Jovanna Rivera's collection, Details, is on display at the Erik Lauritzen Gallery.
Next week, TMCC hosts its 44th annual faculty art show. The 2018 Back to School Exhibit is on display from September 12 through October 24, 2018.
Aimee Kelly is the Galleries Curator at TMCC. Kelly teaches Art 209: Gallery Practices, and works with her students to put together the galleries each year as part of the course.
“The students are the ones that actually hang the exhibitions, with my guidance,” Kelly said. “They learn about the different styles and methods of hanging artwork and how to curate an art exhibit. Throughout all of this I am teaching them gallery ethics, and safety. Finally, we have the artist reception, which the students run.”
The Back to School Exhibit is a collection of pieces from faculty members at TMCC, including Candace Garlock, Galina Milton, Dean Burton, Micaela Rubalcava, Peter Whittenberger, Aimee Kelly, Erin Shearin and Edmund Burke. Typically, local and regional artists’ work is displayed in the Red Mountain Gallery, photography or printmaking in the Erik Lauritzen Gallery, student work in the Red Mountain Student Gallery, and the Main Gallery exhibits a wider variety of artwork, often with artists who are not local.
One of the artists, Erin Shearin, is an adjunct instructor in the Visual Arts Department (Fine Arts) at TMCC. She has been teaching there since 2016. Erin received her Associate of Fine Arts Degree from TMCC. She then received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2015. In 2018, she completed her Interdisciplinary–Master's of Fine Arts Degree. Shearin’s work has always asked the viewer complex questions regarding the environment, the human condition, and philosophical quandaries. Her work floats in society's gray areas and elicits a quiet contemplation with the viewer. Shearin’s piece, A Catalyst for Knowledge is on display at the Red Mountain Gallery.
As a part of the exhibition, student art is also on display.
Robert Ibarra’s piece, From My Perspective, can be seen at the Red Mountain Student Gallery.
Ibarra was born in Inglewood, California, but was raised in Reno, Nevada and has lived here for over twenty years. Before attending TMCC, he attended Sparks High School, where most of his art making began. He categorizes himself as a portrait artist who focuses on recreating the details and capturing the emotions of the human face. When he arrived at TMCC in 2015, he decided to major in Fine Arts, with an emphasis in drawing. It wasn’t until he began studying at TMCC that his art really began to progress; earning an honorable mention award in the 2018 Student Art and Design Exhibition and the Outstanding Visual Arts Student award for the 2017–2018 academic year.
At the Erik Lauritzen Gallery, you can see work created by Jovanna Rivera. Rivera began taking classes in criminal justice at TMCC and one day decided to take a photography course. It is in that photography class that she found a passion and purpose that has driven her for the last 7 years. She has worked with both digital and dark room photography. Currently, Rivera is honing her skills as a digital portrait photographer.
"I have endless possible combinations of conceptual design while highlighting a person’s essence,” Rivera said.
In her collection Details, Rivera shows the viewers what she wants the world to see, through choosing which details to emphasize.
The community is invited to view the galleries from September 12 through October 24, 2018. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, September 19 from 5–7 p.m. in the Red Mountain Gallery on the 3rd floor in the Red Mountain Building on the Dandini Campus. Refreshments will be served and exhibitions are free to the public.
Much of the artwork will be for sale, and interested buyers can contact Aimee Kelly for details. For more information on this year’s exhibit, contact TMCC’s Art Galleries.