The Art of Athletes — UC Davis student-athletes put on an exhibition Oct. 16-18, and photos from the exhibit are now available for viewing online.

Campus Perspective: Photos by University Photographer Karin Higgins — Through Jan. 3, Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center, Old Davis Road at Mrak Hall Drive. Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

Diversity in the C.N. Gorman Museum Collections — Featuring recent donations: lithographs and sculpture by Salvador Dalí, and paintings and drawings by Florentino Laime Mantilla. Extended viewing, Jan. 4-15, C.N. Gorman Museum, first floor, Hart Hall. Hours: noon-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday.

How to Make a (Political) Play: Behind the Scenes with the San Francisco Mime Troupe — Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, a political theater group. The exhibition is drawn from script drafts, memos, correspondence, broadsides, graphics, photographs and even old checkbooks — among the troupe’s archives that are housed in the UC Davis General Library’s Special Collections. Fall and winter quarters, first floor, Shields Library. Intersession hours, Dec. 12-Jan. 3: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday (with the exception of Dec. 21-23, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.), closed Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

Prison Works — From the art workshop at the California Medical Facility, Vacaville. Through March 21, Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center.

University Library: Building a Foundation, 1908-2008 — Centennial exhibition. First floor, Shields Library. Intersession hours, Dec. 12-Jan. 3: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday (with the exception of Dec. 21-23, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.), closed Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

OPENING IN JANUARY-FEBRUARY

Description of a Journey: Art and Contemporary Narrative — Featuring the work of Rubén Ángeles, Carmen Chami, José Antonio Farrera, Elvira Sarmiento and Alejandra Zermeño, this exhibition reflects upon the physical, emotional and metaphorical experiences that arise through the journey and the narrative. Sponsored by the Mexican consulate general, the exhibition celebrates the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution. Feb. 1-March 19, C.N. Gorman Museum. Hours: noon-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday.

From Our Land — About the Nikkei (Japanese emigrants) and their role in California agriculture as well as their response to the changing political climate from the turn of the 20th century to the to the present day. Jan. 11-March 7, Design Museum, first floor, Hart Hall. Hours: noon-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday. Reception, 1 p.m. Jan. 24, Walker Hall.

In and of Itself—By three artists who use different media to interpret the life of birds. Dede deGraffenried, bronze sculpture and glass fusing instructor at the Craft Center, creates meticulously crafted glass and bronze eggs, and combines them with found nests to offer inspired vignettes of bird life; Sumner W. Fowler photographs everything from hummingbirds tinier than a thumb to raptors with 6-foot wingspans; and Elaine Sichel combines wooden cigar boxes with ephemera and natural materials to tell ornithological stories. Jan. 4-Feb. 5, Craft Center Gallery, South Silo. Reception, 4:30-6 p.m. Jan. 9. 

Recently Conserved Works — A showing of three rehabilitated works (by Roy De Forest, Wayne Thiebaud and Edward Weston) to add to visitors’ understanding of the “behind-the-scenes” work of a museum. Jan. 7-March 14, Nelson Entryway Gallery, 125 Art Building. Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, by appointment on Fridays; and 2-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

Selected Recent Acquisitions: 2007-09 — Insight into the acquisition process—with this exhibition of some 40 works donated over the past three years. Included are works by UC Davis art professor Wayne Thiebaud, drawings by the late Robert Arneson, also a UC Davis professor; prints by Professor Emeritus Malaquias Montoya given on the occasion of his retirement; and a drawing by William T. Wiley, another UC Davis professor. Jan. 7-March 7, Nelson Gallery, 124 Art Building. Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, by appointment on Fridays; and 2-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Reception: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Jan. 7.

OFF CAMPUS

A Seed Planted: A Tribute to Robert Arneson — Featuring works by the late UC Davis professor and his students. Jan. 8-Feb. 5, Tsao Gallery in the Davis Art Center, 1919 F St. Public reception during the ArtAbout, 7-9 p.m. Jan. 8. Gallery hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; and 1-5 p.m. Jan. 9 and 30. Free admission.

Wayne Thiebaud Collection — California State University, Sacramento, is showing all 150 works in its Wayne Thiebaud collection. The collection comprises works from 1948 to 2004, when two anonymous donors gave the collection to the university. Thiebaud is a professor emeritus of art at UC Davis and a graduate of Sacramento State. Through Jan. 23, Library Gallery (open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday). Free admission.