Editor's note: This is the last Weekender and Arts Blog story written by our intern for the past school year, Michelle Villagomez, who is graduating. We wish her well! She has written many fine stories for the Arts Blog during her time in the Strategic Communications News and Media Relations office. She will be missed, but we look forward to hearing where her career will take her in the near future.
Karen Nikos-Rose, Arts Blog Editor
'Juliet and Romeo' by Catalyst begins tonight
A Shakespearean tragedy gets a contemporary musical comedy makeover when the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance and Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank presents Juliet and Romeo. Developed in a special collaboration with Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, the musical will be accessible virtually Thursday, June 3 at 6 p.m. through midnight on Saturday, June 5, here. The performance is free and open to all. The production will be featured as part of the Mondavi Center’s HomeStage series with promotional support from the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.
Juliet and Romeo was created by Paul Gordon, a Tony Award nominee for his music for Jane Eyre and Curtis Moore, an Emmy Award nominee for original song for Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. A contemporary spin on the Bard’s classic centers on a second-rate author who finds himself in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and his determination to figure out how to change the ending.
The production is co-directed by Broadway veteran Mindy Cooper, UC Davis professor of theatre and dance, and alumna Lisa Quoresimo, Ph.D., performance studies, ‘18, who is assistant professor of theatre and dance at SUU. Gordon and Moore are the Granada Artists-in-Residence for spring 2021.
Learn more about this event on the Mondavi website.
YoloArts and Gallery 625 present an in-person exhibit and reception this Friday
The Hot and Cold of It, a solo exhibition, will feature the mixed media artwork of Linda Nunes. The show runs June 4 through Aug. 3 at YoloArts' Gallery 625 in Woodland.
Nunes, a mixed media artist from the Bay Area, resides in the Sacramento area. She holds a Studio Arts degree from CSU Sacramento. Nunes has exhibited paintings, sculpture, large permanent and temporary installations locally and in the Bay Area, including several large commissioned pieces for restaurants and other commercial spaces.
Nunes’ work is mostly non-narrative, primarily two-dimensional and characterized by gestural marks, texture and color. She most often creates in the unique and ancient media of encaustic, combining pigment with bee’s wax and resin, or cold wax and oil. A finished piece may include a dozen or more other media.
“After more than 14 months we are excited to be resuming First Friday show openings and receptions. I hope everyone will come out to meet Linda and see this exhibition of her luminous and soulful works,” said Janice Purnell, YoloArts creative director. The artist will be attending the opening reception, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, June 4, coinciding with the downtown Woodland First Friday event. Music will be performed by solo guitarist Jon Spivack.
Refreshments will be available outdoors in the gallery courtyard at the entrance to the gallery. Following recommendations and guidelines from California Department of Public Health, Gallery 625 will limit the number of indoor guests to 50 percent of capacity. To ensure a safe and healthy visit, masks will be required for all guests over the age of 2, including those who are fully or partially vaccinated.
The exhibition can also be viewed virtually at yoloarts.org, and at noon on Monday, June 21, Nunes will be giving a talk about her work along with a short encaustic wax painting demonstration, available for viewing on Facebook and Instagram @YoloartsCA.
For more information about this exhibit and event, go here.
Mondavi Center HomeStage presents Alexander String Quartet
The Alexander String Quartet will make Mozart’s music the focus of their concerts in 2021. This is a historic year for the beloved quartet as violist Paul Yarbrough retires and David Samuel joins the group. To celebrate this transition the group will focus on some of Mozart’s most beautiful (and not-so-well-known) music: his viola quintets will provide an opportunity for Yarbrough and Samuel to play together; and the three-event series concludes with one of Mozart’s very last pieces, the Clarinet Quintet. Tune in on Sunday, June 6, at 2 p.m. to enjoy this performance.
Mozart Viola Quintet in E-flat Major, K. 614
Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581
A major artistic presence in its home base of San Francisco, the Alexander String Quartet is equally beloved in its second home, the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. This year the quartet introduces a new member, violist David Samuel, joining cellist Sandy Wilson, and violinists Fred Lifsitz and Zakarias Grafilo.
Robert Greenberg
Greenberg has performed, taught and lectured extensively across North America and Europe. He is currently music historian-in-residence with San Francisco Performances, where he has lectured and performed since 1994.
Learn more about the event on the Mondavi website.
Get your tickets here. Free for UC Davis students and $15 for regular price.
Artist exhibit: Carrie Ceniseroz at Logo Books in Davis
Logo Books in downtown Davis is exhibiting etchings and paintings by Carrie Ceniseroz. “Ancient Illusions” will be exhibited at the bookstore through Friday, July 2. Their hours are Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Carrie Ceniseroz is a retired Davis art teacher, a Crocker Art Museum docent and local participant in all things art related (including the arts coordinator for Logos Books).
