Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life, a civic-engagement consortium of more than 100 academic institutions and cultural organizations, will move its national headquarters from Syracuse University to University of California, Davis in the summer of 2017. The university will serve as Imagining America's hosting partner for a renewable, five-year term.

Created in 1999 at a White House conference on the democratic role of arts and humanities, Imagining America (IA) is dedicated to strengthening the presence of the arts, humanities, and design in higher education through community partnerships, public scholarship, and social equity. IA was first based at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, before moving to Syracuse University in 2007. In 2013, IA launched Public: A Journal of Imagining America, an online, open-access journal for public work in the cultural disciplines.

The partnership was cemented by UC Davis’ strong commitment to equity and inclusion, exemplified by its diverse student body. The university’s public-service mission as a land grant institution and strength in research and undergraduate were also cited to be the decisive factors.

According to Ralph J. Hexter, acting chancellor at UC Davis, “We are delighted to be the next home of Imagining America, which has successfully acted as a bridge between scholars and community members interested in the art, humanities, and design. With our mutual goals of civic engagement, we are confident IA and UC Davis will be an exemplary match for years to come.”

Imagining America’s move to UC Davis will be celebrated at the upcoming national conference that will take place from October 6 to 8, 2016 at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.