The public is invited to view the three finalist proposals for UC Davis’ new art museum that is envisioned as an inspiring teaching and cultural resource for the region. 

After an intense, four-month competition, the architect-contractor teams will show their drawings and three-dimensional scale models for the planned Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, at the UC Davis Conference Center. The drawings and architectural models will also be on display from Thursday, April 4, through Sunday, May 19, at theNelson Gallery.

The winning design will be announced in mid-May, following a series of community forums to receive input about the museum from students, faculty, staff and the community. Construction is anticipated to begin next year. 

The museum will include the Fine Arts Collection at UC Davis, which contains more than 5,000 works from antiquities to contemporary art. The building will be built on a 1.6-acre site near the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, the UC Davis Conference Center and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. Hall. It will serve as the capstone of a planned “arts district” at the university’s new front door alongside Interstate 80. 

The new museum taps into UC Davis’ innovative artistic tradition dating back to the 1960s. Today the university boasts a nationally recognized Department of Art and Art History. It also has a program in Cinema and Technocultural Studies. 

Renderings from the three architectural finalists show what the new museum could look like. From left: Henning Larsen Architects’ “The Leaf,” SO – IL’s “Grand Canopy” and WORKac’s “The Slant”; also, photos in slideshow by Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis