The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis presents two fall 2025 exhibitions: “OJO” Julio César Morales, a midcareer survey exploring the U.S.-Mexico border as a lived human experience through over 50 works in various media, and “Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice,” a group exhibition from the Hammer Museum at UCLA that connects environmental and social injustice. The exhibitions run through Nov. 29, with a free public opening celebration on Sept. 28 featuring artists, curators, art making, and music. Morales’ show marks his California homecoming after a decade in Arizona as a senior curator and museum director, and includes an outdoor neon commission, “tomorrow is for those who can hear it coming” (2025).
These exhibitions matter because they address urgent contemporary issues—border politics, migration, climate change, and social justice—through the lens of visual art, inviting visitors to reflect on the past and imagine shared futures. By pairing a solo survey of a Bay Area artist with a traveling group show from a major Los Angeles museum, the Manetti Shrem positions itself as a platform for critical dialogue on national and global concerns, while also celebrating the start of UC Davis’s academic year with community engagement.