Despite the sun slowly lowering over the horizon, the warm temperature does not let up. It does little to calm Celeste Elliot, an art major at City College.

The Atkinson Gallery doors have just been opened and are soon to be filled up with many guests for the opening night of the Annual Student Exhibition. This was the first gallery during Elliot’s time at City College, with three of her pieces on display. 

“It’s more of a step up because you have to actually apply and make the effort to make it in and it’s less likely that you get in,” she said. “It’s a bigger achievement just to make it to this level.”

According to Elliott, all the students had to do was use a google form provided by their art professors to see if their pieces submitted were chosen to be displayed.  

Elliott was one of the few who received an email from John Connelly, the gallery director. 

“I was kind of surprised honestly,” she said. “I believe in my ability, but I was still surprised, it was a good feeling.”

Lizzy Rosales, an art major and gallery assistant, also participated in the exhibition. Rosales is a first year student from Ojai, her love for art started at her high school.  

Rosales also explained how her pieces ranged in time of completion, the shortest one taking 30 minutes and her longest one taking over a month. 

Among the students, Professor of Printmaking and 2-D Fundamentals Stephanie Dotson shared her own excitement about the display. 

“The student exhibit is one of the real highlights of the semester,” she said. “It’s really fun to see the students see their own work in the context that we usually have professional work and see themselves as professionals.”

As Dotson admired two pieces from assignments in her class, she recalls how important the gallery can be for City College art students and how she thinks it can be a confidence booster for them in their talent.

“Exhibiting your work is kind of completing your cycle of making it,” she said.

Dotson added that it takes a lot of courage for students to put their work out there. And with a simple application process, any art student can find their design mounted on the wall by completing a google form given by their professors. 

The Annual Student Show has two parts including the display and the awards. There is a selection of scholarships available for the students to sign up for, formatted as scholarships from $250 to $5,000. 

Elliott left her job at a high school to come to City College to finish her degree and pursue her dream of teaching art at a college level. Her decision to come back to school is helping her achieve her goals as she won the Bragg Sculpture Prize for $1,000.

“It feels good to have funding for my transfer but it also feels good to have it appreciated too,” Elliott said. 

Rosales, the winner of the Adrian “Ozz” Osborne Memorial Art Scholarship for $500, also expressed her gratitude. She explained how scholarships had been stressful this past year and plans to use the money to fuel her love for art by buying more supplies for her future work. 

Margarita Pamintuan-Perko, a studio arts major, won the Santa Barbara Art Association Award for $1,000. She shared her thought process for her most recent class in Art 190-“Introduction to Printmaking” with Professor Dotson, adding how she was inspired by ocean life. 

“I wanted to give the sense of the closer we are to our roots, the more evident we are,” Pamintuan-Perko explained, showing how the prints would fade farther away from the center of the canvas.

Pamintuan-Perko said that she was able to meet her professors in person for the first time and despite being the same age as her teachers, her classmates made her feel just like any other student. 

“I really thought our class was super special,” she said. “I feel like this generation of students is so kind and caring, I didn’t feel different.”

Connelly shared a close bond to some of the students, expressing how he felt a sense of pride in being the one to hand the prizes off. He is going to complete his fourth year as gallery director in August.

“This is the second one [in person] and this one feels even better, even stronger, even more vibrant,” Connelly said.  

He shares the concerns of the art department being hidden on campus.

“It’s a mission that we’re on to raise awareness that was of course complicated by COVID,” he said. “We’re still coming back.”

Despite the concerns, Connelly, along with other professors, encourages students to apply to have a better resume and to gain experience in a professional setting.