It’s the season to be scared, and the James Kaneko Gallery at American River College is offering up it’s best effort. “Nightmares & Dreamscapes: A Community Hangup” opened Monday, and features a large range of pieces from students, faculty and the local community.
The title of this show and its release date are no coincidence; the name comes from a collection of stories by noteworthy horror writer Stephen King, and the gallery is open during the Halloween season.
The opening was hosted by gallery operator and professor Mick Sheldon, who buzzed around the room with high energy serving cookies and punch while answering questions.
“It’s an event that helps run the gallery”, said Sheldon to the 20 or so people in the room. “It costs five dollars to submit, which made us upwards of $300 with this showing. There about 50 pieces of art in this exhibit, including one by a small child, and no, I do not remember which one that is.”
Sheldon has been the director of the gallery for almost ten years, and is proud of this show.
“(The artwork is) chosen by the students anywhere from six months to a year beforehand. This one has everything: ceramic and wire sculpture, acrylic painting and charcoal drawing, a big variety of stuff,” said Sheldon.
“The students even hung the show. They showed up for three hours on Saturday and put it all up themselves. I probably could have done it faster, but it’s something for them to learn they’ll need to know.”
ARC student and interior design major Raena Minster was particularly fond of the spray paint and acrylic work.
“They’re really cool, I love the style,” said Minster, who was there for an assignment for another class.
Sheldon doesn’t have time to rest, though. He also teaches 3D design, and the gallery has a new show every month. He’s already planning the next show featuring alumni from ARC, “who’ve all been gone for a few years now and are consistently doing work in other places.”
The gallery compiles student work into a yearly calendar, the sales of which also help run the gallery. Upon mentioning the calendar, Sheldon had one comment: “Buy it, buy it, buy it.”
The Kaneko Gallery is open from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Fridays. “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” runs until Nov. 14.
