Each spring, the Student Art Exhibition at the Grossmont College Hyde Gallery is a happy occasion. This year, on May 16, the exhibit felt very much like a party. The reception was a celebration of the students’ achievements in art as much as it was of the gallery’s re-inventing of itself.
“Everyone whose work is on the walls is to be congratulated,” said Suda House, long-time professor of photography at the college.
Each spring, the Student Art Exhibition at the Grossmont College Hyde Gallery is a happy occasion. This year, on May 16, the exhibit felt very much like a party. The reception was a celebration of the students’ achievements in art as much as it was of the gallery’s re-inventing of itself.
“Everyone whose work is on the walls is to be congratulated,” said Suda House, long-time professor of photography at the college.
Thirty-five cash Awards for Merit and Academic Excellence went to students in the Arts and Humanities Department. Several of the awards were in-kind donations by local businesses such as Art Stash, Blick Art Materials, and Artist and Craftsman Supply.
Grossmont College President Abu-Ghazaleh was proud to present the President’s Prize of $100 to Tonya Brye for her photograph entitled, “I am America.” Brye’s photograph is of the face of a traditionally garbed Middle Eastern woman in front of the American flag.
Abu-Ghazaleh compared Brye’s photograph to a poem.
“I like poetry because it speaks to me, and your photograph did that to me,” he told Brye. “When I saw your photograph the first time, it calmed me.”
The Best of Show award presented by the Art Council Trust went to Danielle Lujan for her statue of a fox entitled “Population: 0.” As part of her piece, on the wall opposite from the fox protruded a gun.
Several of the faculty of the Visual Arts and Humanities Department cheered on their students winning awards.
To photography students, House handed out seven prizes, including memorial awards in honor of her parents.
“My students have heard me say many times over the years that my father would talk at the dinner table about me and my sisters going to college. Both my parents were very supportive of us in this way. So these awards are to honor them,” she said.
In her mother’s honor, she gave the Betty House Memorial Award for Excellence in Photography to Mariana Bareno for her photograph “Untitled.”
The Jack House Memorial Award for Excellence in Photography went to Jakob Delmundo for his photo entitled “Girl.”
Gallery Director Alex DeCosta was all smiles with the parade of students receiving their awards.
“This has been a great opportunity to show the work for students who would not normally get to do this. And it’s a great thing for the larger arts community outside of Grossmont College,” said DeCosta, who became Hyde Gallery’s new director a year ago.
Not many people on campus, much less those outside of the college, have known about the gallery’s existence. That will change with the makeover it has received. The gallery now has a moveable wall that opens up for people to move freely about from the inside to the outside. The pleasant mini-park environment of the space outside adds ambient light as well as making the art experience more viewer-friendly. Live music and bountiful refreshments will help put the gallery on San Diego’s art map.
DeCosta, who moved to San Diego from New York, has been at the forefront of these changes at Hyde Gallery.
“The art community in New York City keeps exploding because everyone who wants to be an artist goes there. What happens is people start trying to imitate each other in concept rather than enjoying art for art’s sake,” DeCosta said.
That San Diego’s art community is different from New York City’s, smaller and still somewhat insular, DeCosta sees as a good thing.
“Here in San Diego, people appreciate the art for what it is and not for some kind of insider knowledge that you almost have to have in New York City.
“What you see in San Diego’s art community is what you get. The same here at Hyde Gallery. And yet we are growing bigger and better,” DeCosta said.
The Student Art Exhibition will be on display until May 31. For more information about Hyde Gallery, go to www.grossmont.edu/campus-life/arts-culture/hyde or call DeCosta at 619-644-7299.
