Emeritus Art Gallery Archive

January 30 (online)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of vibrant colored pencil drawings by Caryl Wolff. Wolff's incredibly focused and prolific practice has resulted in more than 500 recently completed works. Her colored pencil renderings range in subject matter, even into geometric abstraction, but she most commonly returns to portraiture. Though human portraits do factor in, Wolff seems most inspired by animals. Her animal drawings feel very much like portraits rather than clinical studies, each one imbued with dignity and singularity.

The artist has requested that any proceeds from the exhibition be donated to organizations in support of CA fire disaster relief. 

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring the artist speaking about her work — and hosted by Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday January 30, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to join us on Zoom.

View the exhibition:

Caryl Wolff(opens in new window)

View the recorded Zoom event:

Caryl Wolff Virtual Launch Event

March 13 (online)

Don't miss our highly anticipated annual photography celebration. Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of student photographers in discussion about their work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado-Shower and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday March 13, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to join us on Zoom.

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition 2025(opens in new window)

View the recorded Zoom event:

Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition 2025 Virtual Launch Event

 

April 24 (On-campus Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to announce Part 1 of the 2025 iteration of the SMC Emeritus Student Art Exhibition. Part 1 returns to an on-campus reception celebration in the gallery, the first for the Student Art Exhibition since 2019. The exhibition is free to enter during gallery hours.

 

May 22 (Online Exhibition)

Please join us for the Part 2 (online-only) component of this year's Emeritus Student Art Exhibition. Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of student artists in discussion about their work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado-Shower and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday May 22, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the Zoom recording.

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2025 Part 2(opens in new window)

View the recorded Zoom event:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2025 Part 2 Virtual Launch Event(opens in new window)

June 26 (online)

A selection of our brilliant Emeritus faculty members agreed to join us online for a special evening in celebration of their recent achievements in art and design. The Zoom event was hosted by Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson and featured a sendoff for our beloved Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado-Shower. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the recorded Zoom event:

Emeritus Faculty Exhibition 2025 Online Event

September 18 (On-campus Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery proudly presents Nurturing Masculinities: Juan Manuel Valenzuela, a solo exhibition of photographic works documenting generational shifts in cultural and familial identifiers of "masculinity". Emeritus Gallery is pleased to host the exhibition in collaboration with Erika Hirugami, curatorial director of the multi-venue programming constellation FotoSoCal, launching concurrently across twenty Southern California art and educational spaces in Fall 2025. 

Masculinity is conceived as a set of attributes, personality traits, and social characteristics attributed to men, such as strength, courage, and assertiveness. Machismo (aggressive hypermasculine pride) as an ideology in practice is often found at the intersection of brownness and manliness. Nurturing Masculinities is Juan Manuel Valenzuela’s blueprint and aesthetic exploration of the soft margins of intergenerationally inherited masculinity, visually juxtaposing what Valenzuela learned from his elders with the type of nurturing he aims to bestow upon his son.

-- Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil.

FotoSocal 
Curated by Erika Hirugami 

Website:

curatorlove.com/fotosocal(opens in new window)

Participating venues:

Los Angeles County
SMC  Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery
SMC Emeritus Art Gallery
SMC Malibu Campus Gallery
LAMC  AMP Art Gallery
LBCC Art Gallery
LACC  WAMA Gallery
The Art Galleries at PCC
College of the Canyons - Art Gallery
LA South West College Gallery

Orange County
Cerritos College - Art Gallery
Cypress College - Art Gallery
Cypress College - Photo Gallery 
CSU Fullerton Grand Central Art Center
MASA Gallery 

San Bernardino County
Chaffey College - Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art

Riverside County
Norco College Art Gallery
Moreno Valley College Gallery

San Diego County
Mesa College Art Gallery
SDCC City Gallery
Centro Cultural de la Raza

Curatorial statement from Erika Hirugami:

FotoSoCal is a constellation of exhibitions that brings together over twenty community college galleries and affiliated spaces across Southern California, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, and Orange counties, featuring the work of emerging Latine/x photographers and lens-based artists.

FotoSoCal’s axis are the shared experiences of brown individuals whose ancestral ties link them beyond the borders of the United States. Individuals often deemed Latinx. This project centers Latinidad as an ethnorace and seeks to linguistically acknowledge that 'Latine' and 'Chicanx' are loaded terms that weigh heavily upon our communities. We will, therefore, make space for every single complicated linguistic identifier of the members of our community, which includes but is not limited to: Brown, Mexican-American, Nepantlera, Mestiza, Indigenous, Chicanx, Mexican-Irish, Afro-Mexicana, Chicano, Latine, Undocumented, Oaxaqueñe, Yaqui, migrant, Guatemalan-Mexican, Salvadoran, Mexican-Filipino (Mexipino), Chapin, immigrant, undoc+, and Japanese-Mexican (Jaxican).

The language provided here is by no means comprehensive of the plethora of positionalities that make up this community. Still, it does begin to highlight the complexity of a people bound together by shared cultural experiences.

October 23 (online only)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to present an online exhibition entirely dedicated to achievements in calligraphy. The exhibition has been organized in collaboration with Emeritus calligraphy instructor Janet Martorello. On display will be an enormous range of calligraphic approaches, from more traditional execution, to wildly original visual stylizations. Within each example is play between image, style, and the possible meanings of selected text. Don't miss the opportunity to see language made truly visible in the hands of these artists. 

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring artists in discussion about their work — and hosted by Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson with Emeritus Calligraphy Instructor Janet Martorello — will be held Thursday October 23, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Please click the link below to join us on Zoom.

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Calligraphy Exhibition 2025(opens in new window)

View the recorded Zoom event:

Emeritus Student Calligraphy Exhibition 2025 Virtual Launch Event

 

January 18 (Online AND On-campus Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new painted works by artist and Emeritus student Anna Conley, opening simultaneously online AND as an installation in our on-campus location. Conley's rich and gestural painting approach results in powerfully expressive imagery and mysterious abstraction. Inspired by a friend, "The Invisible Man" is a response to metamorphosis, and to the deepest possibilities of perception and visibility. 

In addition to the online presentation here, the exhibition "Anna Conley: The Invisible Man" will be available for viewing in person January 18 - March 22, 2024 in the gallery on campus at: 

1227 2nd Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 

9am-noon & 2pm-4:00pm Mon-Fri

The gallery installation will close March 22, but the online portion of the exhibition will remain posted indefinitely. The installation is free to enter during gallery hours and the online component and Zoom event are free and available to anyone with web access.

Please view the online portion of the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring the artist speaking about her work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado,  and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, January 18, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

ANNA CONLEY: THE INVISIBLE MAN(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

ANNA CONLEY VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

March 7 (online)

Join us online for one of the most exciting iterations of our annual photography exhibition to date:

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured photographers speaking about their work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, March 7, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recrorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

EMERITUS STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION 2024(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

EMERITUS STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION 2024 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

 

April 18 (Online AND On-campus Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to announce Part 1 of the 2024 iteration of the SMC Emeritus Student Art Exhibition.

Part 1 opened simultaneously online AND at our on-campus location Thursday April 18 with Zoom reception event 5pm-6:30pm (no on-campus reception event).

The gallery installation for Part 1 will close June 7 but all online portions will remain posted indefinitely. The installation is free to enter during gallery hours and the online components and Zoom events are free and available to anyone with web access. Please view documentation of the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, April 18, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2024 PART 1(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2024 PART 1 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

In addition to the online presentation here, the exhibition was available for viewing in person April 18 - June 7, 2024 in the gallery on campus at: 

1227 2nd Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 

9am-noon & 2pm-4:00pm Mon-Fri

 

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to announce Part 2 of the 2024 iteration of the SMC Emeritus Student Art Exhibition.

The Part 2 online-only exhibition boasts even more participants than the Part 1 in-gallery presentation and showcases a wider media range. Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, May 23, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2024 PART 2(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2024 Part 2

Emeritus Gallery is very pleased to present a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist Ray McCray. The powerful collection of works on display spans decades of production. Though punctuated by fascinating painting-based constructions, the exhibition is driven largely by McCray's incredible photo-collage investigations. Equal parts intricate and exuberant, the often 3-D or mixed media collages mine pop-cultural iconography, lifestyle and aesthetics mostly specific to Black American public identity.

