San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery is beginning the 2019 Spring semester with exciting
news. Students, faculty, staff and the San Diego community are all invited to visit
the brand new Mesa College Art Gallery located in the newly remodeled Fine Arts Building.
The inaugural exhibition Looking Forward, Looking Back, will feature the work of 47
alumni that are presenting current projects. A reception will be held on Thursday,
February 7 from 5:00-7:00pm, and the exhibition will run from January 28 – February
13.
Gallery Director and Museum Studies Professor Alessandra Moctezuma and her staff are
looking forward to programming exhibitions and events in this state-of-the-art space.
They are looking back with this unique artistic reunion. The artwork in the exhibition
is a celebration of the continued dedication and achievements of San Diego Mesa College’s
former students. It presents their growth and progress in terms of mastery of technique
and development of ideas. The work on view explores an exciting range of topics: from
urban landscapes to the natural world; from feminist resistance to psychological bonds.
The viewer will encounter poetic figurative paintings, whimsical watercolors, large-scale
sculpture and abstract colorful impasto work.
Mesa College Alumni artists include: Andrew Alcasid, Jennifer Anichowski, Jenny Armer,
Emily Baker, Orysya Barua, Farshid Bazmandegan, Elaine Blumberg, Juan Miguel Cabrera,
Daniel Carbone, Brad Carss, Kait Doyle, Dana Edwards, Bridget Enderle, Michael Field,
Kim Garcia, Scott Gengelbach, BJ Glowacki, Eleanor Greer, Grace Grey Adams, Nuvia
Crisol Guerra, Helen Hawes, Vijay Hingorani, Kevin Kao, Leila Khalilzadeh, Tracy Lawson,
Akiko Mims, Alejandra Moran-Sanchez, Mara Nasland, Scott Paulson, Timothy Penney,
Ginger Rosser, Lucie Samarkova, Emiko Scudder, Sheila Skinner, Barbara Smith, Mark
Stewart, Reinhart Selvik, Elizabeth Stringer, Anna Stump, Kline Swonger, Julie Taylor,
Jennifer Vargas, Nicole Waszak, Kevin Winger, Norma Yates, and Emily Zheng.
San Diego Mesa College opened in 1964 and has grown to be one of the largest community
colleges in California. The alumni featured in the exhibition attended the college
in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, and some of them graduated only a few years ago.
Currently, three graduates are pursuing their M.F.A. degrees at San Diego State University,
and two finished their graduate studies at UC schools. Several participants teach
art at schools, colleges and universities all over the United States. Most of them
are practicing artist showing their work regionally, nationally and even internationally.
The strong arts foundation they received at Mesa College contributed to their success
as they transferred to university.
The newly remodeled four-story Fine Art building designed by Architects HGW/ Hanna
Gabriel Wells is located next to Student Services I-400 and rises up from Parking
Lot 1 near the Marlesta and Genessee entrance to the college. The expansive gallery
is located on the first floor of this brutalist concrete structure that is nestled
into the hillside. With a dramatic glass door entrance, the exhibition space announces
itself with yellow, black and white super graphics on its exterior wall that make
it easy to find.
In addition to continuing our exhibitions of established and emerging artists, the
new gallery will be a laboratory for the Museum Studies/Gallery Exhibition Skills
class to learn to curate and install exhibitions. Also, a separate student gallery
will be used to feature class or individual projects and invited artists will hold
workshops with students.
Mesa College Art Gallery Hours: M, T, W, 11 am - 4 pm, Th, 11 – 7 pm. Fridays and
other weekday times by appointment. Closed Weekends and School Holidays. For parking
info during regular gallery hours go to http://www.sdmesa.edu/parking
Tags: Mesa Art Gallery, Alumni Exhibition, Alessandra Moctezuma, Press Release
