The creative efforts of student artists enrolled in the fine arts program at Allan Hancock College will be featured in the annual Fine Arts Student Art Show from Feb. 1 through March 9, 2016.
The show will be on display in the Ann Foxworthy Gallery on the Santa Maria campus. A reception for the artists will be held Wednesday, Feb. 10, from 3-5 p.m. in the gallery. The public is invited to meet the talented student artists and see their work.
The artwork that will be shown was created in a broad range of media taught on campus, including photography, drawing, mixed media, painting, digital arts, typography, graphic design, ceramics and animation.
“The show is a longtime tradition that allows visitors an opportunity to appreciate the creative thinking, imagination and skill levels demonstrated in the 110 artworks on display,” said gallery director Marti Fast.
Fast said that many students tackle portraiture, especially self-portraits, as part of their artistic training.
“Working from the mirror or from a model, the artists learn to measure proportions accurately, to capture emotion and render the challenging shapes of the head and features with assurance. This show features numerous portraits in paint, charcoal, digital media and photography,” she said.
Beyond traditional portraits, some students tackled alternative notions of the genre.
“Portraits can be of just about anything, and in this show, one of the typography class projects was for each student to portray a specific typeface font and information about its designer, printed on a flat card stock and folded into 3-D cubes with all six sides showing,” Fast said. “I hung them from the ceiling so they will swivel, revealing all six sides of the cubes. They are very cool!”
Looped video clips show off some of the work from digital painting, animation and graphics students, with other designs for CD covers, posters, skate decks and T-shirts.
The highly-respected ceramics department is represented by a group of teapots and other sculpted works from a variety of classes. Photography is well represented too, with black and white as well as color photographs.
According to Fast, there is something for everyone in this show.
The Ann Foxworthy Gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is closed weekends and school holidays.
The gallery is located in the Academic Resource Center, bldg. L-south, on the Santa Maria campus. Parking passes are $2/vehicle and are required on campus.
Questions may be directed to the Fine Arts Department at 805.922.6966 x3252 or gallery director Marti Fast at x3465.
— Gina Herlihy is a public affairs and publications technician at Allan Hancock College.