The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is a hub of creative practice for today’s thinkers, makers and innovators, with a future inspired by its past.
Opened on Nov. 13, 2016: Free for All
A Decade of Vision, Community and Creative Transformation
When the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art opened its doors in 2016, it did more than unveil a building. It signaled a bold affirmation that contemporary art and university research belong in direct conversation.
The founding vision — championed by philanthropists Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem and led by Founding Director Rachel Teagle — was to create a museum that celebrates creative risk, nurtures emerging artists, and bridges disciplines across campus. From the beginning, the museum embraced a distinctive identity: rigorous and welcoming, research-driven and accessible, global in perspective and rooted in the pioneering legacy of UC Davis art faculty.
Anchored by its award-winning 50,000-square-foot “Grand Canopy,” the museum quickly became both a gateway to UC Davis and a gathering place for the university community. Over the past decade, it has grown from a new cultural landmark into a nationally recognized university museum shaped by artists, students, donors, faculty and the broader community.
The museum comprises a vibrant ecosystem of exhibitions, public programs and partnerships. It has presented ambitious solo and thematic exhibitions featuring internationally recognized artists, while also spotlighting emerging voices. The museum has organized, hosted and collaborated on programs that have brought artists, writers, architects and designers into sustained dialogue with students.
Under its canopy, the museum has hosted tens of thousands of visitors annually, welcoming the university community and art enthusiasts from the region, the Bay Area and beyond. Free admission has remained a cornerstone of access.
The museum has demonstrated that a university art museum can be both experimental and deeply civic. It has foregrounded artists who explore identity, migration, environment and material innovation and has created space for interdisciplinary thinking at a time when complex global challenges demand creativity. The museum’s architectural presence — transparent, open, porous — has mirrored its institutional ethos. Named by ARTnews as one of 25 best museum buildings of the past 100 years, the Manetti Shrem Museum has become woven into the daily life of UC Davis and the region.
Mission Statement
With the same passion for experimentation that first brought prominence to the arts at UC Davis, the Manetti Shrem Museum cultivates transformational art experiences to inspire new thinking and the open exchange of ideas. Serving both the public and our university community with a dynamic artistic program, the museum: presents exhibitions and events that advance students’ understanding of their place in the world; connects to faculty teaching and research; and creates a lively forum for community engagement and creative practice
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Photo by Iwan Baan