The works offer insight and historical documentation regarding cultural moments and shifts, but beyond that they showcase McCray's unique perspective as an artist. His specific arrangements of visual information and precision execution are balanced with a pervasive sort of electric energy and the occasional reveal of layered senses of humor and joy within the chaos of contemporary life. 

Among the collage-based works in the exhibition will be an abundance of Jazz-era imagery, including McCray's work "Jazz Phenomenon", which formerly hung in the Jazz Bakery in Culver City, CA, as well as a fully collaged-over standing piano that once belonged to Los Angeles Jazz legend John Magruder. Painted works by McCray commonly push toward abstraction, but a few representational elements emerge, such as recurring flocks of simplified flying blackbirds. Unwilling to be overly precious about his objects, McCray describes his painting process as follows: "This is urban art. I painted on what ever was available." As a result, the artist's painted works are imbued with a sense of material and process reality that pushes beyond illusion and into real life. McCray notes artist peers and mentors such as Noah Purifoy, Romare Bearden, Charles Dickson, Timothy Washington, and Alexander Calder as significant influential factors in the development of his practice. 

September 19 (Online AND On-campus exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery is very pleased to present a solo exhibition by USA Today bestselling, award-winning author, poet and artist Uvi Poznansky. The hybrid in-gallery and online exhibition offers a significant survey of Poznansky's interdisciplinary art practice, highlighting her range and mastery across multiple aesthetic and intellectual disciplines.

Included in the works on display will be paintings, videos, and sculptures in materials ranging from bronze to paper. Poznansky's unforgettable video animation shorts are based loosely on samples of her writing and showcase the artist at her most inventive. Within the playful animations Poznansky's sculptures come to life to dance and love and express profound hope and vulnerability, all through poetic language and dry wit.

In addition to the online presentation here, the exhibition was available for viewing in person September 19 - November 1 in the gallery on campus.

The gallery installation closed November 1 but all online portions will remain posted indefinitely. 

Please view the online portion of the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring the artist speaking about her work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado, and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday September 19, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

Uvi Poznansky (opens in new window)

View the recorded Zoom event:

Uvi Poznansky Virtual Launch Event

October 24 (online)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to present a stunning exhibition of drawings and paintings by artist and Emeritus student Akemi Watanabe. Over 70 artworks are included in the presentation, showcasing Watanabe's prolific energy. A signature stylization has driven her work for years, and though beyond language, it is somewhat characterized by an overlap of beauty and material mastery. Lines, edges, and colors within Watanabe's poetic compositions push well beyond realism in imagery ranging from intricate floral renderings to emotive portraiture. A sort of quiet-yet-potent drama permeates -- an almost haunting type of beauty. Please join us in celebrating this amazing work online.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring the artist speaking about her work — and hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado, and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday October 24, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

Akemi Watanabe(opens in new window)

View the recorded Zoom event:

Akemi Watanabe Virtual Launch Event

 

November 21 - January 10 (On-campus exhibition)

The exhibition will be presented in our on-campus gallery with an on-campus reception event Thursday, November 21, 5pm-6:30pm.

For the first time since 2019 our cherished annual literature & art journal celebrated its newest volume with an in-person reception event on the Emeritus campus. Author readings were followed by the unveiling of the displayed artworks and a reception with light refreshments in the gallery. The event was hosted by project organizers Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali, with Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson.

Purchase printed journal:

The Ongoing Moment 2024 Journal

 

February 23 (Online AND On-Campus Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery is thrilled to announce an exhibition by master sculptor Charles Dickson, a living legend of the California Black Arts Movement. The solo exhibition, Charles Dickson: The Manifestation of Form, will open simultaneously online AND as a can’t-miss installation in our brick-and-mortar on-campus location.

The gallery installation will close May 5, but the online portion of the exhibition will remain posted indefinitely. The installation is free to enter during gallery hours and the online component and Zoom event are free and available to anyone with web access.

Please join us online Thursday, February 23 for the incredible opportunity to celebrate Charles and his exhibition with a Zoom reception event 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Zoom event will feature the artist speaking about his work and will be hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson.

Please view the online exhibition with the link below. The Zoom Virtual Launch Event was held Thursday, February 23, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

CHARLES DICKSON(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

CHARLES DICKSON VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

Full exhibition text by gallery director Jesse Benson:

In considering an accounting of the impact of Charles Dickson, it is difficult to decide where to begin. He is, without hyperbole, a master sculptor. That type of designation is not issued commonly, but there are many reasons why a title of such magnitude should, and often does accompany Dickson’s name. Over his 65-year practice, he has worked with tireless energy to refine his understanding of traditional processes such as glasswork; hand-carving in acrylic, wood, and stone; and metal manipulations like welding, casting, and gilding, but an even more compelling case for Dickson as “master sculptor” considers his constant experimentation with material amalgams of his own concoction.
 
Among Dickson’s most notable material innovations is a process the artist refers to as “HISPUF” — High Impact Styrene Plastic Urethane Form — involving the unique application of heated and stretched plastic over 3D objects. The HISPUF fabrication process was partially inspired by the artist’s fascination with aeronautical plastics, and produces results one-tenth of the weight of fiberglass. Though Dickson’s sculptural works range significantly in form, dimension, style, and mood, they often appear in conversation with assemblage histories. According to the artist, he is “consumed with how things work in a mechanical, creative, spiritual, and political context.”
 
As much as Dickson is committed and connected to materiality and process, he is equally devoted to community and to the subject of aesthetic production within the context of the African Black Diaspora. The evolution of Dickson’s perspective as a cultural producer has been crucially aligned with and influenced by Civil Rights and Black Pride Movements, Identity Politics, and the California Black Arts Movement. His mentors, peers, and inspirations include Black cultural icons John Outterbridge, Cecil Fergerson, Noah Purifoy, Charles White, John Riddle, Judson Powell, William Pajaud, Richmond Barthé, Willie Middlebrook, Betye Saar, and Alison Saar, as well as Italian American outsider artist Simon Rodia, hero of public art for working-class communities, champion of expression, and voice for the marginalized.
 
Dickson has personally known or exhibited with several of the aforementioned figures and dialogued with many regarding life, politics, and aesthetic production. He is considered a key figure in establishing the aesthetic language of Black Assemblage, and is celebrated as one of the prominent voices of the California Black Arts Movement. Dickson’s connection to the community in which he lives and operates reverberates from his well-known Compton studio, through his active participation in public programs, and always into his artwork. Dickson led the Compton Communicative Arts Academy’s Sculptural Workshop, which later became his home-based studio, and holds designations as Artist-in-Residence at the Watts Towers Art Center Campus and Caretaker of the Watts Towers of Simon Rodia with LACMA’s preservation program.
 
Dickson’s project as an artist is best described in his own words. Commenting on the resilience, spiritual connectivity, and weight of significance within commonly collected (and historically colonized) African ritual objects, the artist writes: “African Americans’ influence, strength, and creative genius inform my work, which is rooted in ancient African figures from Senufo artisans. I have always used them, but didn’t really recognize their whispers. Now the world has documentation of the creative essence of undefeated people.”
 
Within the visual language of Dickson’s assemblages, references to traditional African forms like Ghanaian Adinkra symbols commonly overlap with contemporary Black Western cultural iconography, in all cases preserving and professing the dignity, power, and resistance to assimilation embedded in the referent material. In regard to his ongoing figurative studies, the artist comments: “They are not sexualized or politicized. They are independent, authentic, and real. My work with Black Nudes was the precursor for a much larger artistic dialogue on the politics of beauty and how the consequences of slavery reverberated in contemporary society. This dialogue propelled me to immerse myself in the artistic heritage of Africa, searching for the language, tools and symbols to recreate and recover the enormous spiritual influence and indigenous beauty reflecting the unique circumstances of the African American experience that traces back to its African origins.”
 
A giant within certain Los Angeles circles, Dickson has yet to receive the levels of international and institutional support granted to some of his peers and mentors, partially due to typical functionings of the apparatus, and partially due to Dickson’s active positioning of his work directly to the public, outside and beyond museological confines. His public works have always been designed as endeavors for the community, not as commodities to be auctioned for profit, stored away in a museum’s vault, or co-opted for easy cultural capital. Dickson’s public sculpture and installation practice is an ever-growing and truly remarkable gift to the city of Los Angeles and its inhabitants, in historical dialogue with some of the Southern California area’s most monumental public art achievements, like Rodia’s Watts Towers or Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum in Joshua Tree.
 
As the first artist commissioned for the Mariposa Metro Green-Line Station, Dickson’s design incorporated both the region’s connection to aerospace history and the local community’s contribution to preserving the El Segundo Blue Butterfly. The design weaves together stylized references to technology and nature, and includes intricate reliefs and benches shaped like butterfly clusters. His 10-foot eco-kinetic sculpture Wishing on a Star has been permanently and prominently installed in front of the California African American Museum in Exposition Park. The figurative sculpture is composed of repurposed objects, including a Dell computer, carburetor, funnel, socket wrenches, and rebar.
 
Dickson’s most ambitious public achievement to date is set to be unveiled in March in the heart of Leimert Park, a site well known to be reflective of Black pride and achievement in Los Angeles. Under the umbrella of a community project called Destination Crenshaw, Dickson has designed and produced a 20-foot work in stainless steel, titled Car Culture. In a nod to Crenshaw Boulevard’s iconic connection with lowrider subcultures, three giant West African Senufo-like statues in Dickson’s sculpture share a crown of cars, rhythmically pulsing together through attached fiberoptic cables.
 
In the realization of his public works, Dickson has worked with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, Offices of the Trust of Public Land LA River Center, Empowerment Congress, and Annenberg Foundation with Friends of the Watts Towers and Destination. From the artist, on being a conduit between past, present, and future: “I aspire to develop an archive and an art institute to provide a space for young minds to flourish. I aim to purchase an annex, a gallery, and educational art space in the City of Compton. This is part of my legacy. My mission is to transform lives through the power of art.”
 
For this very special Emeritus Gallery exhibition in its brick-and-mortar space, Dickson plans to install up to 12 sculptural works ranging in scale, material, and date of production. There will be entirely new investigations intermingled with objects completed decades ago, as well as new arrangements of existing sculptural components. The exhibition will include some bronze, carved-wood, and assemblage-based works, but will also constitute the largest display of HISPUF works to date, including human-scaled HISPUF works installed as if emerging from the gallery walls.
 
The exhibition is being designed by the artist with site-specific attention to Emeritus Gallery’s window-front architecture. The artist’s incredible large-scale assemblage — Bongo Congo: Mobilization of the Spirit — will be placed just inside the gallery’s windows, with the sculpture’s visual suggestion of movement (a marching-like forward momentum) echoing the pace of drivers and pedestrians moving past. For Dickson, the work “represents a culture in transition.”

March 2 (Online)

Join us online for our fantastic annual Emeritus photography celebration.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured photographers speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, March 2, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

View the exhibition:

EMERITUS STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION 2023(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

EMERITUS STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION 2023 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

April 20 (Online)

Join us online for Part 1 of our beloved annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman, Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado,  and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, April 20, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

View the exhibition:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2023 PART 1(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2023 PART 1 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

 

May 25 (Online AND On-Campus Exhibition)

In addition to the online presentation here, Part 2 of the 2023 SMC Emeritus Student Art Exhibition was available for viewing in person May 25 - July 14, 2023 in the gallery on campus.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman, Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado,  and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, May 25, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

View the exhibition:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2023 PART 2(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2023 PART 2 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

 

September 21 (Online AND On-Campus Exhibition)

Please join us for a special opportunity to celebrate the international cultural contributions of artist, writer, educator, and UNESCO Arts & Culture leader d’Arcy Hayman (1924-1994). Emeritus Gallery is very excited to announce a limited survey of Ms. Hayman’s aesthetic and social achievements, opening simultaneously online AND as an installation in our on-campus location.

In addition to the online presentation here, the exhibition "d'Arcy Hayman" will be available for viewing in person September 21 - December 1, 2023 in the gallery on campus at: 

1227 2nd Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 

9am-noon & 2pm-4:00pm Mon-Fri

The gallery installation will close December 1, but the online portion of the exhibition will remain posted indefinitely. The installation is free to enter during gallery hours and the online component and Zoom event are free and available to anyone with web access.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring conversation with exhibition co-organizers Dominic Donnelly and Joseph Donnelly — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman, Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado,  and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, September 21, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the Zoom recording.

View the exhibition:

D'ARCY HAYMAN(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

D'ARCY HAYMAN VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

November 2 (online only)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to present an online exhibition of handmade jewelry by designer and Emeritus instructor Susan Ryza. The incredible collections on display feature a wide range of techniques and materials developed through unique combinations of textile and jewelry processes. As an added bonus, for our online exhibition a selection of Ms. Ryza's designs will be modeled by members of our Emeritus family!

Please view the exhibition with the link below. Exhibition opened online Thursday, November 2, launched with a Zoom reception event featuring Ms. Ryza speaking about her work and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman, Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado, and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson. Please click the link below to view the Zoom recording.

View the exhibition:

SUSAN RYZA(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

SUSAN RYZA VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

 

November 30 (online only)

The beloved annual Emeritus literature & art journal is back with a new printed volume and online celebration. Guided as always by Emeritus faculty members Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali, student artists and writers have collaborated to launch another beautiful journal and accompanying exhibition.
 
Please click links below to view the online exhibition and/or purchase a copy of the printed journal. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring readings by Emeritus writers — and hosted by Tirr and Wali with Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, November 30, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the Zoom recording.

View the exhibition:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2023 EXHIBITION(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2023 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

Purchase the printed journal:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2023 JOURNAL

 

January 20 (online exhibition)

This special exhibition of Emeritus painters was organized in collaboration with drawing and painting instructor Adam Harrison. The title of the exhibition alludes to the context in which this collection of works was produced, and can be read as “painting over the course of the Pandemic”, or as “covering it up with paint”. While some of the included paintings reference the various physical and emotional ramifications of the recent period, others are more abstract meditations on healing, space, and time.

A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman, Emeritus Instructor Adam Harrison, and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, January 20, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

View the exhibition:

Painting Over the Pandemic

View the recorded Zoom event:

Painting Over the Pandemic Virtual Launch Event

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

March 3 (Online Exhibition)

Join us online for our exciting annual Emeritus photography celebration.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured photographers speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, March 3, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition 2022

View the recorded Zoom event:

Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition 2022 Virtual Launch Event

April 21 (Online Exhibition)

Join us online for Part 1 of our beloved annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, April 21, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2022 Part 1

View the recorded Zoom event: 

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2022 Part 1 Virtual Launch Event

May 26 (Online Exhibition)

Join us online for Part 2 of our beloved annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring a selection of the featured artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, May 26, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2022 Part 2

View the recorded Zoom event:

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2022 PART 2 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

July 28 (Online Exhibition)

Please join us online for a grouping of Emeritus artists who hint at a sort of pop sublime. The exhibited painting and video-based works look both at nature’s grand beauty and at the little poetries in our everyday existence.

Please view the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring the exhibiting artists speaking about their work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, July 28, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

View the exhibition:

Marilyn Alquizola, Laura Goodfriend, Pam Marton, Phyllis Nelson, Sandra Strength

View the recorded Zoom event:

MARILYN ALQUIZOLA, LAURA GOODFRIEND, PAM MARTON, PHYLLIS NELSON, SANDRA STRENGTH VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

September 22 (Online AND On-Campus Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery is pleased to announce our first ever exhibition to open simultaneously online AND within our brick-and-mortar on-campus location. Please join us online Thursday, September 22 to celebrate Michael Baroff's stunning multi-media exhibition with a Zoom reception event 5pm-6:30pm. The on-campus gallery installation will close November 17 but the online portion of the exhibition will remain posted indefinitely.

Please view the online portion of the exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring the artist speaking about his work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, September 22, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the Zoom recording.

