What do owls, relationships, telescopes and the sun all have in common? They were some of the themes in over 80 pieces of work created by Chico State art students for the 10/10/20 art show.
Eighty-seven art students came together to produce pieces of artwork on 10 inch by 10 inch wood panels. Organized by Instructional Support Technician David Barta, art students had the chance to explore their artistic creativity within their preferred medium or stepping out of their comfort zone and experimenting with different mediums.
“Students do a lot of classwork and I want to showcase what our students do every day,” Barta said. Panels that were displayed included an arrow in Donald Trump’s eye, a completed 3D telescope and a rainbow spray-painted music player. Mediums that were in this art show included basic art mediums like acrylic, print, wood and ink, but unusual mediums like Hawaiian Punch and pleather were also included.
The first place viewer’s choice winner was Julia Lara Gerka’s untitled piece of a towel ring and washcloth on a white tile bathroom-like background.
At the reception, guest judge Todd Hall, chair of the City of Chico Arts Commission, named his three favorite art pieces after spending hours with his wife in the art exhibit. He said that he immediately chose his top favorites, but after spending an hour in there, he started to change his mind.
“What I went for was totally my opinion,” Hall said. “If you’ve lived with art, it grows on you and if you pick pieces too quickly, they become pieces you’re less attached to.”
Hall’s top three picks were:
- Sierra Diamond’s “Red Series”
- William Bays’ “Stressed”
- James Martin’s “Reliance”
For future 10/10/20 shows, Barta said an interesting medium would be more conceptual than physical.
“I still think there are conceptual ideas like the piece isn’t even here,” Barta said. “It may be a video of a piece. (The students) can go further and further away from the show.”
Julia Maldonado can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_arts on Twitter.