Davis: The Magic Behind the Curtain @arwilder - Tumblr Blog

On a certain rather rainy Friday, I finally dusted off my seldom-used, rusty old bike and prepared for some intense… scavenging (is that the proper term?). Of course, being entirely unable to ride that thing, I chose to walk my way around. Good thing my group-mate Jothika was on foot too. We had...

arwilder

I agree, when I came to Davis I thought only about the aspect of being in a random town to study in and hopefully graduate from. I didn’t even consider what the city had to offer. Now that I am on a better foot, I can now look at the city with a different perspective, which will definitely make my undergraduate career more enjoyable. But I think that my feeling of being uncomfortable in a new city that is unfamiliar to me, and disliking the city for preconceived notions, is only natural and expected for new residents who have not experienced the life of the new city before. In this regard, I guess it cannot be helped, but is a very helpful learning experience nonetheless.

Goodbye For Now

Last Friday, for our last class together, we put our Davis culture skills to the test. Through rain and puddles we rode our bikes or walked to find our locations before the other groups did. My group decided to split into 2 groups, with 3 people on bikes and 2 walking. When we first saw our pictures we were surprised to find that 2 of them were drawings, rather than photographs. We later learned that they were drawn by Pete Scully, a Davis artist. The biking half of my group did not know where our pieces were located, so we went to the best place to ask art-related questions, the Natsoulas Gallery. Although we did not find Natsoulas, a woman kindly gave us directions to the unknown pieces. With all haste we pedaled our bikes and quickly found the spots. Rushing back to the basement of Olson Hall where we were greeted by our fellow classmates. As the anticipation rose and the clock neared time, I realized that our “team” was the entire class, because all of our efforts helped to accomplish the same goal. While there was no official winner, in the end I think that we were all winners because we all discovered Davis culture. By combining all of our pictures, we created a cohesive image of what we accomplished during the last 8 weeks, exploring the hidden gems of Davis. With a slideshow of our discoveries we gazed upon what we had accomplished. Then, with closing remarks, Dr. Andy Jones concluded our class, and we went our separate ways. Despite this being the official end of the class, I am sure we will see each other riding around campus or exploring Davis in the future.

Looking back, I realize how much this class has helped me. I probably would not have visited a Davis art gallery by now if I had not taken this class. This class helped to give me variance in my life by getting away from doing homework in the dorms. I have found that there is indeed magic behind the curtain that is Davis, CA. This class and the little exploring I have done on my own have influenced me greatly. I have thought deeply about what it means to be in Davis. All too often I feel students who go to college come to study, have a little fun, and then leave without turning back. These students do not establish a deep connection to the city or integrate themselves into the cultural web, and end up being merely visitors. I want to not use being a student at UC Davis as an excuse to not go into the city, to experience the city for what it truly is. I want to make use of the resources and offerings of Davis as a citizen, not as a misplaced student. I want to have time to do this, but I know it will be hard. The places we visited, The Transmedia Art Walk, Shakespeare Ensemble, Hattie Weber Museum, these were just the beginning. Now, having whetted our tongues in Davis culture, we are now free to explore on our own, and discover the places we missed. I think we all know that there is still a lot to see in Davis, and I hope we may one day say that we have seen it all.

youllseedavis-blog

Last Friday’s outing brought us to the familiar E street to visit the Yolo County Visitor’s Bureau. It was a beautiful day in Davis—a postcard day, as those in the tourism business might say. We step inside a sunny and spacious office and take a seat in front of the display (shown above). As...

arwilder

This reminds me of where I live. Many people come to visit Santa Barbara, which is similar to San Francisco. My town Lompoc, and another town, Solvang, are occasionally frequented by many tourist groups, which I suspect are from the Santa Barbara overflow. In my first blog I mentioned some of the many cultural attractions of Lompoc. In addition, Solvang is regarded as “The Danish Capitol of America”, and has its share of unique cultural offerings in a Danish style town. Both of these towns aren’t too far from the city of Santa Barbara, which makes then easy to travel to, but Lompoc is off of the highway, which tends to make it overlooked and unvisited by tourists traveling in southern California. My area also has a very big wine business that is well known in the region.