View the exhibition:

MICHAEL BAROFF(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

MICHAEL BAROFF VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

 

November 3 (Online Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery is very pleased to present an online exhibition of recent watercolor and acrylic paintings by treasured Emeritus instructor Freddie Manseau. The exhibition features exquisitely rendered scenes of classic cars in various stages of their existence, imbued stylistically with Manseau's poetic charm. 

Please view the online exhibition with the link below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring the artist speaking about his work — and hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, November 3, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the Zoom recording.

View the exhibition:

FREDDIE MANSEAU(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event: 

FREDDIE MANSEAU VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

 

December 1 (Online Exhibition)

Emeritus Gallery's popular literature & art journal "The Ongoing Moment" returns with a new printed volume and online celebration. Guided by Emeritus faculty members Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali, student artists and writers have collaborated to launch an exciting new journal volume and accompanying exhibition.

Please click links below to view the online exhibition and/or purchase a copy of the printed journal. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring readings by Emeritus writers — and hosted by Tirr and Wali with Emeritus Associate Dean Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, December 1, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the Zoom recording.

View the exhibition:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2022 EXHIBITION (OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

View the recorded Zoom event:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2022 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT(OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

Purchase the Printed Journal:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2022 JOURNAL

 

January 21 (online archive launch)

View the recorded Zoom event:
Celebration and Archive Launch Reception

In January 2021 Emeritus Gallery celebrated the artists who have contributed to our program over the recent years with a special event and archive launch. The archive was newly launched at the time of the event and continues to expand. It documents the incredible history of Emeritus Gallery exhibitions.

March 4 (online exhibition)

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, appeared online only for the first time ever in 2021, with works by the following photographers:

Kathleen Battersby Dorli Burge Christine Chambers Miles Clay Anna Conley John Dalton Robert Ettenger Laurie Foye Jim Gerstley Trude Haas Susan Hannan Gilbert Ialongo Shellee James Marilyn Kabakov Leticia Lua Francine Lyness Michael Main Victoria Maturo Ellen Mayer Kelly McCool Wendy Miller Susan O’Carroll Regina Palley Allan Popelka Doris Power Judy Raffel Rochelle Renaud Linda Rosman Karen Sandler Ganna Shneydina Marilyn Stern Jo Tashima Michael Telerant Jonathan Tillman James Wang Linda Zarou

A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring dialog with several exhibited Emeritus Gallery photographers — hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, March 4, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

View the Exhibition:

Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition 2021

View the recorded Zoom event:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition 2021 Virtual Launch Event

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

April 22 (online exhibition)

Due to popularity, the annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition has expanded into two Parts, both online in 2021. Part 1 opens April 22.

Part 1:
Anne Axelrad Soraya Bolour Ruth Lercher Bornstein Michele Boyer Jonathan Brooks Terry Brown Gail Burton Stephanie Christopher Cynthia Cottam Cheri Dickinson Peggy Dunn Julie Easton Roshy Farry Linda Fenster Bernice Glenn Barbara Gordon Caroline Gray Rich Hirschkoff Linda Immer Joanie Klein Katya Kompaneyets Kerstin Lenzie Carol LeVeque Leticia Lua Marty Luber Fran Lyness Simy Nelly Mathov Vicki Maturo Ron Maurer Virginia Merriam Mel Messinger Denise Peak Lori Pollack Debbie Sanders Marilyn Shatz Tony Stenger Alan B. Tossman Estelle Tuvman Marika Vosk Stephen D. Young Linda Zarou

A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring dialog with several exhibited Emeritus Gallery artists — hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, April 22, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2021 Part 1

View the recorded Zoom event:
EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2021 PART 1 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

May 27 (online exhibition)

Due to popularity, the annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition has expanded into two Parts, both online in 2021. Part 2 opens May 27.

Part 2:
Earleen Ahrens John Alcantara Marilyn Alquizola Teresa Amanfu Michael Baroff Parvaneh Bassiri Elsie Brown Rebel Clair Judith Claire Anna Conley Susan Courtright Kirsten Cvitan Rose Dosti Mercedes Garcia Russ Good Lois Haytin Kathleen Higgins Jude Young-He Keh Pantham Gopala Krishna (Venu) Esther Lainer GJ Laisure Linda Laisure Josephine La Rosa Pam Marton Linda Melber Phyllis Nelson Sandy Nevler Janice Nishida Killeen Pilon Audrey M. PIno Esther Pearlman Rochelle Diskin Renaud Shoko Sakanaka Jodi Sena Leyla Shams Sandra Strength Sherry Swann Leslie Wintner Caryl Wolff Adam Yu Janice Yudell Lee Zeldin Avery Zia

A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring dialog with several exhibited Emeritus Gallery artists — hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, May 27, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

View the exhibition:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2021 Part 2

View the recorded Zoom event: 

EMERITUS STUDENT ART EXHIBITION 2021 PART 2 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

September 9 (online exhibition)

A very special selection of works by three brilliant Emeritus painters — Cynthia Cottam, Young-He Keh, and Denise Peak — exhibited alongside works by professional watercolorist Judy Benson. The works share a common interest in classic forms of representational imagery (landscapes, still-lives, portraits, etc.), but the styles in the exhibition range from photo-realistic rendering and natural palettes to near abstraction and explosive color.
 
A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring dialog with the exhibited artists — hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs, Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator, Jesse Benson — was held Thursday September 9, from 5pm to 6:30pm.

View the exhibition:

Judy Benson, Cynthia Cottam, Young-He Keh, Denise Peak

View the recorded Zoom event:

Judy Benson, Cynthia Cottam, Young-He Keh, Denise Peak virtual launch event

October 21 (Online Exhibition)

A mixed-media exhibition of Emeritus artists working in forms that defy description. Though their works range in material, subject, and aesthetic, the 4 exhibiting artists consistently strike sublime moods and conjure elegant and elusive forms and spaces.
 
A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring dialog with the exhibited artists — hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs, Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator, Jesse Benson — was held Thursday October 21, from 5pm to 6:30pm.

View the exhibition:

Bernice Glenn, Shoko Sakanaka, Karen Sandler, Jodi Sena

View the recorded Zoom event:

BERNICE GLENN, SHOKO SAKANAKA, KAREN SANDLER, JODI SENA VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

December 2 (Online Exhibition)

The popular Emeritus literature & art journal returned with a new printed volume and online celebration. Guided by Emeritus faculty members Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali, student artists and writers collaborated to launch an exciting new journal volume and accompanying exhibition.

Please view the exhibition and/or purchase a copy of the printed journal with the links below. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring readings by Emeritus writers — and hosted by Tirr and Wali with Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, December 2, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please click the link below to view the recorded Zoom event.

View the exhibition:

The Ongoing Moment 2021 Exhibition

View the recorded Zoom event:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2021 VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT

Purchase the Printed Journal:

THE ONGOING MOMENT 2021 JOURNAL

January 23 – February 25

View the Exhibition:

Parvaneh Bassiri, Marty Luber, Alex Vital

This fashionable and contemporary three-student exhibition was an exciting mix of color, humor, style, and postmodernity. The show combined lush abstract and figurative oil paintings by Parvaneh Bassiri, with eclectic and captivating mixed media light-infused Pop sculptures by Marty Luber, and digitally enhanced and altered photographs by Emeritus Gallery Legend Alex Vital selected from his years of prolific production and ahead-of-the-curve aesthetic and comic sensibilities.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

March 5 – April 2

View the Exhibition:

Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition 2020

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2020:

Kathleen Battersby Dorli Burge Miles Clay John Dalton James Eidelman Caroline Gerstley Jim Gerstley Miriam Duman Goldberg Trude Haas Kathleen Higgins Jeff Hogue Marilyn Kabakov Suzie Kim Chenkung Lee Leticia Lua Raffaello Mazza Wendy Miller Regina Pally Allan Popelka Doris Power Judy Raffel Linda Rosman Karen Sandler Ganna Shneydina Marilyn Stern Jo Tashima Michael Telerant Jonathan Tillman Linda Velonis Alex Vital Gloria Vitto James Wang Linda Zarou

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

June 26 (online exhibition)

View the Exhibition:

Emeritus Student Art Exhibition 2020

View the recorded  Zoom event:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition Launch Event

Celebrate our new online viewing platform and the first-ever Emeritus art exhibition online. 150+ artworks on view by Emeritus students. 

