As the spring semester comes to a close, the Pierce College Art Department celebrates with its last Art Gallery presentation of the semester.
The Art Gallery showcased more than 100 pieces, including ceramic sculpting, graphite on paper, pencil drawings, cardboard 3D design, oil paintings, art made out of clay and acrylic paint and wood sculpting.
For most of the art students, it was their first time seeing and interacting with not only their peers but their professors because classes have been online.
The was also an award ceremony held for students for their outstanding work and perseverance throughout the semester. The students also received checks with the awards.
Art professor Constance Kocs said students have been “troopers.”
“They showed up online, they did in many cases really great work even though they had to do it at home,” Kocs said. “They were committed and they did their best through some really difficult times.”
Cesar Guandique, won $3,000 with the award “Recognition and Demonstrative Promise in Art.”
His goal is to be a fine artist. He specializes in ceramics, drawing, watercolor and oil painting. Guandique expressed how happy he was to receive the award, and how it’s been hard for him, juggling his art with his work.
“It’s been difficult for me being a full-time student, while working part-time and a full-time job,” he said. “I’m really happy that I received this award. I’m going to be studying art for the rest of my life.”
Nyah Tibbs displayed a close-up hand drawing of her lizard Spike’s skin.
“I’ve been drawing for three years, but this is my first art class,” Tibbs said. “I changed my major to art. It’s my passion, and art has always been my outlet.”
Brian Diab is a high school student and studies art at Pierce. He created a magazine collage as a self-portrait.
“It’s a cutout of a bunch of magazine papers to resemble a self-portrait of myself, but it’s also a portrait of my inner self, so it’s basically my physical and emotional self,” Diab said.
Dalaanii Cochrane and Sharyn Field also won awards at the event.
Field’s piece was a ceramic teapot.
“My professor Melody Cooper asked me to give a theme. My inspiration began when I started building the teapot, and when I finished it, it looked like the Mad Hatter teapot from ‘Alice in Wonderland,’” Fields said.
Cochrane submitted a collage titled “It’s always ok to ask for help.”
“With us being back, fresh out of the pandemic, I thought it would be a good way to express myself through a collage,” Cochrane said. “Art has helped me evolve by expressing myself through different mediums.”