"The upcoming display of artwork is a gathering of many years of interest in the ancient peoples of Central America. Part of my family is from Mexico and having traveled many times to enjoy the rich heritage, I found I wanted to share with others the intriguing stories of the artistic culture of these ancient peoples. We should learn from the past and delve into the study of the life and death of these past peoples.
"I have appreciated these ancient peoples' artistic sense and try to include this sensibility in my artwork. I have chosen many images of life through death as a reflection of my own family’s life through death experiences. The Xipe Totec, Quezalcoatl, Cacaxtla Quetzal images keep filtering into my work. Their meanings, as well as their graceful lines and shapes, seem to come to me over and over again like I am living another life. Each of my artworks has a story of the past to be told in the present. Mine is a celebration of color, line and shape." Carrie Ceniseroz
For more information, go here.
The popular rainbow crosswalks around Central Park kickstart Pride Month
The following excerpt was taken from a news release written by Wendy Weitzel.
Rainbow crosswalks, live music, drag queens and skating are all on the calendar as Davis celebrates June as Pride Month.
The Davis Pride Festival will take place Sunday, June 13, in Central Park, 401 C St. Several activities lead up to and follow that celebration.
The popular rainbow crosswalks were painted around Central Park on Sunday, May 30. Meanwhile, the city will hang Davis Pride rainbow banners throughout town, on display throughout June. The Davis City Council passed a resolution allowing the rainbow flag to be flown at City Hall as well.
Business owners are asked to show their support by hanging a rainbow flag poster in their window. Posters are free, and available by emailing admin@davisphoenixco.org.
A Rainbow Skate Party is set for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 12, in Central Park. Inline and roller-skating participants are welcome to roll to DJ music in an area that will be fenced off under the Davis Farmers Market pavilion. Those wearing rainbow gear will be eligible to win prizes.
Davis Pride teams up with the Davis Craft and Vintage Market for the Davis Pride Festival on Sunday, June 13. The festival will have entertainment from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., including live bands and a drag queen revue. The craft market, traditionally on the first Sunday of the month, is returning for a second market in June. Health guidelines require participants to have tickets and assigned seating to attend the show. Tickets are free, with donations accepted.
June is National Pride Month. Davis festivities are traditionally celebrated in May, when UC Davis students are still in school. With most Aggies doing online learning, this year’s celebration is in June. The 2020 event was virtual.
Coming up
Annual grad exhibit features many disciplines
The annual exhibition by UC Davis arts and humanities graduate students will showcase works across the disciplines of art, design, music, creative writing, Native American studies, English, Spanish and French. The exhibition is hosted by the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art and can be viewed June 10 through Sept. 6 on the museum’s website. This is the second year it will be taking place online due to the restrictions of COVID-19.
To see a sampling of what you will see and the names of participating students, read this story by the UC Davis College of Letters and Science.
The exhibition opens with a virtual reception on June 10 at 6 p.m. PDT during which the Keister & Allen Art Purchase Prize for an art student and The Savageau Award for a design student will be announced.
John Natsoulas Center for the Arts presents 2 new exhibitions next week
‘Pop Meets Funk Exhibition’
Featured Artists: Banksy, Christo, Richard Pettibone, Claes Odenberg, Mel Ramos, Patrick Siler, James Albertson, Robert Arneson, William T. Wiley, Peter Saul, David Gilhooly, Wayne Thiebaud, Alex Gross, Shalene Valenzuela, Peter Vandenberg, Bill Maul, Gladys Nilsson, Roy De Forest, Lisa Clague, Robert Ransom, Kevin Snipes, Beth Lo, Glenn Takai, Patti Warashina, Tom Rippon, Robert Brady, Robert Haemmerling, Melissa Chandon, Richard Shaw, Mark Buwinkle, and more.
Opening Reception Night: Friday, June 11 at 7 p.m. at the John Natsoulas Gallery in downtown Davis.
Alumna Sarah Lam will be exhibiting her work
Sarah Lam graduated with honors from UC Davis, where she studied fine art under professors David Hollowell and Wayne Thiebaud. Through a University sponsored class, Sarah met John Natsoulas, a gallery owner who would become her mentor in the art world. Impressed by her work, Natsoulas sponsored her first solo show in 2004 at his John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, where she continues to regularly exhibit her work.
This exhibition will run from Wednesday, June 9 at 11 a.m. through Saturday, July 17 at 5 p.m.
Learn more about the upcoming exhibitions here. And watch for updates in next week's Arts Blog.
Social Media of the Week
We came across this Instagram post by Manetti Shrem Museum reminding us that leading up to the annual multidisciplinary Arts & Humanities 2021 Graduate Virtual Exhibition next week, the museum will be doing a student takeover with their work.
