Last Chance to Enjoy Davis Art Center's Discovery Art Program

Davis Art Center release

As summer comes to a close, so does Davis Art Center’s Discovery Art Program, Momentum: Art in Action/Creativity in Motion, designed by Rachel Hartsough.

Whimsical mobiles, paper airplane launchers, mesmerizing spirograph drawings, and complex marble racetracks – these are just some of the wonderful things designed and created by visitors to Momentum throughout the summer months.

You have just one more week to experience the fun of stuff in motion in the Tsao Gallery Discovery Center. These are the last days to see large-scale artworks in progress. Moving Parts, a playful mural created in relay by four local artists, is almost complete. The mystery image for Off the Grid, a community-sourced art installation is becoming clear as the final grid sections go up on the wall. 

We are closing the exhibit with two fantastic events and we invite the entire community to celebrate momentum with us. 

The Design + Launch Flight Derby will take place at the UC Davis Arboretum Gazebo on Sunday Sept. 8,  from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. In partnership with the Arboretum, we have assembled a veritable team of experts to explore all things that fly, from rockets to butterflies! At this free hands-on, creative family event, you can make paper airplanes, design your own seeds or kites, and then take part in a fun flight derby.

With UC Davis collaborators including the Bohart Museum of Entomology, the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, the Botanical Conservatory, the Ecology Department, the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility and the Physics Club, this event is sure to be a blast!

On Friday Sept. 13, please join us for the closing celebration of Davis Art Center’s Discovery Art Exhibit during the Second Friday Art About from 5-7 p.m.

There will be lots of fun for the whole family during the closing celebration. Peregrine School will host fun activities for the whole family and the Wings, Wheels & Widgets play space will be open for the very last time. You can even bring home a memento of Momentum! Do-it-Yourself mobile-making kits, each with a colorful wheel from the Kinetic Playground,will be available for purchase ($100 each) while supplies last. You can reserve your favorite one now by calling Davis Art Center.

During the event, the finished Off the Grid installation will be revealed and we will celebrate the completion of Moving Parts, the mural that we have watched transform since artist Mark Rivera color washed the canvases in swaths of blue during the opening day of the exhibit almost 2 months ago. 

That incredible piece of artwork, created with Margo Mullen, Camille Shea-Lichter, and Rachel Hartsough, is currently for sale and Davis Art Center would love to find a permanent home where this local treasure can be enjoyed in the future. All proceeds from the sale of artwork will go to support the continuation of the Discovery Art Program. Please call Davis Art Center if you are interested in purchasing or owning a piece of the show.

Over the past two summers, the Discovery Art Program has become a vibrant and vital part of Davis Art Center’s programming, bringing creative educational experiences to our community in an informal and fun way. We want to celebrate all of the artists in our community who have participated in the program, from those who completed a kit for Off the Grid to those who have enjoyed the new downtown Bike Fun Mural. While the exhibit has to come to an end, we hope you have been inspired and that the real momentum is just getting started!

You can learn more about MOMENTUM on the Discovery Art website at davisartcenter.org/discoveryart.