Fullerton College’s art gallery opened its doors on Thursday, Sept. 8, to showcase a faculty art exhibition with its theme surrounding earth, air, fire, and water.
The exhibition, located in the 1000 building on campus, welcomes all who are interested in viewing sculptures, paintings, videos and more.
Carol Henke, the Gallery Director, is ecstatic to be back in person since taking the gallery virtual through the use of a website during the earlier days of COVID-19. “Every two years we have a faculty exhibition, and it’s just a really great way for us to show off our talented and skilled faculty,” Henke said.
The gallery featured 24 pieces with a balance of earth, air, fire, and water, all beautifully displayed with immense detail. They were set to lighting which elegantly highlighted each piece.
Riley Pettitt, Henke’s intern, worked diligently to ensure that lighting, along with presentation, were displayed in the way that each artist envisioned their work to be viewed.
Pettitt is working towards receiving his bachelor’s in fine arts with a focus in sculpture. “I showed up when the gallery was pretty much empty; I went through and did condition reports of everything, making sure that when we received the art-work it wasn’t damaged in any way,” Pettitt said.
Pettitt worked for three weeks, dedicating his time to ensuring everything in the gallery was correctly measured and well-lit, along with verifying each piece is presented in the way in which each artist saw fit.
Klutch Stanaway, the art department coordinator and sculpture instructor at Fullerton College, has a piece called, “At the Summit.”
“My sculpture is part of a series,” Stanaway said, “it’s unusual and odd, but possible. My inspiration on my sculpture comes from nature. My best thinking is done while walking amongst nature.”
Stanaway has been working on his sculpture for a year. He loves that he gets to show off his work in person with his colleagues.
Carla Falb, a professor at Fullerton College, drew her inspiration for her composition from fireworks. Falb’s three panel piece features reds, blues, greens, and brown smoke to recreate her view on New Year’s Eve in 2020. “What I did was I took a video of the fireworks at the first night in Fullerton in 2020, so this has a lot of meaning for me because it was just a couple months before lockdown,” Falb said.
Falb is thrilled to be back on campus teaching her basic drawing class, as her basic design class is still being held online.
The faculty exhibition will be open from Sept. 8 through Oct. 10, Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4p.m. or by appointment. The gallery is closed on school holidays and admission is free.