Nitty Gritty of the City (of Davis)

"Nothing's quite as wonderful as the things you see." -Richard Curtis Follow me as I explore the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of Davis, California!!

[daniels-davis-discoveries-blog]

So I was able to make it to part of the painting of the “Art Garage.” I planned my attire very poorly and the clothes I wore I was not willing to get paint on, so I didn’t participate in the actual painting. Instead I grabbed my phone and photographed the process. Of...

[citynittygritty]

I love your pictures, and your description of the event is totally spot-on!! It was so great seeing so many diverse members of the Davis community coming together to create the mural. You really get a feeling that you're a part of something bigger than yourself when you're working with others to make something that will be a cultural attraction of the city for years to come. Whoever painted the cow was an amazing painter! Mr. Natsouals explained to me that Saturday was meant for just filling in blocks of color, but some people really did an incredible job and went the extra mile! I came really late too but it was still really fun painting and helping clean up.

[citynittygritty]

I LOVED participating in the mural painting on Saturday!! We saw many Davis cultural icons there, including Mr. John Natsoulas and other people from the gallery. Although we did not see professor Andy there in person, we saw him in paint; there is an almost life-sized painting of him on the mural!

It was so fun seeing the diversity of the Davis community, both in age and culture. There were families with young kids, serious adult artists, musicians, fellow college students, and lots of UC Davis alumni. (I especially liked seeing all the people who brought their pets. One man demonstrated to me that his border collie could add by asking the dog, "How much is one plus one?" The dog proceeded to bark twice!) Everyone was so eager to help; the little boy in the first picture was so excited to help paint, and I've never seen someone get so pumped about cleaning paintbrushes and moving tables! I enjoyed meeting them all and working together to create such an important part of Davis history!

[citynittygritty]

On Friday, we participated in a cultural offerings scavenger hunt as a part of our final. We were given four pictures of places downtown, and our task was to find and take pictures by them. All our pieces were on second street, so luckily navigation was no problem at all. Upon receiving our pictures, we grabbed our bikes and took to the streets. Almost immediately, we discovered that bikes+downtown+rain=frenetic (in a good, energetic way!). Flying (safely) by cars and other bikes, we found our first destination, the Varsity Theater. 

When we reached Varsity, we were pleasantly surprised to find professor Andy Jones and two journalists who were reporting on our class! They followed us on our journey, and we snapped some great silly pictures with professor Andy.

Our next destination was the The Signs and Wonders of an Inter-dimensional Warrior, a mural depicting pretty much exactly what the title describes. I really like this mural because it combines so many cultures: Native American, western, and Davis in general. Not only is the warrior inter-dimensional, he is intercultural. 

After posing with the warrior, we visited the Circus sculpture, a colorful, unique stop on the Transmedia Art Walk. Nini impressed us all by doing a handstand on the sculpture! (If you look at the picture, my face pretty much captures my excitement!) 

Our last stop was our class’ favorite piece of art, “Splash.” We took lots of pictures in front of this mural, and I felt about as soaked as the people in the mural looked; it was really pouring by the end, which somehow made the experience even more fun and lively. We finished our scavenger hunt in less than one hour!!

Visiting all these pieces of Davis culture in such a short period of time was a reflective experience for me. I realized how much Davis has to offer its visitors and residents, through food, art, and other cultural activities. It was the perfect end to such an intriguing class!

[daniels-davis-discoveries-blog]

Sorry for getting behind on my blog posts everyone. Midterms really caught up to me and I didn’t manage my time well.

Anyway, last class I used the extra time we had to go get a few pictures of one of the most interesting parks in Davis. I think it’s just called...

[citynittygritty]

These are such cool pictures!!!!! I'm definitely planning on visiting it once midterm craziness is over!

[arwilder]

[citynittygritty]

Great pictures!! They really capture the essence of the Davis Visitors' Center. The cubbies were so cute but I had trouble getting them all in one picture! There was a really cool one that had books on the city of Davis and its connection with local wine and food. I was also amazed by how many flyers the center had to offer. The next time I'm in downtown, I'm planning on going to the Visitors' Center to pick some flyers up because they all looked so interesting! 

