The Diablo Valley College Art Department unveiled the spring student art show on April 17, featuring a collection of paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed media pieces created by students from various disciplines.

“It’s great to see the diversity of art that students are making,” said ceramics teacher Wesley Wright. “People can be kind of isolated in their corners of the art program, but it’s really great to see it all together.”

The show will run through May 9, and there will be a reception and awards party with food and games on May 4 in the new art complex courtyard. DVC President Susan Lamb will be one of the speakers alongside chair members, the dean of arts, and other guest speakers.

In the exhibit, viewers enter the gallery and are greeted by an impressive, tastefully arranged collection of student art. The walls are adorned with colorful paintings and photographs, while sculptures and mixed media occupy pedestals and tables throughout the space.

From a massive, detailed tree trunk sculpture to copies of student comics and coloring books, the variety of artwork is impressive, allowing for every medium of art to shine.

One particular painting catches the eye: a realistic charcoal drawing of a young woman staring directly at the viewer. The model and artist of the piece, Lauren Herrala, is a first-year studio arts major who submitted a self-portrait at the last minute that she completed for her figure drawing class.

“I started it at 10 p.m. the night before submissions were due and didn’t finish until 4 a.m. I got sick of looking in the mirror for so long, but it was therapeutic to draw myself,” Herrala said.

In the piece, she explained, “I tried to capture my eyes because when I was a kid, my aunt told me that the animals I drew always had thoughtful eyes like mine, which struck me.”

Herrala added that initially she had no intention of submitting her work. “A couple of friends saw it in class and encouraged me to sign up,” she said, so “I called my mom, asked her to go buy a frame, and barely got into the show by the deadline.”

Another captivating submission is a one-hour video of a student studying the internal clock.” Every minute, the student makes a tally mark until he reaches 60, signifying an hour has passed.

Sam Jarus, the 20-year-old second-year Film, Television, and Electronic Media (FTVE) major who curated this piece, said, “It’s meant to symbolize the human internal clock.”

“I think everyone has their own unique sense of time: one person’s second length will never be the same as someone else’s,” said Jarus, who decided to submit the work because he felt video art was underappreciated.

“It’s the best medium to get a concept like this across,” he added. “When you can look at a video and feel time passing marked by something, you can immerse yourself in the piece [more] than if you were to stare at a static piece of art.”

It is clear that a great deal of thought and effort has gone into its curation. The pieces are arranged to highlight their individual strengths while creating a cohesive and visually appealing whole.

The works by Herrala, Jarus and all student artists featured in the exhibition are for sale. Bidding on artwork will take place on May 4 during the art awards show, scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

The exhibition, representing only a slice of the quality and diverse art being produced at DVC, leaves viewers with a memorable impression.

“The creative energy is really strong in this little program we have,” said Wright.