Talented students to showcase art in annual juried show

By Kathie Pershing

This was a year full of charcoal smudged faces, clay covered smocks and paint stained jeans. It was a year of multi-colored hands swiping their cards at the cafeteria for a brief interlude from the fabric dying studio. Months of sleepy, yet determined eyes meticulously adjusting and critiquing Photoshop and Flash files.  A time for entire days spent carving away at linoleum blocks and turning the gears of the printing press. At any time over these past three terms you could visit La Sierra's Visual Arts Center and find evidence of creative minds as well as meet the creative minds at work. Now the year rolls to a close. The students press on, but now, with the end in sight, they take glances back and smile at the works they have created. They now invite you to come and see.

It is time for the Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, running from May 2 through May 12. Join the artists on May 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. for the opening reception and awards ceremony. Our external guest jurors this year are artist and Professor Sant Khalsa, chair of the art department at California State University, San Bernardino, Professor Andrew Byrom, an artist teaching at California State University, Long Beach, and finally Laguna Beach artist and designer Jeff Koegel.

These artists will aid in choosing the pieces that will be awarded cash prizes. Categories are: Best of Show; first and second place in Graphic Design; first and second place in Fine Art; as well as Honorable Mentions. Furthermore these jurors will select works for the Purchase Award, which gives this chosen student artist the ability to have their piece exhibited again in another show.

When you walk into Brandstater Gallery, you will not see simply pieces of artwork showcased around the room, but pieces of the artists themselves. Works of art are like their creators, complex and diverse. Perhaps to your right, a painting will tell you someone's personal philosophy, but when you turn around you could find an animation that teaches you to laugh. Maybe you will turn the corner and a wood cut will astound you with the meticulous process of its creation. Behind you an unassuming sculpture will ask you to take a closer look and realize something about yourself. As you move between these varied arts, they will beg your thoughts and impress your eyes, each artist hoping to give you something to think about, marvel in, or simply smile at.

Brandstater Gallery hours are Mon.-Thurs., 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday, 2 - 5 p.m. For further information call 951-785-2959. Admission is free.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)