[citynittygritty]

Last Friday, we visited the Yolo County Visitors' Office in downtown Davis. We met Alan Humason, the office director, who spoke with us about the cultural offerings of all of Yolo County. I learned a lot about the cities and respective cultures that surround Davis, as well as some interesting offerings near downtown Davis itself. Mr. Humason was a warm, genial guy who genuinely seemed to love his job. He talked briefly about local wineries, places to show tourists, the Transmedia Art Walk, and other exciting opportunities in and around Davis. After this discussion, he let us ask questions about his job and other offerings of Yolo County. I asked him what his favorite part about his job was, and he said, “Everything!” He specifically mentioned that he enjoys giving tours and discovering new parts of Yolo County. Another student asked what he thinks of the new connotation of the phrase, “YOLO,” and he said that he generally likes to distance our county from the saying. (Ironically, he was standing next to a rack of pamphlets, one that said, “YOLO County: You Only Live Once.”) After Mr. Humason’s presentation, we looked around the office. It was decorated with various cultural offerings of Yolo County, including olive oil, books about the county, and wine. There were also shelves of pamphlets about activities in Davis and Yolo County, which I enjoyed browsing through. Overall, it was very interesting and fun to learn about the visitors’ office.

[citynittygritty]

Check out this small showcase at the Davis Visitors' Center! The office was full of small cubbies with displays like this one. This specific cubby displayed olive oil and wine, which are both integral parts of the Davis community. Before going to the visitors' center, I did not know how important wine was to the Davis community. There are apparently vineyards nearby where wine is made fresh, but I haven't seen any yet. I would love to visit one soon, though!

I already knew that olive oil is an important Davis staple because I have seen lots of olive trees and orchards near campus. There are tons of different flavors that Davis offers, including a special Gunrock flavor which I have not tried yet!

[citynittygritty]

Did I fool you? I posted this picture upside down to show how beautiful and reflecting the water at the arboretum is! The water is a bit ripply in this picture because some ducks were swimming nearby. We saw the famous river otter poke his head out of the water every once in awhile too! There's so much amazing wildlife to see there. I'm definitely planning on going back soon!

[citynittygritty]

I hung out at the arboretum several times this weekend. It's a great place to hang out, watch the wildlife, and even study (although there is no internet there!). Today, I was studying chemistry when a pair of mallard ducks flew over to me. They were unfazed by my presence, and they calmly preened in front of me as I completed my pre-lab writeup.

[cityjumper00]

Last weekend, through the pouring rain, my equestrian team traveled to Stanford to our final show of the season before Regionals. This experience was a great one in itself, loving horses and my team as I do, but it was also interesting from the perspective of this class. Many intriguing comparisons can be made about the culture and atmosphere of Stanford versus Davis, on a normal as well as equestrian plane. It is obvious that for each school and team, there is a great love of our sport and chosen animal companions, but (biased as this probably is) I do believe there is a difference in the attitude of the Davis team specifically that could have to do with our origin here. The down to earth, rural atmosphere and culture of this city seems to bring our team a great connection to both each other and our goal in being equestrians, and I think it is interesting to be able to notice this specifically when we go to competitions away from our own city and school.

[citynittygritty]

Wow, what an exciting opportunity! How did your show go? I'd love to learn more about the equestrian program at Davis. One of my close friends has worked with horses for many years, and I enjoy hearing about her stories and her general passion for the sport. I really like your discussion of the similarities and differences between the two schools. My hometown, Mountain View, is about 15 minutes away from Stanford, and I definitely agree with your analysis of the Stanford students' attitudes. Everyone is so friendly and positive at Davis that sometimes I forget that there are schools where student collaboration and happiness not top priorities. 

[citynittygritty]

Where is Stan the Submerging Man???

The friendly, colorful scuba diver who watches over the John Natsoulas Gallery has reportedly disappeared.

I spoke with Mr. Natsoulas a couple weeks ago, and Stan’s disappearance was no accident. According to him, Stan is going on a tour of galleries around the country, and this is not his first time doing so. Apparently, Stan has gone on several tours, and even went to Burning Man in the Nevada Black Rock Desert in 1999!

