The James Kaneko Gallery at American River College is currently hosting a student art show. The exhibition continues through May 17, with award ceremonies held May 1 and 15.
Students who are competing in the show submitted their artwork by late April. Over 100 pieces of work were accepted into the exhibition, out of 300 that were submitted.
Competitors were allowed to submit various pieces of artwork. Options included paintings, drawings, ceramics, or sculptures.
Patricia Wood is the director of the James Kaneko Gallery, and was instrumental in putting this art show together.
“It is a juried competition, as students have to jury to get into the show,” said Wood. “We have a juror coming in the Wednesday right after Spring break who is a local curator and gallery director. She will jury the show and pick some of the award winners.”
The juror for this year’s competition is Barbara Range, director and curator of Brickhouse Gallery and Art Complex in Oak Park.
First, second and third place awards will be given out, along with two honorable mentions. Competitors also have a chance to win a “President’s Award” and a “Dean’s Award”, among other rankings.
ARC students Ren Allathkani, Brad Carps and Caitlyn Tupaz will have artwork that will automatically be accepted into the competition, as each has earned art scholarships this year.
They also have work that is featured on the flyer that advertises the event. This flyer can be found in or outside the James Kaneko Gallery, as well as on the ARC website.
“Ren won the Pruner Scholarship, Brad won the Crocker Kingsley scholarship, and Caitlyn won the Maddock Figure Drawing scholarship,” Wood said.
Carps’ piece featured on the flyer, named “Thoughts & Prayers,” was a tremendously personal project for the scholarship-winning artist. The portrait was an art therapy piece he created to cope with the grief and trauma that he felt from the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016.
“The piece is about how our cultural, political and media institutions encourage and enable violence against queer people,” Carps said. “I’m saddened that this piece continues to be timely. Violence against minorities in this country is very much on the rise, and still largely invisible.”
The Kaneko Gallery is open Monday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