A live Zoom Launch Event — hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was recorded when it was held June 25.

August 22 (online exhibition)

View the Exhibition:

Catherine Tirr: Watercolors, Spring 2020

View the recorded Zoom event:
Catherine Tirr Virtual Launch Event

Artist and beloved Emeritus faculty member Catherine Tirr offers a healing response to Spring 2020 with her deep and peaceful watercolors. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event with the artist — hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, October 22, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

November 19 (online exhibition)

View the Exhibition:

The Ongoing Moment 2020

View the recorded Zoom event:
The Ongoing Moment 2020 Launch Event

Purchase the Printed Journal:
The Ongoing Moment 2020 Journal

Emeritus Gallery's popular literature & art journal "The Ongoing Moment" returns with a new printed volume and online celebration. Guided by Emeritus faculty members Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali, student artists and writers have collaborated to launch an exciting new journal volume and accompanying exhibition. Please join us online for the opportunity to view the exhibition through our online viewing platform or to purchase a copy of the printed journal. A live Zoom Virtual Launch Event featuring readings by Emeritus writers — and hosted by Tirr and Wali with Interim Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson — was held Thursday, November 19, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

January 24 – March 6

View the Exhibition:
Ken Buckner: A Lens to Life

Emeritus photography faculty member Ken Buckner is a disabled Vietnam veteran with a 30-year career in Hollywood photographing the models, fashions, and movie stars from the 1960s to the 1990s. From the press release for his 2019 solo exhibition at Emeritus Gallery:

After moving to Los Angeles, one of his first subjects was Edward G. Robinson, who selected the portrait for the cover of his autobiography. Buckner describes Robinson as “a very gentle man who has the unique ability to ‘look right through you,’ and I was very lucky to capture that part of his personality.”

Buckner took a job as the cast photographer on “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In,” then went on to author one of the top-selling photography books, Available Light Photography. He later worked as a photographer for the catalogs and ads of exclusive department stores. After developing a reputation for superior headshots and glamour portraits, Buckner opened a small studio in Beverly Hills, which he operated until he returned to school to become a teacher.

During his professional career, Buckner worked with top fashion designers that included Givenchy and Ralph Lauren, top models Cheryl Tiegs, Christina Ferrare, Rene Russo, Maud Adams, and Jerry Hall, and movie stars George Burns, Henry Fonda, and Gene Hackman. Buckner’s work also appeared in many of the top fashion and glamour magazines.

In 1998, Bruckner was hired to teach in SMC’s Emeritus program by founder and now-retired Associate Dean Maggie Hall, who guided the program for 35 years. “Teaching photography classes at Emeritus is more fun than you can imagine. My students constantly amaze me, and make me a better photographer. Many times, even with all my experience and training, they see things and shoot things that truly impress me. Keeps me humble, and their enthusiasm keeps me alive,” said Buckner.

“I enjoy capturing someone in such a way that both the subject and the viewer are surprised. Photographing people has always been my greatest love. My portrait of ‘Maggie’ was one of my best efforts. It was my ‘Thank You’ to her for hiring me, and the most delightful part was how thrilled she and everyone else was with the end result. I loved that.”

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

March 21 – May 1

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2019: Aliza Astrachan  Ira Astrachan  Jon Barry  Linda Brookover  Dorli Burge  Eva Caulfield  John Dalton  Scott Davis  Caroline Gerstley  Jim Gerstley  Kathleen Higgins  Suzie Kim  Chenkung Lee  Leticia Lua  Wendy Miller  Regina Pally  Allan Popelka  Doris Power  Judy Raffel  Linda Rosman  Karen Sandler  Marilyn Stern  Jo Tashima  Michael Telerant  Alan Tossman  Alex Vital  James Wang  Fanya Yusim

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

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May 9 – July 10

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2019:

Earleen Ahrens John Alcantara Marilyn Alquizola Teresa Amanfu Anne Axelrad Parvaneh Bassiri Andrea Bell Evelyn Berger Angela Boies Soraya Bolour Cindy Borden Michele Boyer Rick Brammall Jonathan Brooks Elsie Brown Gail Burton Linda Bedard Callas Eva Caulfield Stephanie Christopher Judith Claire Cynthia Cottam Evelyn Debes Cheri Dickinson Rose Dosti Norma Ehrlich Cathy Engel-Marder Linda Fenster Ilona Finta Nancy Friedman Mercedes Garcia Eva Good Barbara Gordon Carol Green Judy Grood Janice Hanks Nina Hammerstein Kazuko Hashimoto Lois Haytin Kathleen Higgins Linda Immer Roberta Karasch Young-He Keh Joanie Klein Esther Lainer Josephine La Rosa Sun Lau Barbara Lebow Kerstin Lenzie Carol Le Veque Yelena Linkovskaya Leticia Lua Martin Luber Ed Maltz Sandro Mano David Marshall Elle Martin Ron Maurer Linda Melber Mel Messinger Marie Montanari Phyllis Nelson Wanda Norman-Storey Janice Nishida Pantham Esther Pearlman Killeen Pilon Ed Plutte Lori Pollack Audrey Roll Mel Rosen Joyce Rosenblum Larisa Rubinshtein Shoko Sakanaka Debbie Sanders Lheitha Salazar Jodi Sena Patricia Shim Tony Stenger Sherry Swann Jonathan Tillman Alan Tossman Dela Truthsayer Birute Anne Vileisis Alex Vital Gloria Vitto Akemi Watanabe Emily Winters Caryl Wolff June Yamada Stephen Young Adam Yu Linda Zarou

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

 

July 25 – September 18

View the Exhibition:
John Alcantara, Anne Axelrad, Mercedes Garcia

Emeritus gallery curator Jesse Benson gathered these three exceptional Emeritus Student artists based on their proclivity for Surrealist aesthetics and their layered and complex painting and collage gestures. The exhibition was stylistically diverse, but consistently deep, powerful, expressive, symbolic, and uncanny, and not without a sense of humor. It is also the case that this exhibition provided some of the most compelling images in the history of Emeritus Gallery and that many of them, by all three artists, are quite beyond language.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

September 26 – November 6

View the Exhibition:
Teresa Amanfu, Janice Hanks, June Yamada

This powerful and beautiful exhibition of works by three standout Emeritus students resulted in a resonating and iconic experience. Each artist uses a type of effortless realism in conjunction with a deep and instantaneous connection to the subjects depicted in their work. In the case of this remarkable 2019 exhibition the subjects ranged from precious family, to Emeritus peers, to bridges, to boundaries, to social justice, to California on fire.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

November 14 – January 15

View the Exhibition:
The Ongoing Moment 2019 Exhibition

This annual series centers around a collaborative journal of original writing and art created by Emeritus students in the memoir writing class led by author Monona Wali and the watercolor studio class taught by artist Catherine Tirr. The annual event includes the release of the publication, a selection of live readings by Emeritus Student authors, and an exhibition in the gallery of watercolor and collage works featured in the journal. The following artists and writers contributed to the project in 2019:

Artists:

Marilyn Alquizola Jill Benham Jeanne Blessing Angela Boies Hector Chao Ilona Finta Linda Freedman Marjorie Grace-Sayers Wendy Hagar Marcia Harris Kathleen Higgins Susan Katz Sun Lau Gail Lonseth Francine Lucey Sandra Mano Lore Meline Florence Mesker Barbara Milliken Judi Morse Alice Mouradian Janice Nishida Roman M. Pecot Helene Poletti Lori Pollack Paula Ross Zahra Surur Estelle Tuvman Akemi Watanabe Adam Yu

Authors:

Cynthia Allen Peter Bergquist Lois Bostwick Sara Bragin Dorothy Chin Betty Cota Dorothy Curtis Judy Davidson Terry Dicks Fran Feinman Linda Fenster Amy Greenwood Dinah Hatton Michael Higgins Marie Kennedy Teri Kinne Leonia Kallir Kurgan Pamela Lane Esther Lanier Jeanne Lee Tamar Levin Nancy McKeever Rhoda Newman Anne Pellant Esther Pearlman Beth Rubin Veena Sadana Joe Samuels Arlene Cydna Shapiro “Original” Mike Smith Marsha Straubing Frima Telerant From the classrooms of Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

January 25 – March 7

View the Exhibition:
Bruce Trentham

Former Emeritus faculty member Bruce Trentham is a plein air pastel painter who creates compositions that invite the viewer to experience value, light, color, and form. His dramatic pastel paintings, like the ones he contributed to his 2018 solo exhibition at Emeritus Gallery, convey his love of the coast, canyons, and mountains of the Southern California landscape.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

March 15 – May 2

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2018:

Dorli Burge Eva Caulfield Christine Chambers Anna Conley John Dalton Jim Gerstley Lorraine Ginsburg Pantham Gopalakrishna Kathleen Higgins Suzie Kim Barbara Lebow Leticia Lua Regina Pally Doris Power Karen Sandler Ron Siegel Marilyn Stern Jo Tashima Michael Telerant Jonathan Tillman Alan Tossman Linda Velonis Alex Vital James Wang Isaac Yusim

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

May 10 – July 11

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2018:

John Alcantara Marilyn Alquilola Michael Anderson Anne Axelrad Parvaneh Bassiri Michael Baroff Eva Benjamin Jeanne Blessing Angela Boies Soraya Bolour Donna Boyer Michele Boyer Rick Brammall Elsie Brown Beth Burns Gail Burton Linda Bedard Callas Eva Caulfield Rebel Clair Anna Conley Cynthia Cottam Sasau Courtright Evelyn Debes Cheri Dickinson Rose Dosti Norma Ehrlich Yousri El Fattah Ilona Finta Claudia Foster Mercedes Garcia Susan Gerber Lorraine Ginsburg Eva Good Laura Goodfriend Barbara Gordon Betty Green Janice Hanks Maria Hansen Lois Haytin Kazuko Hashimoto Kathleen Higgins Linda Immer Joseph Juliano Young-He Keh Pantham Krishna Esther Lainer Gloria Laisure Linda Laisure Sun Lau Jeanne B. Lee Carol LeVeque Leticia Lua Edwin Maltz Ron Maurer Mel Messinger Starrie Ming Phyllis Nelson Sandy Nevler Nancy Pau Killeen Pilon Bea Pomasanoff Marie-Claude Raues Mel Rosen Shoko Sakanaka Lheitha Salazar Jodi Sena Katherine Sperling Sandra Strength Lynn Strother Alex Vital Gloria Vitto Akemi Watanabe Gail Weller Leslie Wintner Caryl Wolff Stephen Young Linda Zarou

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

July 26 – September 19

View the Exhibition:
Chris Hero: Faces of Invisible Women

Artist and Emeritus faculty member Chris Hero’s 2018 solo exhibition at Emeritus Gallery featured a series of works that look at women who are made ‘invisible’ in society because they are over 70 years of age (most were over 80 at the time of their portrait sitting). “All are active, hale, interesting people,” Hero said of his subjects. “They have been places. Done things. They have stories to tell. The history of our society is in these women, in their faces. Why don’t we see these faces?”

For the series of paintings on exhibit, Hero’s artistic goal was “not a painted, photographic likeness, but to get a more expressionist ‘feel’ of each sitter.” His portraits reveal more about who each woman is than what she looks like. “I am choosing to look at older women’s faces.” he said. “As they are. Not as a cautionary tale about vanity. Or as a joke, ‘see the old lady saying outrageous things.’ Not as a metaphor, and not as a yardstick with which to compare youth.”

“My goal in all the art making I’ve ever done has been to effect some degree of social change,” said Hero. “Since I’m not good at political organizing, I’ve always looked to art work, and painting in particular, as my angle into an issue.”

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

September 27 – November 7

View the Exhibition:
Earleen Ahrens and Jonathan Tillman

This two-artist Emeritus student exhibition paired an eclectic array of colorful abstract paintings, sculptures, and jewelry by Earleen Ahrens with black-and-white representational photographs by Jonathan Tillman. Juxtaposed in contrast as opposed to comparison by gallery curator Jesse Benson, the seemingly disparate productions complemented each other. Tillman’s stark yet elegant representational photographs depict a range of subjects including potent social issues, but also provided a calming and consistent visual rhythm against which Ahren’s wild and irreverent color, shape, and material play could spiral and bounce around freely.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

November 15 – January 16

View the Exhibition:
The Ongoing Moment 2018 Exhibition

This annual series centers around a collaborative journal of original writing and art created by Emeritus students in the memoir writing class led by author Monona Wali and the watercolor studio class taught by artist Catherine Tirr. The annual event includes the release of the publication, a selection of live readings by Emeritus Student authors, and an exhibition in the gallery of watercolor and collage works featured in the journal. The following artists and writers contributed to the project in 2018:

Artists:

Marilyn Alquizola Michael Anderson Jill Benham Jeanne Blessing Angela Boies Hector Chao Roshy Farry Ilona Finta Linda Freedman Bernice Glenn Wendy Hagar Marcia Harris Kate Kausch Susan Katz Young-He Keh Sun Lau Estelle Jue-Clay Gail Lonseth Francine Lucey Sandra Mano Lore Meline Florence Mesker Barbara Milliken Judy Morse Janice Nishida Roman Mariellen Pecot Helene Poletti Lori Pollack Paula Ross Leslie Stormon Estelle Tuvman Akemi Watanabe Anne Yaple Adam Yu

Authors:

Cynthia Allen Peter Bergquist Lois Bostwick Sara Bragin Kathleen Carey Dorothy Chin Betty Cota Dorothy Curtis Judy Davidson Terry Dicks Darlene Edgley Tina Feiger Frances Feinman Caroline Feinstein Linda Fenster Laurie Forrest Tony Garofalo Gerald Gratch Amy Greenwood Dinah Hatton Feiga Herzog Michael Higgins Connie Higginson Leonardo Israeli Teri Kinne Leonia Kallir Kurgan Esther Lanier Dick Lemon Nancy McKeever Rhoda Newman Anne Pellant Beth Rubin Veena Sadana Joe Samuels Libby Schwartz Barbara Spiller Marsha Straubing Bracha Yael

From the classrooms of Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

January 19 – March 1

View the Exhibition:
Cheryl Walker: Moving Meditations

Emeritus faculty member Cheryl Walker’s 2017 solo exhibition of soothing and mesmerizing large-scale abstract works on layered velum was informed by automatic drawing and intuitive and fluid movement. The artist explains that with the exclusive use of graphite, she “incorporates as much timbre, texture, and variety in the marks themselves to imply color.”

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

March 9 – April 26

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2017:

Marlene Bernstein Julie Bucka Eva Caulfield Jan Chesne Miles Clay Anna Conley John Dalton Patricia Fiedler Caroline Gerstley Jim Gerstley Lorraine Ginsburg Carolyn Griswold Trude Haas Suzie Kim Chenkung Lee Pegarty Long Leticia Lua Maureen Murphy Vanessa Obten Doris Power Carol Pudlin Judy Raffel Art Siegel Barbara Spiller Marilyn Stern Sam Swarz Michael Telerant Jonathan Tillman Alan Tossman Linda Velonis Alex Vital James Wang Leslie Wintner Isaac Yusim Linda Zamelsky

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

May 4 – July 5

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2017:

Earleen Ahrens Tan Arnold Anne Axelrad Mimi Baer Michael Baroff Eva Benjamin Angela Boies Soraya Bolour Cindy Borden Ruth Lercher Bornstein Michele Boyer Eva Caulfield Rebel Clair Anna Conley Cynthia Cottam Susan Courtrigh Evi Debes Cheri Dickinson Rose Dosti Farideh Ebrahimi Norma Ehrlich Linda Freedman Jim Gerstley Lorraine Ginsburg Jennifer Glaser Eva Good Barbara Gordon Trude Haas Janice Hanks Kazuko Hashimoto Lois Haytin Joseph Juliano Young-He Keh Esther Lainer Kerstin Lenzie Leticia Lua Kate MacQueen Ed Maltz Pam Marin Elle Martin Linda Melber Virginia Merriam Mel Messinger Starrie Ming Marie Montanari Judi Morse Christine Y. Nahm Phyllis Nelson Sandy Nevler Wanda Norman-Storey Ann Olsen Nancy Pau Killeen Pilon Edward Plutte Suzanne Plutte Mel Rosen Joyce Rosenblum Shoko Sakanaka Lheitha Salazar Debbie Sanders Jodi Sena Sandra Strength Mary Tatro Nasir Torbati Jill Traub Estelle Tuvman Judith Ubick Alex Vital Gloria Vitto Tim Vreeland Akemi Watanabe Emily Winters Leslie Wintner Liz Woiwode Adam Yu Lee Zeldin

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

July 3 – September 6

View the Exhibition:
Evi Debes: Ewigkeit

From the artist, former Emeritus instructor Evi Debes, on her brilliantly playful and spiritually uplifting 2017 solo exhibition at Emeritus Gallery:

“’Ewigkeit’, eternity, an Austrian word that I believed my name (Evi) came from. As a child, I puttered around for an ewigkeit. Now my creative process is to play with my materials until a poetic connection occurs, like improvisation leading to innovation. This eternal involvement is my lifelong inspiration.”

The immersive exhibition included an enormous range of material investigation, floor-to-ceiling installation, moving and changing components, and a performance at the opening reception that resulted in the addition of abstract hanging mobile works.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

September 28 – November 8

View the Exhibition:
Milton Quon

The Santa Monica College Emeritus Art Gallery was particularly proud to present a solo exhibition of visual works created by award-winning artist, illustrator, and animator Milton Quon, who celebrated his 104th birthday just before the exhibition opened in 2017.

The exhibition displayed a collection of Quon’s watercolors spanning decades of work. Generally captured live on site, the watercolors tell an amazing story of someone constantly looking at and engaging with the surrounding environment. “In painting and drawing, an artist hopes to share with you what he saw and felt at that time and place,” said Quon. The show also included several of Quon’s hundreds of sketchbooks, as well as other materials providing some background on his history as an animator/illustrator.

Quon is a legend in the world of animation and longtime student in SMC’s Emeritus program. A son of Chinese immigrants, he was born in Los Angeles on August 22, 1913, and lived and worked as an artist in the area his entire life until passing in 2019. He was awarded a scholarship in 1936 to attend Chouinard Art Institute, now the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). In 1939, not long after graduating, he was hired by Walt Disney Animation Studios as an artist on the film Fantasia (1940), working on popular characters such as the goldfish in “Arabian Dance” and the dancing mushrooms in “Chinese Dance.” His talent and artistry were quickly recognized, and Quon was named First Assistant Animator for the next Disney film, Dumbo (1941), where he was the primary creative force behind such memorable scenes as Mr. Stork's delivery. During World War II, Quon worked as an illustrator for Douglas Aircraft Company, returning to Disney after the war to head the Publicity and Promotions Department. 

Quon, the third Chinese American to be hired by Disney, was the first Chinese American to be named Art Director at a national advertising agency, to work as a Senior Design Artist for a large packaging firm, and to teach courses at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. His work has been displayed at museums and galleries and can be found in numerous private collections. He also received honors that include the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, and was honored on September 14, 2017, by the Chinese American Museum at the prestigious 21st Annual HistoryMakers Dinner in Los Angeles.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

November 16 – January 17

View the Exhibition:
The Ongoing Moment 2017 Exhibition

This annual series centers around a collaborative journal of original writing and art created by Emeritus students in the memoir writing class led by author Monona Wali and the watercolor studio class taught by artist Catherine Tirr. The annual event includes the release of the publication, a selection of live readings by Emeritus Student authors, and an exhibition in the gallery of watercolor and collage works featured in the journal. The following artists and writers contributed to the project in 2017:

Artists:

Michael Anderson Jill Benham Angela Boies Hector Chao Kay Chatowski Roshy Farry Trudy Forney Linda Freedman Bernice Glenn Wendy Hagar Marcia Harris Estelle Jue-Clay Kate Kausch Betty Kelly Francine Lucey Gail Lonseth Marlotte Lang Williams Sun Lau Barbara Milliken Gisela Mueller Roman Pecot Lynette Perkin Helene Poletti Paula Ross Marjorie Grace Sayers Helen Shlein Ying Sun Estelle Tuvman Akemi Watanabe

Authors:

Cynthia Allen Nancy Arnheim Stan Bermann Lois Bostwick Sara Bragin Kathleen Carey Dorothy Chin Betty Cota Dorothy Curtis Judy Davidson Terry Dicks Frances Feinman Linda Fenster Laurie Forrest Tony Garofalo Gerald Gratch Amy Greenwood Dinah Hatton Cornelia Higginson Leonia Kallir Kurgan Tamar Levin Sylvia Lieberman Femma Mahdessian Carolyn Maxwell Nancy McKeever Rhoda Newman Ann Pellant Marilyn Pink Beth Rubin Veena Sadana Joe Samuels Libby Schwartz Barbara Spiller Marsha Straubing

From the classrooms of Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

January 14 – March 2

View the Exhibition:
Inside/Out 1

Inside/Out 1 initiated a new series of recurring exhibitions featuring art from inside the Emeritus community presented alongside art from established outside professionals. The interdisciplinary and eclectic grouping of works was linked through humor, expression, and connections to the Surreal.

A special contribution to the exhibition was a loaned watercolor from the well-known and very significant feminist artist Faith Wilding. Other professional artists in the show included Carla Danes, Ursula Kammer-Fox, and Annetta Kapon. Danes and Kammer-Fox exhibited very different types of wall-hanging assemblages, while Kapon contributed a standing sculpture referencing the classic desert island cliché.

Emeritus students John Alcantara, Donna Brown, and Gloria Markowitz all exhibited expressive, yet quirky figure and landscape paintings, but with three very different stylistic directions. Student Elle Martin provided a range of wall works that feature collaging of visual material with brilliant deadpan wit, P.R. Miles included handmade sculptures on pedestals, and James Wang showed digital photographs.

John Alcantara Donna Brown Carla Danes Ursula Kammer-Fox Annetta Kapon Gloria Markowitz Elle Martin P.R. Miles James Wang Faith Wilding

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

March 10 – April 27

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2016:

Julie Bucka John Dalton Jim Gerstley Trude Haas Jeff Hogue Suzie Kim Chenkung Lee Leticia Lua Linda MacEwen Doris Power Marilyn Stern Judy Nahman Stouffer Jo Tashima Alan Tossman Vernica Tucker Alex Vital Gloria Vitto Linda Velonis James Wang Donna Weaver

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

May 5 – July 6

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2016:

Earleen Ahrens John Alcantara Anne Axelrad Michael Baroff Eva Benjamin Angela Boies Rick Brammall Arlene Broussard Elsi Brown Lloyd Cameron Rose Carcich Eva Caulfield Rose Cheng Rebel Clair Jeanni Collins Cynthia Cottam Evi Debes Sharon deLeon Cheri Dickinson Susan Edwards Norma Ehrlich Yousri El Fattah Claudia Foster Linda Freedman Arturo Fribourg January Garabedian Mercedes Garcia Lorraine Ginsburg Eva Good Laura Goodfriend Barbara Gordon Jeanne Hahn Janice Hanks Nancy Hardin Kazuko Hashimoto Liz Hooker Joseph Juliano Laura Kuper Leandra Lack Esther Lainer Kerstin Lenzie Leticia Lua Linda MacEwen Ed Maltz Gloria Markowitz David Marshall Nelly Mathou Ron Maurer Virginia Merriam Mel Messinger Starrie Ming Phyllis Nelson Sandy Nevler Ann Olsen Nancy Pau Edward Plutte Suzanne Plutte Doris Power Cynthia Spaulding Sandra Strength Mary Tatro Estelle Tauman Marty Tex Judith Ubick Alex Vital Gloria Vitto Tim Vreeland Akemi Watanabe Kay Whiteley Leslie Wintner Diane Williams June Yamada Dorothy Yamamoto

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

July 14 – September 14

View the Exhibition:
Erwin Glaub

The full title of professional artist Erwin Glaub’s 2016 solo exhibition was “Esai Morales and Greg Germann Present ‘Zabadak’ the Collection by Erwin Glaub”. The exhibition pulled from the artist’s imaginary – and imaginative – “Zabadak Collection,” featuring vibrant, playful works with underlying analyses of mass movement, collecting, and celebrity worship.

