Seongmin Yoo identifies as an “Aggie” in every sense of the word. Though she grew up in South Korea, she says Davis is “home.”

Yoo has been working with the Davis Mural Team for the last three years and has helped paint five different murals downtown. She is passionate about helping the local art scene thrive.

Her latest effort welcomes residents, visitors and passersby into the city as they travel along I-80 through Davis. Featuring blue skies, green pastures, and some of the city’s most iconic imagery, Yoo’s “Welcome to Davis” mural is a celebration of art, agriculture and education.

“I really wanted to capture the feeling of being in Davis,” Yoo said.

She said she wanted to specifically represent Davis summers when everything from the vegetables to the sunflowers are bright and vibrant. The artist and M.F.A. in Art Studio alum received permission to include UC Davis symbols, including the iconic water tower, one of Robert Arneson’s Egghead sculptures, and the Cal Aggie Athletics logo.

 I'm pretty happy because UC Davis provided my M.F.A. degree and, for a year, I've been busy making art and having shows. I am grateful to be able to keep working as an artist. I think I am one of the proudest Aggies. "  — Seongmin Yoo

After completing an undergraduate program in Japanese language in Korea, Yoo moved to California, received a master’s degree from Sacramento State and, already living in Davis, earned an M.F.A. in Art Studio from the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis in 2024. She’s made the city her home for the last 10 years.

“I decided Davis is the perfect location for me right now,” Yoo said. The good people, the access to nature, she said, “It keeps me going, nothing bothers me.”

Celebrating a shared artistic legacy

UC Davis' strong history in the arts was one of the main things that attracted Yoo to the program. From Robert Arneson and Wayne Thiebaud on campus to the city’s support of public art, Yoo said she’s proud to be an artist in Davis.

“Davis has so much public art,” Yoo said. “From any corner, on any wall, we can see art.”

Yoo’s projects, in addition to “Welcome to Davis,” can be seen downtown and include playfully colorful aliens hanging out in the alley behind a row of businesses at Second and B Streets, and the Gunrock sculpture at 5^th and I Streets. And she’s not done.

While exhibiting across the U.S. and in Korea, Yoo has continued to submit proposals and applications for public art around Davis. Throughout September, Yoo will be working on a mural for a local bakery, taking over the mural where Uncle Vito’s Slice of N.Y. once was.

This past year, her work has been exhibited at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles; the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana; LP Gallery and Korea Magazine Museum, both in Seoul, South Korea.

“I cannot stop making art,” she said. “It’s so fun!”