This last Friday for class as we near the end of our cultural exploration journey, we met Alan Humason, the Director at the Yolo County Visitors Bureau, Davis office. While the office is small, it plays an important role in spreading the word about the greatness of Yolo County while supporting the many cultural offerings in Davis. One of the Visitors Bureau’s main duties is that of publicity, which can be seen by the amount of maps, brochures and magazines sitting near the entrance to the office. The entire office has only 2 people on staff, and although they don’t make their own activities from scratch, they are heavily involved with activities put on by their partners. One of the major events they have been working on are wedding reservations made through their advertisements. After talking about the Visitor Bureau’s duties, Mr. Humason took on a more personal topic. I found Mr. Humason’s life story very interesting; a magazine editor who took on tractor driving on the side to ultimately become a Visitors Bureau executive director. Living in a small town of a few thousand “in the middle of nowhere”, Mr. Humason came to Davis because of the good school system and because he had family in the area. Although the lifestyle of his town and Davis were different, Mr. Humason is an avid biker, and fit in well with the bike culture of Davis.

I took a look at the Visitor Bureau’s website, and saw that it outlines all of the major cultural attractions found in Davis. I saw places that we have been to, including the Transmedia Art Walk and the John Natsoulas Gallery. It also showed all of Davis’ theater companies, which Rob Salas explained last week. This website is a great comprehensive guide for anyone searching for all of the Davis hotspots.

This weekend was jam-packed with cultural activities for me. On Friday I was on my way to a meeting on the east side of Davis. I rode on roads I had never been on before. The University and downtown were left far behind as I rode past residential areas and small hidden nooks of shops. This made me fell at home, in a normal city. Being a student and studying all the time, I find myself only doing things within the bounds of the Davis campus. I forgot that Davis is a normal city with kids and parents that live lives with no contact to UC Davis. I want to involve more of my time in the normal city because I realize that my idea of Davis is very narrow, even with exploring the culture of Davis. Later that night I went to Dormal. As one of the biggest events of the year it is definitely a cultural event for UC Davis. It was pretty fun and an event I am glad I went to. On Sunday I went to a couple of places in Davis, which ended up turning into a form of cultural exploration. I went to Mischka’s Café and tried one of their famous cappuccinos. I never experienced a part of Davis’ café culture before, and the drink was very different from what I am used to. A couple of hours later I went to Teabo, a shop that sells pearl milk tea. I never had this drink before and I only heard about it a couple of days earlier. The drink was extremely good and the atmosphere of the restaurant was interesting. They even had board games for you to play while you enjoy your drink. I really need to explore more varieties of food in Davis, in order to gain a bigger perspective of Davis.

cityjumper00

Last week in class we heard from a representative of the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble. This gave a different perspective on Davis culture than many of our other speakers, as it was a personal experience rather than an overview of the city by third parties. I think this added to the interest of the...

arwilder

I thought there was something different about last week’s presentation, and you point it out exactly. I am not sure if it was because he was laid-back, but Rob Salas was definitely more personal. He built the Shakespeare Ensemble up from the beginning, so his presentation was straight from the heart of the action, and straight from the heart as well.

dwilderone

Last Week we were able to meet Rob Salas from the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble. He is the Artistic Director of the organization, and founded it along with Gia Battista. Earlier in the quarter when I attended Stories on Stage, she was one of the readers, but was unable to present to the class last...

arwilder

I also found Rob Salas’ quotes about “…truth celebrated live” and an obsession with music and sound, very interesting. I never thought about a Shakespeare play showing truth through the performer’s actions. An obsession sounds a bit extreme, but if you think about it, that is what theater truly is, a flourish of sound and visuals to tell a story.

