High school students who take four years of Arts score 100 points higher on the SAT

The Arts teach the skills essential for success in the global marketplace: risk-taking, out-of-the-box creative thinking, team problem solving, excellence as the standard and academic discipline

Students who are involved in the Arts have improved self-esteem and are less likely to skip school or engage in disruptive classroom behavior

Students who take Art have improved attention spans, increased interest in school and foundations of success on which to build

Participation in the Arts promotes tolerance for other cultures, Art is about working together, about communication, about bridges and connections.

 

May, 2005

Cerritos College, Spring 2005 Student Art Show

 
 

 

Located approximately half-way between Los Angeles and Long Beach, Cerritos is a large, over 20,000 enrollment, two-year college. Cerritos College's art and design program is well funded and features state of the art equipment. As a two year school many Cerritos graduates go on to the prestigious programs at Art Center, Otis and Cal-State Long Beach as well as many other California State University and University of California campuses. The exemplary nature of the program and the dedication of the department staff is visible at their regular student art shows. This April I was given the opportunity to attend.

The student show is curated in a dedicated student galley. The art displayed was comprehensive and included ceramics, sculpture, oils, watercolors, pencil and ink, charcoal, pastel, graphic design, photography and computer animation. The art displayed was chosen by the college professors and an independent, highly qualified, juror choice First through 3rd place and a special merit award in each of the categories.

The Cerritos student show is a celebration for the community. A band performed, food was served, students, families were in attendence and graduated students returned to view the work of the current college art students.
For a selection of examples of the work HERE

The juror was Mr. Gregoria Luke, Director of The Museum of Latin American Art, Mr. Luke wrote a personal note to each winner and explained to the students what appealed to him about their work and how they might improve. The president of the college, Dr. Noelia Vela, spoke at length of the importance and to her dedication of the program. Students received both award certificates as well as cash prizes. The significance of this event was continually brought to the attention of these students and no one could question the importance of the show and of being included in the gallery.

The difficulty of presenting the 3-dimensional animation was solved with a new G5 Macintosh iMac from Apple Computer. The first prize for computer animation "The Hunt" is a collaborative effort of three students: Edward Chua, Luis Diaz and Billy Lam.

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