Shrem Museum.

Stay in the loop by subscribing to the Eggheads newsletter. Read the full article about this production here.

Renny Pritikin, formerly of UC Davis Nelson Gallery, to read from his memoir at Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 4-5:30 p.m., Community Education Room at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

A book celebration for Renny Pritikin’s memoir, At Third and Mission: A Life Among Artists happens this Wednesday. Pritikin is a Bay Area-based curator, art writer and poet who was curator and director of The Nelson Gallery and Fine Arts Collection at UC Davis from 2004 to 2012. Pritkin also has been chief curator at New Langton Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Contemporary Jewish Museum of Art. Over his 40-plus years in the art world Pritikin worked with, befriended, and sometimes almost got arrested with some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most innovative and celebrated artists and writers. 

He’s the author of five books of poetry and a memoir, At Third and Mission: A Life Among Artists and will give a reading from his memoir on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

Imagine America with art

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, 3-4:30 p.m. 

Wyatt Deck, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden

This Imagining America Happening invites participants to draw inspiration from the natural world in their creative art-making practices. We will use natural and found materials to connect with and make visible, in new ways, the relations between place, land, and embodiment. 

• How do our bodies extend beyond their skin? 
• How does place become part of our touching, feeling self? 
• How can we engage our multiple senses to see differently? 
• Join for an afternoon of crafting with natural materials in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. 

More information https://imaginingamerica.org

Lunn Memorial Lecture features Austrian filmmakers for award-winning 'The Devil's Bath'

UC Davis historian-inspired film

Thursday, Nov. 14, 4-6 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, free. Followed by film screening at Cruess Hall

From Reality to Truth: (Re)Creating History in Film

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s most recent film, The Devil’s Bath (2024), was based on UC Davis Professor Kathy Stuart’s original research. It won a Silver Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival and is Austria’s official entrant for the 2025 Academy Awards. It is this year's Eugene Lunn Memorial Lecture. 

Franz and Fiala’s discussion, “From Reality to Truth: (Re)Creating History in Film” asks, “How do you (re)create history in a film? How do you depict a concrete place and time when only scarce sources convey a vague idea of how the past might have looked like and felt to its contemporaries…We’ll follow the path from fact to truth during the production of our film The Devil’s Bath," which tells a story about women's mental health, motherhood, and life in early Modern Europe.

The Devil's Bath (120 minutes) will have a separate showing on campus on Thursday, Nov. 14 in Cruess 1002 from 8:15-11 p.m. This includes a post- screening Q&A with the filmmakers and Professors Stuart and Kyu Kim. Like the Lunn Lecture, it is free and open to the public. The film will be screened in its original German with English subtitles.

Content warning: this film has some disturbing content and scenes.

Read more about the Lunn Lecture and the book, event and film here. Read more about Stuart's research in this story. 

Read about Stuart's recent book award. 

Terrie Baune serenades with the violin, John Chernoff on the piano

Thursday, Nov. 14, 12:05 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center, a Shinkoskey Noon Concert, free

Program to be announced

Jazz Combos of UC Davis have fall quarter recital

Thursday, Nov. 14, 5-7 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center, free

Otto Lee, director and UC Davis lecturer in music

Program to be announced

UC Davis faculty and alum participate in preview of Ken Burns' 'Leonardo Da Vinci'

Thursday, Nov 14., 6:30 p.m., Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation Studio, PBS KVIE, 2030 W. El Camino Ave., Sacramento

PBS KVIE will feature a screening of Leonardo da Vinci, a new film by Ken Burns, followed by a conversation with art studio alum Julia Couzens (M.F.A. ‘90) and design Professor James Housefield as they discuss the towering achievements of Leonardo da Vinci. The event is full at this point.

A 15th century polymath of soaring imagination and profound intellect, Leonardo da Vinci created some of the most revered works of art of all time, but his artistic endeavors often seemed peripheral to his pursuits in science and engineering. Through his paintings and thousands of pages of drawings and writings, Leonardo da Vinci explores one of humankind’s most curious and innovative minds.

Read more here: Faculty and Alum Participate in Preview of "Leonardo da Vinci" - UC Davis Arts

Woodland Opera House showcases 'Mean Girls'

Thursday, Nov. 14 through Sunday, Nov. 17, 340 Second St., tickets ranging from $5-$20

Mean Girls is a musical based on the popular 2004 movie about Cady Heron, a teenager who moves from Africa to Illinois and enters a new high school. As she tries to fit in and climb the popularity ladder, she learns important lessons about friendship, authenticity, and the consequences of her actions. When dethroned, Regina gets revenge by releasing the Burn Book, Cady is brought down and must mend her broken relationships with Janis, Aaron, and even Regina. With dynamic songs for young performers, Mean Girls is an anthem to friendship, loyalty, girl power, and being true to yourself.

Get tickets here. 

Engage the family in collaborative art projects at Art in Action at the Pence Gallery

Sunday, Nov. 17, 1-3 p.m., $4 for Pence Gallery members and $8 for non-members, 212 D. Street

Make amazing autumn prints this Sunday at the Pence Gallery where the entire family can participate in fall-inspired printmaking. Prints include mushrooms, trees, leaves, pumpkins, and more! Find out more here Art in Action – Pence Gallery. 

Take watercolor classes at the Pence Gallery

Intermediate watercolor: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 9-10:30 a.m., $70 for Pence Gallery members, $80 for non members

Beginning watercolor: Thursday, Nov. 21, 1:30-3 p.m., $70 for Pence Gallery members, $80 for non members

The beginning watercolor class is meant for students who have never taken a watercolor class or who are still learning how to use watercolor while the intermediate watercolor class is intended for students who are already familiar with watercolor materials and techniques. Please email Joanne Andresen directly at joanneandresen@gmail.com to register for her watercolor class, to receive a supply list, and for any questions.