Many people look to UC Davis Picnic Day as an opportunity to milk a cow, watch the dachshunds race, or see the College of Letters and Science Chemistry Magic Show, but there is a lot of art (and bugs) to experience as well. You can even participate in public sculpture at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, catch an abridged opera Friday night, and take in a free concert on Saturday.
On the Manetti Shrem Event Plaza, under the shade of the Grand Canopy, the museum will hold an art studio lab, using wire and translucent film to create sculptures that will catch the sun. Visitors are welcome to hang their sculptures on a larger structure made out of PVC pipe to essentially create a community sculpture. The museum, as well, is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Catch more on Facebook.
Bugs also have been invited. The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is gearing up for scores of insect-related activities at Briggs Hall and the Bohart Museum of Entomology for the 104th annual event. You can engage in maggot art, watch the cockroaches race, hold stick insects, taste blueberry honey, buy a Beetles T-shirt or other insect-themed T-shirt — and check out a virtual reality insect show where the insects are 40 feet tall.
At Briggs Hall, located off Kleiber Hall Drive, activities will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, open house is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday, April 20
If you are already in town on Friday, catch An Operatic Orpheus, an abridged and semi-staged production of Claudio Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” 5 to 7 p.m. at the Pitzer Recital Hall. Featuring student singers, the free performance will be directed by music faculty member Zoila Muñoz. The 1607 work is based on the legend of Orpheus, who descends to Hades to rescue his bride Eurydice.
Picnic Day, April 21
• Free Concert: The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra. (Noon – 1 p.m., Jackson Hall)
• Fashion Show 2018: Impression/Expression at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. features fashion collections designed and constructed by the Department of Design’s Signature Collection class. The shows usually sell out, so get discounted advance tickets for $12 soon.
• Museums Open: “It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design” at the Design Museum in Cruess Hall; the C.N. Gorman Museum, Manetti Shrem Museum, (and more bugs) at the Bohart, and others.