Davis Shakespeare Ensemble

Last Friday, deep in the dungeons of Olson Hall, the class met Rob Salas from the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble. He started off his presentation by saying that the Shakespeare Ensemble was definitely a part of the culture of Davis. In my head I was like, sure it’s music and acting, so it has to be part of culture. I didn’t get the full importance of the Ensemble until later. Although beginning as an idea that would only last one summer, the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble amassed enough popularity to encourage the members to go on with more shows. This growth also included a wider range of cast members, garnering talent from all over California and even into some neighboring states. The Ensemble quickly grew past its humble beginnings and developed more programs, including a Shakespeare Camp for youth. Salas said that the goal of teaching kids how to act was to make learning Shakespeare fun. Davis is commonly seen as an art hub of the area, but this culture center also adds to the need to grow the program even more. Maybe Davis will one day in the future grow into an art center comparable to San Francisco, or a Shakespeare destination like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

When Salas mentioned that the shows would be played at a Theater this coming summer, I felt sad because I would never be able to see their shows at the Arboretum, as was tradition. But this, along with the increase to 2 shows, will open the program to more possibilities for development. My hometown does not have a Shakespeare group, as far as I know, but now I realize what my hometown has been missing. The Shakespeare Ensemble is a part of culture because it connects people in the community through their love of the arts and fosters the creative spirit in the coming generations to ensure the preservation of the art this city holds dear. The fact that Salas was only visiting Davis when he was struck by the magic of a Shakespeare performance, and that he ended up staying here, shows that Davis’ inspiring culture is worth supporting.

Later that day I went back to the Hattie Weber Museum to check out the Valentine’s Day display. As I walked in I saw that the center of the room was open, and that all of the displays had been moved out. There were chairs circled around the outside, and a man was playing great lively music on the piano. There was an assortment of Valentine’s Day themed treats and drinks for visitors to enjoy. The display I was looking for was in the front corner. Not only did it have a bunch of old cards, but also explanations and histories for the cards. The cards ranged in size from a small square to half a page. They were highly ornate and had cartoon people on them. Each of them was a work of art, with unique sayings and love rhymes on them. I learned that the cards on display were made at the time when Valentine’s Day cards were mostly unseen in America. The unique decorations and original verses are unseen in today’s world of mass produced goods.

nataliadaraselia-deactivated201

Today we met with Supervisor Don Saylor of Yolo county district 2. After having visited the Hattie Weber museum (which explored the past history of Davis), the discussion with Mr. Saylor enlightened us about how the future history of Davis is being shaped each day. In the government office,...

arwilder

I liked how you tied past and future into what we learned the last few weeks of class. It provides a thorough perspective on Davis life as a whole. I sometimes forget that even official public works were created by the common man, because art is the manifestation of the public creative expression, which involves all citizens. The point about compromise is interesting. It makes me think that the art could be even better than it already is, but disagreement prevented it from reaching its full potential. But overall, Davis definitely puts the needs of the people first in everything that goes on in order to create a great city.

Don Saylor

From the moment I first saw Don Saylor he completely earned my respect. I was with the first arrivals when we searched for the right room. Don Saylor appeared and kindly pointed us in the right direction. I thought he would be very official and uptight, but he was very laid back and open. This was probably because the meeting was supposed to be casual. But even so, his passion for the arts and his drive to work among the people was a good contrast to the dominating figurehead of other political leaders I have seen. This was also seen in the fact that he was supposed to go to a winery later in the day. This shows that outside of his official duties, he still has time to visit the common people in their many events. He was an example of what I see as a servant leader, who is in tune with all aspects of culture and meets the needs of the greater good. Throughout the meeting I learned of the great changes he brought about, including preserving the Varsity Theater, enlisting the painting of a water tower, and creating the city position of Poet Laureate. In a time of decreasing public art in cities, going against the flow and trying something no one else thought would work may be just the thing to retain cultural completeness. Even though I learned of the degree to which Davis continuously changes last week, I can now appreciate the importance of the amount of art in Davis. Don Saylor’s story about building a new theater with all the modern amenities in a state where that is rare has made Davis a more special place in my mind. While other cities just change with the times, the people of Davis actively challenge reality and find ways to make it better suited to the needs of the people. By building this theater for the benefit of community members, Don Saylor made a dream into reality. The city’s high appreciation of art and its great importance to the welfare of the city really amazes me and gives me hope in the preservation of culture despite a high reliance on technology in the modern day. Don Saylor has loved the arts from an early age, and his continued commitment to that ideal in the presence of power is inspirational. He has had to make some tough decisions in his career as a politician, but every step of the way he has acted with the arts in mind. In one instance, if I remember correctly, some people approached Mr. Saylor and asked him to support their art program. He declined them due to limited time, but after thinking about it, he called them back. He ended up making time for them because to him it was the right thing to do. I finally realize that a politician is not only responsible for creating laws, allocating resources and managing business and income, but also for fostering the creative expression of the people. I am assured that Don Saylor will continue to make changes to support the arts in his position as County Supervisor in years to come.

