View full photo essay of 'Backstory'
An exhibition on view at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis shows in real time the digitization of the university’s Fine Arts Collection. Visitors not only view the art but watch as it’s unpacked, photographed and entered in a database where it will be searchable by the public soon.
Backstory: Digitizing the Museum Collection was developed by museum staff with support from UC Davis students in a spring 2025 exhibition practicum course taught by Assistant Professor Alexandra Sofroniew.
In this photo essay, see undergraduate and graduate students view the exhibition they helped create.
Once the museum staff digitizes the works, all will go from being a campus collection to being globally accessible for free in partnership with the UC Davis Library. The digitization launch happens in conjunction with the museum's 10th anniversary in fall 2026.
The exhibition runs through May 2.
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