Arts and Culture

Three-year Grant Lifts Joy Provided by UC Merced Children’s Opera

October 20, 2025

UC Merced Children’s Opera, a performance that delights and enlightens thousands of schoolchildren a year while giving Bobcat students experience in theater, has received support from a generous grant from the Central Valley Opportunity Fund. The three-year, $90,000 grant to the opera and...

Local activist Ana María Fabián Lomelí is seen in a still from "Letters2Maybe."

Merced Premieres Professor's Films as Their International Acclaim Grows

Film festivals across the world continue to reach out to filmmaker and Professor Yehuda Sharim to invite him to screen his latest films "El Ojo Comienza En La Mano" (translated to...

An image shows stills from the film "El Ojo Comienza En La Mano."

Professor's New Film Featuring Campesino Artist to Premiere in Merced

The new film by filmmaker Yehuda Sharim, "El Ojo Comienza En La Mano" ("The Eye Begins in the Hand"), features the life work of Central Valley artist and muralist Rubén A. Sánchez...

UC Merced Children’s Opera Returns with First Live Production Since 2019

For the 12th year, UC Merced Children’s Opera team will offer a short opera for the young and young at heart. “How to be a Superhero” is an original story full of hilarious,...

Professor's Central Valley Film 'Letters2Maybe' Nominated for Major Award in Vienna

Ethnocineca, the International Documentary Film Festival Vienna, is featuring Professor Yehuda Sharim's latest feature-length film, "Letters2Maybe," this month. The eight-day...

GAMWS Hosting Spring Events in April and May

Just in time for spring, the Department of Global Arts, Media and Writing Studies (GAMWS) is sponsoring several events over the next few weeks. The fourth annual GASP Faculty Concert ...

Sofia Andom, Cat Flores, Bella Camfield and Bethy Harmelin are seen sitting on the grass.

Shakespeare in Yosemite's 'Love's Labor's Lost' Ready to Hit the Stage

Yosemite National Park is once again serving as the backdrop for a loose adaptation of one of Shakespeare's comedies. Shakespeare in Yosemite's "Love's Labor's Lost" will...

UC Merced Professor Yehuda Sharim is seen in this 2021 photo.

Sharim to Serve as Artist-in-Residence at Virginia Tech, JGU in Germany

Professor Yehuda Sharim is sharing his experiences in cinema and community engagement with students at universities across the country and the globe. The Department of Global Arts Studies...

Todo Cambia: Merced Human Rights Film Festival Kicks Off March 5

Artists and activists from around the country, including Merced, are taking part in a unique six-day film festival dedicated to social justice issues. The artists, along with leading scholars, will...

Love is in the Air and in the National Park this Spring

Preparations are underway for this year's production of Shakespeare in Yosemite, and the show promises to be groovy. Working with students, Professors Katie Brokaw and Paul Prescott are...