I am Quercus Lobata

Caryl Yasko

2014, Acrylic

Funded in part by PG&E, UC Davis and The Arboretum Volunteers, and The Community Built Association, this large underpass mural was a several month process, timed to culminate with the Community Built Association’s meeting at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Partners included Emily Griswold, Caryl Yasko, Tom Arie Donch, John Natsoulas and Kerry Rowland-Avrech, with the help of The Precita Eyes muralists, the Davis Arboretum Volunteer Group and visiting muralist Niki Glenn, and other volunteers. The mural was envisioned for the long underpass and busy bike path in the southeastern area of the UC Davis campus. Caryl Yasko, a former member of the Chicago Mural Group, flew into Davis three weeks before the actual mural start to hold workshops with large groups of community members. Her practice of engaging local groups to enlist their input and ideas into the mural is one she has repeated many times. She returned with large-scale paper drawings, and with Kerry Rowland-Avrech as her designated assistant, was able to pull in teams of painters to complete her colorist visions of the tall oaks and fauna of the area. The wonderful flow of color, pattern and light has reinvigorated this large dark space, to the delight of many UC Davis students, cyclists and the university.