After displaying an array of artistic expressions for the year 2010, the Wylie and May Louise Jones Gallery presented the Bakersfield College Art Student Exhibit. The exhibit is a celebration of work by BC students, and the exhibit opened with a reception for the artists April 8.
Artwork ranges from sculpture, photography, painting and drawing. The gallery is located in the Grace Van Dyke Bird Library.
David Koeth, the chair of the art department, said, “The exhibit has been a long tradition, we’ve done it for a long time.”
Both faculty and students pulled together to put up the exhibit. The students did their part by making the art, while the teachers set up the schedules and the posters advertising the event. Along with their other duties, the faculty had to find somebody to judge the artwork.
Ramone Munos, professor of art at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, was chosen to judge this year’s exhibition. Out of the 200 pieces entered in the competition, the judge selected 70.
Jannet Perez, a sophomore at BC, had two of her pieces selected. It took her roughly three hours to finish her sketches.
“I would say this semester I started to take art seriously,” she said. “I like photography, I also like taking pictures.”
Many students agreed that they love the art program. Classrooms aren’t filled like other classes. They felt like they had a lot of time to talk with the teacher, instead of competing for attention like in a general education class.
Debbie Nava-Konhonen, an art major with a focus on painting, said, “I really love the art program here at BC. There are a lot of great instructors and a lot of nice students.” She indicated that her paintings were inspired by Paul Cezanne. He was a painter who did many still-life pieces of things such as fruit and skulls.
Steven Garret, also an art major, had two of his acrylic pieces chosen. His work that was selected is called, “Albert, and The Demise of an Educational System.”
“I’ve taken most of my classes with Laura Borneman. She really taught me a lot and just let me go crazy,” Garrett said.
Oni Aboyte is a sophomore that had three pieces of her artwork chosen in the exhibit. She is an art major and her specialty is photography. The inspirations for her pieces are called “Home-less,” “Out The Back Door” and “Out of Business.”
“I pretty much like the old and run down look,” she said. She hopes to transfer to Brooke’s Institute after finishing up a few more classes at BC.
Greg Chamberlain, president of BC, showed support by attending as well.
“I really make an effort to get to whatever BC event I can, such as plays and concerts,” he said.
Chamberlain noted that there’s a lot of variety of art displayed, which also proves the diversity and scope of the art department. “I came to the show last year, and I really love the students’ art.”
The Bakersfield College Art Student Exhibit will continue to display students’ art until May 5. The gallery will be open from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday.