The San Diego Mesa Art Gallery held its first art exhibition of 2025. Mesa College has a big space designated for the art gallery on the first floor of the Fine Arts department. The art held in the gallery displays work from professional artists, students, and in this case, faculty and staff from the Fine Arts department. The art gallery highlighted the work of various faculty and staff of the Fine Arts department here at Mesa College. It was the first exhibition to showcase the art of faculty and staff in a few years, and all this art is on display from Feb. 10 to March 6 in room FA-103, Monday to Thursday from noon to 5 p.m.
The gallery showed the work of 20 faculty and staff members. There were a variety of different types of artwork, including culminations of photographs, sculptures, and detailed paintings that told a story or had a distinct message that was extremely moving.
One example of a piece with a strong message was the display by Patricio Chavez titled “Tu Eres Mi Otro Yo”. Chavez is one of the staff in the Fine Arts department. He explains in the exhibition label how “Tu Eres Mi Otro Yo” (You Are My Other Me), a poem from the Maya Lak’ech Ala K’in. Lak’ech Ala K’in is the Mayan greeting “I am you, and you are me”. The greeting is used for all different kinds of living beings such as plants, animals, and of course humans. The greeting is meant to be a reminder of how we are all related and uniquely the same. This sends the message of unity and community. “Many of the current social problems stem from the blatant disregard for others,” Chavez said
The unique element about this display was the polaroid photos surrounding the mirrors and pinned on the wall. Chavez encouraged gallery attendees to take a photo with the camera hung under the exhibition label, and set the photo anywhere on the display. This makes attendees feel more connected to the art, and a part of the display.
This exhibition’s purpose was not only to highlight the work done by faculty and staff, but to understand a little more about their lives and the message behind their art. Lots of faculty in the fine arts department dont only work on art during school hours, they set time aside on weekday evenings, weekends, and any spare time to work on their project or craft. For the faculty it is more than just a job, but a hobby and way of life.
Rose is made by Kraig Cavanaugh, another staff member of the Fine Arts department. Something very special about this sculpture was the attention to detail Cavanaugh put into it. Standing in front of the sculpture it looks two dimensional, similar to a painting with pop out elements, but to the side it becomes three dimensional. This piece was made in 2024 and is worth $1,800.
This exhibition was put on by Instructional lab tech and gallery coordinator Jenny Armer. Armer stated “We actually haven’t had a faculty and staff gallery since the pandemic”.
