Students turned out in big numbers for the Aggie Square Youth Listening session at Hiram Johnson High School on Wednesday, October 30. Expertly organized by the Sacramento Youth Commission’s Aggie Square Focus Area, the 95 student attendees learned about Aggie Square, then dove into conversations about the kinds of programs that they would most like to see when the buildings open in 2025. Participating students received community service hours for attending.

Wexford has hired Nichole (Nikki) Sims to serve as the founding site director of the Sacramento location of Connect Labs by Wexford set to open in March 2025 at Wexford’s Knowledge Community, Aggie Square.

A well-known innovator within Sacramento, Nikki joins Connect Labs from Growth Factory where she managed portfolio companies and strategic relationships, driving growth in health and life science sectors.

The City of Sacramento, Office of Arts + Culture, a division of the City of Sacramento Convention and Cultural Services Department in partnership with Wexford Science + Technology, invites qualified professional visual artists to create an exterior mural for the parking garage at Aggie Square, the third phase of public murals. Those who reside in or have historic, personal, or cultural connections to the land in Sacramento County or Yolo County will be given additional consideration.

When first faced with landscaping plans at Aggie Square, Erik Prince, landscape architect, noticed trees used in the parking lot, some that were part of the original State Fair site, and he sought out a way to preserve these trees. Honoring the past use of the land is something Erik values, and with Whiting-Turner and UC Davis, Erik discovers a way to keep these trees a part of Aggie Square: using the wood for benches that will be used in the outdoor spaces of the innovation district.

Watch the video to learn more about Erik Prince and the process of repurposing the trees.

A key element in the vision of Aggie Square is sustainability—a broad concept that encompasses and inspired the massive project’s design at all levels, from its use of all-electric energy sources down to the details of reducing the carbon footprint from transporting materials with the use of locally produced brick and glass envelope.

Originally, two vibrant murals were envisioned to welcome the public to new buildings in the UC Davis Aggie Square knowledge community slated to open in early 2025. But there was “a plot twist no one saw coming,” as Wexford Science and Technology vice president of development Claire Drummond put it in an email: the committee for the artists’ selection process loved the finalists’ designs so much that they chose to invest in a third mural to a Connect Labs space, removing a planned moss wall in favor of adding more public art. 

The City of Sacramento Office of Arts and Culture, in partnership with UC Davis, are inviting Sacramento artists to apply to design and create two murals that will be located at Aggie Square. This is the second phase of public murals. Those with experience in studio painting, large scale designs, environmental designs, or murals are encouraged to apply. Those who reside in or have historic, personal, or cultural connections to the land in Sacramento County or Yolo County will be given additional consideration.