2026/27 Season
The 2026/27 UC Merced Arts season brings together nationally and internationally recognized artists, exhibitions, literary programs, student-centered work, and community gatherings across UC Merced and Merced. Explore the full season, choose a season package, and join us for a year of arts experiences that connect campus and community across the Central Valley.
New This Year: Concert Flex-Passes
Choose a 4-, 5-, or 6-Concert Flex-Pass and save compared to purchasing individual tickets. Concert Flex-Passes make it easy to plan your year with UC Merced Arts while experiencing more of the concert season.
4-Concert Flex-Pass
Select any four eligible concerts and enjoy the flexibility to choose the performances that best fit your schedule and interests while saving 12.5%.
5-Concert Flex-Pass
Select any five eligible concerts and enjoy a flexible way to attend more performances while saving 18% compared to individual ticket prices.
6-Concert Flex-Pass
Make the most of the year with our best season package value – experience all six concerts in our 2026/27 season while saving 25%.
Friends Receive Early Access
Friends of UC Merced Arts help bring nationally and internationally recognized artists to the Central Valley while keeping meaningful arts experiences accessible for students, families, and community members.
Friends at all levels of $25+ receive early access during the July 1–14 Friends Pre-Sale. Supporter-level Friends and above are invited to Pre-Concert Receptions at UC Merced Arts concerts held at the Merced Theatre, and Champion-level Friends receive two complimentary tickets to the Season Opening Celebration dinner and concert with the Merced Symphony on September 24.
Full Season Calendar
Fall 2026
Permanent Collection: Abstractions
Drawn from UC Merced's growing Permanent Collection, Abstractions explores color, form, gesture, and imagination through works that move beyond representation. Opening the visual arts season at La Galería, this exhibition invites viewers to experience the expressive possibilities of abstraction.
Season Opening Celebration with the Merced Symphony
UC Merced Arts opens the 2026/27 season with an evening of music, community, and connection. The celebration begins with a dinner for sponsors, donors, campus leaders, and community partners, followed by the Merced Symphony's Third Annual Side-by-Side concert at the Wallace-Dutra Amphitheatre, featuring student musicians from UC Merced and Merced College performing side-by-side with the orchestra.
Merced LitFest: It's a Wild, Wild World
Merced's Third Annual LitFest brings together writers, readers, students, faculty, and community members for a weekend of literary events throughout Downtown Merced. This year's theme, It's a Wild, Wild World, invites audiences to explore the humor, uncertainty, beauty, and complexity of the world around us.
Permanent Collection: Chicano Prints
Drawn from UC Merced's Permanent Collection, Chicano Prints celebrates the creativity, power, and impact of printmaking by Chicano artists. The exhibition highlights works that deomonstrate the medium's unique ability to share ideas, tell stories, and advance artistic and cultural expression.
Flor de Toloache
Latin GRAMMY-winning Flor de Toloache brings fierce feminine power, magnetic vocals, and fearless genre fusion to the Merced Theatre this October. As New York City's first all-women mariachi group, Flor de Toloache honors mariachi tradition while propelling it forward with bold storytelling, virtuosic musicianship, and a sound that moves across borders and generations.
No-No Boy
Julian Saporiti, creator of the acclaimed Smithsonian Folkways project No-No Boy, blends raw acoustic songcraft with field recordings, ambient textures, and reflective storytelling. His newest work turns toward mountains, rivers, forests, and the people who protect them, creating a sonic sanctuary that invites audiences to quiet the mind and reconnect with the natural world.
Spring 2027
In Our Own Words
In Our Own Words brings together visual art, archival materials, student writing, and community storytelling to explore witness, memory, migration, and the stories we carry across generations. Developed in collaboration with UC Merced faculty and students, the exhibition reflects on the power of testimony — spoken, written, drawn, photograhed, preserved, and shared — as a way of honoring lived experience and deepening our understanding of home, history, and justice.
Electric Root: Let Love Lead
Electric Root presents Let Love Lead, an immersive celebration of Black music led by acclaimed vocalists Brianna Thomas, C. Anthony Bryant, and Charenee Wade. With beloved songs by Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, and more, the performance creates a space of joy, reflection, and belonging rooted in love, liberation, and communcal connection.
Sirintip: MYCELIUM
Thai-Swedish artist Sirintip brings MYCELIUM to Merced this April, an immersive musical exploration inspired by the hidden networks that connect life beneath our feet. Blending jazz, pop, electronic sound, field recordings, and experimental composition, Sirintip creates a richly textured performance that bridges music, science, ecology, and environmental imagination.
Las Cafeteras: Ritchie Forever
Back by popular demand, Las Cafeteras return to Merced with Ritchie Forever, a multidisciplinary tribute to the life, music, and enduring cultural impact of Ritchie Valens. Blending music, storytelling, and archival media, the performance honors the kid from Pacoima who changed American music forever wile exploring identity, belonging, and the roots of Rock & Roll.
Community & Campus Programs
2027 Bobcat Art Show
The Bobcat Art Show returns to La Galería for its fourth presentation, showcasing artwork by UC Merced students, faculty, and staff. This annual group exhibition celebrates the creative talent of the campus community and invites audiences to experience UC Merced as a vibrant home for artistic expression.
Global Arts in Concert
Global Arts in Concert showcases the breadth of creative activity connected to UC Merced through an evening of live perforamnce. Presented in collaboration with UC Merced's Department of Global Arts, Media, & Writing Studies, the program features campus musicians, student ensembles, and guest artists in a celebration of global performance traditions, original work, and creative exchange.
UC Merced Children’s Opera: Quack-a-doodle-doo
The UC Merced Children's Opera returns this May with Quack-a-doodle-doo, a lively musical adventure for children and the young at heart. When the Wicked Weasler comes around looking for frog leg stew, Quack the Duck may be the only one who can build a community and save the day in this joyful sotry about courage, cooperation, and teamwork.
View the Digital Season Brochure
Prefer to browse the season as a brochure? View the full 2026/27 UC Merced Arts season brochure online starting July 15.
Support the Season
UC Merced Arts depends on the support of Friends, sponsors, and community partners to bring exceptional artists, exhibitions, student-centered programs, and accessible arts experiences to UC Merced and the Central Valley.
Your support helps make this season possible.
