Latest News

The groundbreaking group show Aztlán: Tunel del Tiempo opened at the national galleries of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and features works by Professor Beatriz Cortez.

Professor Beatriz Cortez and rafa esparza’s two-person exhibition La Rebelion de los Objetos (The Rebellion of the Objects) opened at Museo Anahuacalli in Mexico City on Feb. 3.

Professor Michael Yonan has contributed a chapter to a newly published book that examines the human-centered focus of art history and how modern art, visual culture, and modernity itself emerge from relationships between humans and animals. “Feline Creativity on the Eve of Modernity,” co-authored with Amy Freund, is published in Animal Modernities: Images, Objects, Histories, edited by Daniel Harkett and Katie Hornstein (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2025). 

Congratulations to Nathan Henry who has been selected to the Yale Norfolk Summer Program!

Nathan was one of three art studio majors nominated by faculty for the  prestigious summer program which is one of the Undergraduate Winter Awards.

Justine Di Fiore (M.F.A. ‘23) will open her new solo show “Urgent Care” at Dreamsong gallery in Minneapolis on Mar. 21.

FalseFront will exhibit a solo show of new paintings by alum Noah Greene (M.F.A. ‘18). Greene’s idiosyncratic paintings are the result of scavenged 
material and durational exposure to the elements. 

Professor Heghnar Watenpaugh will present a public lecture at the National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilizations (INALCO) on Mar. 27 in Paris. Her talk on Survivor Objects and Captive Sites: Art and Cultural Heritage in Genocide will be the inaugural presentation for the International Master’s Program in Armenian Studies (IMAS) for which Watenpaugh is the 2025 IMAS Visiting Chair of Excellence. 

The Maria Manetti Shrem Institute for Sustainable Design, Fashion and Textiles hosted its first speaker in the Industry Seminar Series: Federico Marchetti on Feb. 4.

Professor Michael Yonan participated in a conference celebrating the role of women in the development of the Museo del Prado collection. “Key Women in the Creation of the Collections of the Museo del Prado: Elisabeth Farnese” explored the roll of Queen Elisabeth Farnese, the patron of the arts who most decisively contributed to giving shape to the Museo del Prado’s collections. This conference was the third edition of the symposium series titled Key Women in the Creation of the Collections of the Museo del Prado and was held on March 9 and 10.

Alum Vivian Li (B.A., art history ‘25) presented research conducted while studying at UC Davis at the annual Association for Asian Studies conference Poster Session. The conference was held in Vancouver, B.C., Canada March 12-15, 2026. Li’s research examined ”Cultural Coding of Color: A Comparative Study of Eastern and Western Perspectives and Modern Applications.” Her project was developed in coordination with Professor Katharine Burnett.

Professor Shiva Ahmadi’s new solo exhibition opens this Friday at Haines Gallery in San Francisco. Crown of Flames features new and recent works that continue Ahmadi’s longterm exploration of conflict, corruption, and instability, informed by her own experiences and the current news cycle.

Rita Sahai, Lecturer in Music and Director of the UC Davis Hindustani Vocal Ensemble, has been selected as a recipient of a Hind Rattan (Jewel of India) Award, which is given annually by the Welfare Society of India to accomplished Indians living abroad. Sahai will be presented the award in London on August 14, 2026, by some of India’s highest ranking government officials, as well as members of India’s Supreme Court.

Open Inquiry: UC Arts brings together emerging artists from the University of California’s leading art programs at UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis for a group show at the Sausalito Center for the Arts. Featuring current students and graduates from the past two decades, the exhibition highlights innovative, research-driven practices across painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and digital media.

A scandal at the Nanjing Museum involving a Ming masterpiece, millions in laundered money and missing art donations recently set off alarms in the art world. Correspondent Richard Spencer of The Times (London) talked to Professor Katharine Burnett about the inquiry and scandal in his article “The Chinese museum, the Ming masterpiece and the missing millions.” Burnett  recently published a book on the collector Pang Yuanji (Shaping Chinese Art History: Pang Yuanji and His Painting Collection, 2020).

The Art of Tea exhibit, on display in Shields Library’s Archives and Special Collections Reading Room, celebrates the UC Davis Global Tea Institute‘s 11th Annual Colloquium: “The Art of Tea in Culture and Science, Society and Health.” Curated by M.A.