by Amie T. Rangel,
COS Art Gallery Director

Over the past several weeks, students and art department faculty have been buzzing over the COS Art Gallery’s last exhibition of the spring semester, our 2019 Juried Student Exhibition. This exhibition will feature art created by COS art students in a number of different categories in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works. The exhibition is free and open to the public starting Tuesday, April 9 and runs through Friday, May 3. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, April 11 from 5-7 p.m., with the awards ceremony starting at 5:30 p.m.

The format of the exhibition has shifted to a ‘juried’ show as a means to better prepare our students for the realities of the exhibition submission processes nationally. A juried process means that an art-related professional or artist is invited to jury the work, selecting each piece that will be featured on the gallery walls and pedestals. The juror will also select an Award of Merit and Honorable Mention for each of the categories. Other awards such as the Transfer Award, for art major(s) graduating and transferring to a four-year institution, the Outstanding Art Student award, and lastly one piece from the exhibition will be selected for the Best of Show award.

The juror has the difficult task of selecting a maximum number of works for each category. The different categories will feature two-dimensional works in Color & Design, Digital, Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking. As for three-dimensional works Ceramics, Sculpture, and 3D Design will be featured. With over 115 works submitted, 42 students’ pieces were selected and now the Gallery Exhibition class has had the opportunity to engage in curatorial practice while installing the entire exhibit… this is truly a student show!

The juror, Ampelio Mejia-Perez, General Manager of the Arts Consortium took tremendous care and consideration with the artwork and awards selection. Mr. Perez wears many hats at the Arts Consortium, which is an organization that is an advocate for the Arts throughout Tulare County. However, Mr. Perez is also an artist with a background in sculpture, painting, and printmaking with a Bachelors of Art Studio from California State University Chico. He grew up in Porterville and returned to the Central Valley as an asset to our community through his commitment to the Arts through the Arts Consortium and My Voice Media Center. The COS Art Gallery appreciates his enthusiasm and professional expertise.

Additionally we had visiting Professor of Printmaking, Eileen Macdonald, from California State University, Chico visit our campus to engage with our art students. During her visit, she was tasked with selecting the Best of Show award. Through her 17 years of experience serving on the Turner Museum board of directors at CSU Chico, she truly has an incredible ability to keenly take note of which piece stood out for this highly competitive award. She expressed great enthusiasm regarding the quality of and variety of works selected for the exhibition and looks forward to the continued relationship between our art programs.

You are cordially invited to support our COS students taking art classes in the 2019 Juried Student Exhibition. This exhibition is at the COS Art Gallery, located on the first floor of the Kaweah Building in Room 214, on Main Campus: 915 S Mooney Blvd. Visalia, CA 93277. Mark your calendars for the night Thursday, April 11 for the opening reception from 5pm-7pm, with the awards ceremony starting at 5:30 p.m. Free 20-minute parking is located in the half-circle off of Mooney Blvd. During the opening reception, free parking is extended to parking lot 7 for attendees.

Gallery hours are from Tuesday – Friday 11am-4pm and by appointment. There are extended hours on the night of the reception, the gallery is open from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. For more information, call the COS Art Gallery at (559) 737-4861, email gallery director, Amie Rangel at amier@cos.[dot]edu, and ‘like’ us on Facebook and Instagram: College of the Sequoias Art Gallery to receive our latest updates and event information.
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