It was a scorching hot afternoon but that didn’t keep art lovers away from the opening night of the Student Art Exhibit on April 30th where many student artists were awarded in multiple categories for their pieces.

Although the main event was in the Art Gallery, all of the entertainment and award announcements were held outside in the staff parking lot in front of the 1000 building.

The white tent provided shade for those in attendance and chairs were placed inside the shaded area, but it was still extremely hot sitting outside in the heat. There were so many people in attendance that not everyone fit inside the tent area. Some attendees found comfort underneath the shade of the 1000 building.

“I’ve been to a couple of the galleries, this is my first time coming to the student one and entering,” said Jamey Doyle, illustration major. “I think it feels different when you have something in it. You feel excited and pressure. It feels kind of cool comparing how good you are but mostly it’s excitement.”

Visitor Majorie Kerr shared that she was a student at Fullerton College a long time ago. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 1977 with a drawing and painting degree.

“I’m a local artist. I’ve been an artist since I was 2-years-old,” Kerr said. “It’s my passion. I just enjoyed drawing, it was another way of seeing.”

Another student artist, Mitzi Macias had the winning piece, “Unknown Musician” for her excellent use of color.

“I cried, I was so surprised. I didn’t think I would get anything. It’s going to push me to keep working with color and blending and mixing,” Macias said. “I never took color theory, but I seem to understand it. There’s no black used only Windsor violet and people think it looks black because it’s dark purple.”

Macias also added that she’s trying different ways to make white and black with colors.

There were about 15 categories for the art awards, but many of the categories had honorable mentions as well as a second or first place winner. Students went up one by one to receive their award certificate and some even received scholarships for placing in first or second.

1st place design and winner for the John E. Parker art scholarship was awarded to Jarek Creason for his artwork titled, “Here There Be Monsters.” He also won 2nd place for his artwork, “Stingers” in the drawing category. Creason won the most awards that evening and received scholarships for both of his artwork.

Honorable mention for drawing went to Nathalia Trejada for “Jar” and also Ed Tran for “Representational Drawing.” Tran received the loudest applause from the audience that evening.

“I’m happy and surprised. I didn’t know I could get that. That piece took 12 weeks and it was only worked on during class time,” Tran said. “I love to do stop motion.”

The refreshment area was placed towards the back of the tent and had a few nearby businesses offering their support by donating a goodies from their shops. Donations came from Zombee Bakery, Starbucks Coffee, Mother’s Market and Sprouts and were completely organized by the art students.

Once all of the awards and scholarships were handed out, guests were invited back into the Art Gallery to enjoy some of the artwork from the student artists.

The most memorable quote of the evening came from Bob Jensen, Dean of Fine Arts Division.

“They don’t need drugs. They get high on their art from their friends,” Jensen said.

The gallery is open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m. to noon and 2-4 p.m until May 13.