After celebrating the 30th anniversary of Robert Arneson’s iconic sculptures, UC Davis is wrapping its campuswide Year of the Eggheads campaign in style this weekend at Picnic Day. 

The Arneson Egghead Collection pop-up shop will materialize one last time. Thanks to a partnership with the Craft Center, the shop will be joined by an egg decoration station where Aggies can paint and take home their own wooden egg — for free, but for a limited time only. Everything’s going down at the Silo Courtyard between the Gunrock restaurant and the Craft Center. Come by for big sales, bucket hat bundles and major markdowns on Egghead merchandise, including jewelry, tote bags and limited edition Eggheads cups. Then stay to paint your very own mini-Egghead. 

The pop-up shop and egg decoration station experience takes place from 4-6 p.m. on Friday (April 11). Materials will be provided by the Craft Center, and RSVPs for 30-minute time slots are highly encouraged. 

On the following day, Picnic Day, the Arneson Egghead Collection pop-up shop will remain open long enough for you to snag limited edition Eggheads merchandise from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 

All Egghead pop-up shop purchases of $30 or more will receive a free Egghead gift while supplies last. Picnic Day shoppers at the UC Davis Store downtown and at the Memorial Union will also receive a 25% discount on Egghead Collection items.

Once the Year of the Eggheads merchandise is gone, it’s gone! Be a part of history and celebrate this unique, year-long campaign.

The Year of the Eggheads in review

The Year of the Eggheads began April 4, 2024, with the launch of Eggheads.UCDavis.edu, a microsite celebrating the art and legacy of faculty member Robert Arneson and his Egghead sculptures. It details their history from conception to completion, including a dynamic timeline and links to the limited Arneson Egghead Collection.

Visitors filled the Manetti Shrem Museum for its opening reception with several new gallery offerings, including “Sunnyside Up: 30 Years of the Eggheads,” a large-scale visual display of Aggies sharing their memories and moments with the Egghead sculptures over the decades; “Hatched: The Making of Robert Arneson’s Eggheads,” an exhibit showcasing early models of Robert Arneson’s iconic sculptures; and an Eggheads pop-up shop featuring exclusive products. 

The UC Davis Library hosted an “Eggtastic” jazz ensemble inside Shields Library before the sculptures Bookhead and Eye on Mrak (Fatal Laff) were the stars of a ceremonial lighting event at the end of the evening. For many months thereafter, library visitors were also treated to “Egg-xtra, Egg-xtra Read All About It,” a pop-up exhibit of Egghead stories from The California Aggie, showcasing news and views from the early years.

Campus celebration, art district

The celebration continued across campus. Housing and Dining Services offered Egghead-themed desserts at all three dining commons and at Latitude Restaurant. The Coffee House provided discounts on breakfast burritos, while the Memorial Union Games Area and Campus Store offered discounts and raffle opportunities. Spokes at the Silo released six Egghead collectors cups over six weeks.

In November 2024, we returned to the Manetti Shrem Museum for the premiere of the original short documentary Unexpected Legends: Arneson, Eggheads and Arts at UC Davis. Produced by the Office of Strategic Communications and distributed by KVIE, Unexpected Legends illustrates how Arneson was part of a community of artists building the arts on campus — including Richard Nelson, William T. Wiley and Wayne Thiebaud — but also showcases the contemporary, collaborative culture of the arts today at UC Davis, including alumni and artist Deborah Butterfield; Katia Vega, assistant professor in the Department of Design; Beatriz Cortez, associate professor of art; Seongmin Yoo, MFA in art studio; April Camlin, MFA in art studio; and more. 

The arts celebrations continued into 2025 with the announcement of philanthropist Maria Manetti Shrem’s transformative gift of over $20 million, the largest gift ever to the College of Letters and Science and the largest to the arts at UC Davis. The new Maria Manetti Shrem Art District — a vibrant hub designed to expand creativity, innovation and collaboration on campus and beyond — was unveiled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in January. 

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