The Art Club hosted an art show reception in the Good Library gallery this past Friday, showcasing beautiful and intricately detailed artworks from the members of the club and outside contributors. 

There were pieces from numerous mediums, such as paintings, drawings, printmaking, ceramics and sculptures available to view at the exhibition.This year’s art show had about 20-30 guests. Joseph Mounsithiraj, senior art major said, “The show overall went well; there was less work than in previous years, but the work submitted was all excellent.”                             

Art Club leaders have been looking forward to the opening of the show. Those leaders include Aaliah Higareda, a junior graphic design major; Mireya Alemán, first year art and history major;  Mafe Aguilar Vargas, sophomore graphic design and marketing double major; and Sara Method, assistant professor of art and department chair.

“The planning starts at the beginning of the year,” Vargas said, “We ask [Art Club] members and other students to submit art that they would like to have shown. They submit their work and we make sure the show is a success for them.”

“The seniors last semester were especially picky with planning, but we all worked hours on it. Me and Mimi did a wall in three hours, it was fun but difficult,” said Higareda.

Setting up the paintings and artworks in the gallery was a feat in and of itself. “We were trying to understand what would make sense placing the pieces together, like, ‘what type of storyline are we trying to make?”’ Higareda said. “When you see all this variety in art, you have to do a lot of trial and error to figure out what looks good together.”

 

“Prototype Sphyrnidae” by Joseph Mounsithiraj

 

 

Mounsithiraj spoke about some of his experiences in making his art: “I have four pieces in the show,” he said. “Two sculptures, and two drawings. Three of the four are related to my senior exhibition, with a sketch and model of an anglerfish and a hammerhead shark respectively. The second drawing is a larger landscape that I did of one of my friend’s film photographs, and I turned it into an impressionist-style drawing.”   

“The final piece in my set is Duane, the large hanging fish in the staircase. Duane is one of the pieces that is going to go into my senior exhibition, and I included him in this show as a litmus test to see if hanging my sculptures is feasible,” he added.

Mounsithiraj noted that this exhibition is a good opportunity for more hobby artists to submit their work in the future. Higareda agreed with this sentiment: “I really hope people submit more artwork when it comes to things like this,” she said. “We accept anything and we just really want people to have a way to have their voice heard, being heard is just as important as anything else.”

Higareda added, “I think it’s important to connect with each other, especially through art. You can communicate without having to use words because they’re symbols, it’s all images.”

 

“7/11 near Target” by Ben Koop

 

Vargas said “We try to encourage other students to bring their art, get creative, and the nice part is seeing people that you normally wouldn’t think make art stop by and make masterpieces, … It makes me happy seeing what can come out of everything, it’s very fulfilling.”

“This is who we are,” Higareda said. “This is the next generation of artists, and it’s mind blowing.”

The showcase will be in the basement gallery in the Good Library until Feb. 21.