What’s even more intriguing is Mr. Natsoulas’ plans for the now vacant space in front of the gallery. He is planning to create a new statue, and the entire Davis community is invited to come help construct it! Last time I checked, there are sign-up sheets inside the gallery: one to help construct it, and one to help decorate it. I’m signed up to help decorate it and encourage others to sign up as well!

[citynittygritty]

Last week, we had the opportunity to meet with Rob Salas, the Artistic Director of the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble. The Davis Shakespeare Ensemble, or DSE, works to recreate and adapt Shakespeare’s classics in addition to modern texts. They also aim to use nontraditional theater spaces to perform their plays, including the Davis Arboretum. In addition to producing and performing plays, DSE also runs a summer educational camp called Camp Shakespeare in order to empower young actors and to share Shakespeare’s work with a wider audience.

  Rob Salas, along with his friend Gia Battista (She performed at the Pence Gallery’s Stories on Stage event!) founded DSE in 2010 and has directed several plays himself, including Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This summer, he says DSE is planning to perform Much Ado About Nothing and She Loves Me. These will be the first DSE plays that will not be performed in the Davis Arboretum; instead, they will take place in a local theater downtown.

  When asked what his favorite and least plays were, he said Twelfth Night and Two Gentlemen of Verona, respectively. He explained that Two Gentlemen of Verona is unabashedly sexist, and that there is no way to modernize it because of this (I did a quick Wikipedia search on the play and after reading its summary, I have to agree with him!)

  Overall, I really enjoyed listening to Mr. Salas’ story. He is definitely a very passionate person, and the DSE is clearly a huge part of his life. I’m really happy that the DSE is doing so well. Mr. Salas explained that they are planning on organizing a local Davis Shakespeare Festival, which would be a great cultural offering for our town! According to him, there are hot spots of Shakespeare performance activity around the country, including cities in Utah, Oregon, and Chicago. His ultimate dream would be to make Davis another cultural hot spot for Shakespeare performances, which is an ambitious but exciting goal!

[citynittygritty]

Last Friday, we had the opportunity to meet Don Saylor, the YOLO County Supervisor! It was very interesting and refreshing to hear him talk about his passion for the art and general culture for Davis. In addition to being practically an activist for art around YOLO County, Mr. Saylor is also an extremely genial man. Davis locals joke that he wouldn’t miss any social event, and that he knows everyone around town (which made it doubly surprising when he said he had never met professor Andy, the other most social person in Davis!) His fascinating story, charisma, and passion for the city of Davis made the crazy bike ride in the rain well worth it. (I’m usually a huge fan of rain, but biking + cars + a hilarious lack of rain clothes + no fender on my bike = not super pleasant. I’m much much happier now that I have rain boots!)

I was especially intrigued by Mr. Saylor's thoughtfulness. He clearly chose his words with care, and was not afraid to speak his mind. For example, he told us a story about a board meeting that he attended where a local high school was discussing its priorities in terms of classes and budgets. He said that the entire meeting passed without any mention of art and music programs, and that at the end, he broke the rules on commenting in order to address the future of these programs. I liked that he was not afraid to speak up and that he was not afraid to do what he believed was right.

[citynittygritty]

Great sunset from the train!! Okay, so it's technically not in Davis, but what would our city be without the Amtrak station? There are always so many beautiful sights to see during the train ride. Sometimes I forget that there is so much natural, undeveloped land in California. I'll try to get some better pictures the next time I take the train!!

[citynittygritty]

More proof that Davis is beautiful, even in the rain!!

[youllseedavis-blog]

These are beautiful pictures! Where can I find this walkway? I also found Davis fairly pleasant in the rain (which is high praise from someone who hates all forms of precipitation). I love that they had the Farmer’s Market anyway—just goes to show you that Davis-ites are committed to their culture!

[citynittygritty]

Thanks Kimmey!! The walkway is a small path leading up to one of the houses in the Davis Village Homes, which is off Russell in West Davis. (If you're biking on the bike path on Russell towards the Rambles, it's right where the road splits off at Arlington.) I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked the rain this weekend! :) Although I'm sure the plants appreciated it too!

[citynittygritty]

The squirrels on campus are so cute! Sometimes I think they're a bit too comfortable with people though haha!

[citynittygritty]

More proof that Davis is beautiful, even in the rain!!