arwilder

citynittygritty

Awesome picture of those drawings! Do you remember who did them? I was telling someone about them earlier but I was completely blanking on the artist’s name!

arwilder

I think it was Mary Foley Benson, but I could be wrong.

culturecow

Last Friday, we visited the Hattie Weber Museum which is a museum commemorating Davis’s rich and dynamic history. The museum building is relatively small and unassuming (we later learned that it is a converted library). But in a way it’s size lends a more intimate air to this quaint museum....

arwilder

I really liked how you tied in the importance of Davis' development in the past and Davis' continued adaptability for the future. You brought forth the point that Davis' ingenuity before has made it into the unique place it is today. I think you speak for most when you grant the notion that discovering Davis' true nature has made it more special, and a better choice for college than it had once seemed. That local pride is something that usually takes a while to develop.

imjinvolved

Last week I had the great privilege of visiting the Hattie Weber Museum located near Central Park.

When I attempted to locate this museum I almost went to the wrong building. When I imagine a museum, I think of an enormous building with either a large sign saying “MUSEUM” or a building with lots...

arwilder

I totally agree! People need to realize that the events in history were as real as the events you do today. Some people just avoid that fact but I am glad you were able to see it.

An old Davis artifact!

An old picture of Davis Boy Scouts.

Hattie Weber Museum

Last Friday as you all know we went to the Hattie Weber Museum of Davis. I was really surprised at the amount of historical pieces that could be put into such a small building, and there was even more in storage! I have always liked learning about the history of the place you live in because there are so many secrets that go around unsaid. In my hometown seniors had to complete a senior project at the end of the year. For mine I job shadowed a historian, during which I researched old newspapers, conducted interviews and gathered historical pieces to make my own museum display about my high school’s history in my high school’s library. It was extremely interesting and I learned a lot about my school that I didn’t learn in all of my 4 years there. During the project I also visited historical buildings and the local Museum and Historical Society. In a way the Hattie Weber Museum in Davis reminds me of the Historical Society in Lompoc. A small, rarely visited place that is one of the greatest treasure troves in all of town. There you learn things about a different age that never crossed your mind before. It shows a part of life that is gone, but is still all around you, shaping the world seen in your eyes today. People pass by these things not knowing what they are missing. The pieces, the pictures, all have a unique story to tell that is on the brink of being forgotten. It’s not just words on a paper, but a person that deserves respect. One day it will be us on those displays. I greatly appreciate the people who help out as much as they can to see the preservation of these memories in the collective. As I walked around the museum I couldn’t help imagining what it was like, living then, when things were different. The old typewriter would be shiny new, and the record player would be playing the top single of the day. These pieces were never meant for displays and have become twisted by time, but they are the best we have to appreciate the past. The flip display revealed some pictures, windows through time that caught my eye. I saw some pictures of an unusual thing, Boy Scouts. I was surprised at the documentation of such an obscure and rarely seen part of culture, and as a Boy Scout myself, felt a strong connection to the topic. As a new resident of Davis like so many others, it is difficult to really stumble upon something that has already been a part of you. I want to learn more about that, and I hope we can visit the Boy Scout Cabin in one of our classes. If anyone wants to learn about Boy Scouts, it is a topic I know very well and can tell you a lot about. Besides that, I really liked how there was a great variety of things from all periods of Davis, from its founding to the present day. This trip we took really opened my eyes to the fact that Davis is not only the location of a school, but a place to live like any other place: a home, a future. I know that there is so much more to learn about the history of Davis, and I can’t wait to discovery what remains unseen. I will definitely visit the Hattie Weber Museum again.

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