The Santa Monica based Glaub has developed a style he refers to as “Pop Visionary Hieroglyphics,” inspired by cartooning, handwriting, doodling, and beach graphics. The artist’s works are characterized by brightly-colored spaces and amoeba-like shapes, with swarming beings and traveling vessels milling about in contentment or proceeding in a mass of unity to an unknown destination.

In addition to painted works at various scales, Glaub presented two long-term projects for the first time in his exhibition at Emeritus Gallery. One is a collection of 60 snapshots of the artist posing with celebrities, some of whom have collected his artwork. The other is a massive installation of gift bags acquired by the artist over the past 25 years from exclusive Hollywood events, including movie premieres, store openings, and fashion events.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

September 22 – November 2

View the Exhibition:
Cherie Dickinson, Lorraine Ginsburg, Starrie Ming

This three-artist grouping of outstanding Emeritus students was an elegant arrangement of precise and skillful paintings with stylistic inspirations ranging from photorealism to graphic design to op-art. Starrie Ming’s signature wild horses ran through the exhibition, past mysterious churning forces and graphic collapses within scenes in Cheri Dickinson’s astonishingly immaculate paintings. Emeritus Gallery Legend Lorraine Ginsburg offered incredible works, as only she could, from two apparently disparate bodies of work, op-art geometric abstractions and lovable painterly expressions of older couples dancing, that worked together in the exhibition very harmoniously.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

November 10 – January 11

View the Exhibition:
The Ongoing Moment 2016 Exhibition

This annual series centers around a collaborative journal of original writing and art created by Emeritus students in the memoir writing class led by author Monona Wali and the watercolor studio class taught by artist Catherine Tirr. The annual event includes the release of the publication, a selection of live readings by Emeritus Student authors, and an exhibition in the gallery of watercolor and collage works featured in the journal. The following artists contributed to the project in 2016:

Artists:

Jill Benham Toni Berger Sheila Berman Jeanne Blessing Angela Boies Hector Chao Rose Cheng Trudy Forney Linda Freedman Marcia Harris January Garabedian Bernice Glenn Wendy Hagar Kate Kausch Young-He Keh Laura Kuper Marlotte Lang Williams Francine Lucey Barbara Milliken Gisela Mueller Helene Poletti Paula Ross Leslie Stormon Estelle Tuvman Sylvia Young Akemi Watanabe

From the classrooms of Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

January 15 – February 25

View the Exhibition:

Freddie Manseau

Artist and favorite Emeritus instructor Freddie Manseau’s watercolor and acrylic works are always tightly rendered, but never void of life. His 2015 solo exhibition was put together during the crossover between two gallery curators due to a freak car accident that temporarily halted gallery programming. Bodies of work in the exhibition ranged from effortlessly crafted watercolors to layered and deep acrylics, while subjects included landscapes, sea vessels, architecture, portraits, and animals.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick and Jesse Benson

March 5 – April 22

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2015:

Julie Bucka  John Dalton  Jim Gerstley  Lorraine Ginsburg  Steve Heinrich  Jeff Hogue  Suzie Kim  Christine Metoyer  Doris Power  Ron Siegel  Sam Swarz  Michael Telerant  Linda Velonis  Alex Vital  Gloria Vitto  James Wang  Isaac Yusim

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

May 12 – June 16

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus 40th Anniversary Silent Benefit Exhibition

The SMC Emeritus Program celebrated its 40th Anniversary with events ranging from an open house and art exhibition and reception, to a silent benefit and a special tribute to Retired Emeritus Associate Dean Maggie Hall.

“Throughout the past four decades, Emeritus has survived and thrived because of the dedication and warm connections between students, faculty, staff, and volunteers,” said Emeritus Acting Associate Dean Gita Runkle. “We are so fortunate to be in a community that values lifelong learning and we hope the community enjoys our 40th Anniversary activities. A committee full of amazing volunteers has been working tirelessly to create a fun-packed and meaningful celebration for this momentous occasion.”

Emeritus was founded by SMC in 1975 to serve the lifelong learning interests of older adults. Today, the widely praised program offers more than 120 free classes and special programs, and serves over 3,000 students each year.

The 40th Anniversary activities included:

• Monday, May 4: Open House & Silent Benefit Preview Emeritus Art Gallery. Festive event included live music by Emeritus students, display of a pictorial review of Emeritus’ history, featured live portrait drawings by an Emeritus student, and started the preview period (May 4-8) for the amazing selection of creative works, collectibles, services, and experiences contributed to a Silent Benefit organized by Emeritus Gallery Director Jesse Benson in support of Emeritus.

• Tuesday, May 12: 40th Anniversary Emeritus Art Exhibition Opening Reception & Start of Silent Benefit from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Emeritus Art Gallery. An opening reception was held – with Ikebana arrangement by Tory J. Lowitz, light refreshments, and a pictorial review of Emeritus’ history – for exhibition of works by Emeritus and guest professional artists, including Charles Arnoldi, Steven Bankhead, Merwin Belin, Jesse Benson, Judy Benson, Olivia Booth, Carla Danes, Erwin Glaub, John Greco, Scott Greiger, Jacob Melchi, Renee Petropoulos, Catherine Tirr, and Erin Watson. The reception opened the Silent Benefit bidding period (May 12-22) for the art on exhibit, as well as jewelry, event tickets, professional services, antiquities, experiences, memorabilia, and more, with selections ranging from very affordable items to valuable collectibles. Exhibition ran through June 16.

• Thursday, May 28: 40th Anniversary Closing Event occurred from 12 to 1 p.m. in Emeritus Room 107 with welcome by Emeritus Acting Associate Dean Gita Runkle, presentation of resolution from State Assembly Member Richard Bloom’s office, and a special tribute to Retired Emeritus Associate Dean Maggie Hall.

The Emeritus 40th Anniversary sponsors included Merrill Lynch Bank of America Corporation, UCLA Health, and Heart Light.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

July 9 – September 10

View the Exhibition:
Tom Krumpak: Built & Placed

Professional artist Tom Krumpak – a professor of Drawing and Painting at California State University, Long Beach – has established a uniquely expansive, interdisciplinary profile for an exhibiting studio painter. His paintings feature clustered colored shapes and silhouettes that overlap endlessly to produce potent colorfield abstractions, incredibly tight detailed rendering, and obsessive gathering of visual information in mass abundance.

Krumpak’s works have been shown in more than 100 exhibitions in the United States, Europe, and Korea. He also curates exhibitions of works by emerging and established artists, and leads tours for student groups and collectors to artist’s studios, through historical neighborhoods, and to visit architectural sites and music venues both in Los Angeles and New York City.

“My artwork has almost always dealt with Place, past and present,” said Krumpak. “I am interested in the real place of intersection between the individual and the crowd, the private and the public. Therefore, while the artwork’s composition may be based on plans, elevations, onsite photographs, it is also intermixed with elements of personal history such as poetry, music lyrics, tracings of collected items from travels, spoons and forks used to take liquid color out of paint cans in my studio.”

Though known for his paintings, Krumpak recently started creating small-scale sculptures/combines in mixed media. He describes them as “very process-oriented in nature. They mate existing containers with inserted, treasured, and found objects; hand painted scrolls and fitted paintings.” In addition to several paintings, two of Krumpak’s sculptures were included in the exhibition at Emeritus Gallery. He describes his sculptural work ‘Dim Dim’ as “reminiscent of Duchamp’s ‘Boite-en-Valise’ because I have always loved the idea of a portable museum,” and says ‘3516 Centinela’ “pays homage to my father’s Hardware store as Place.”

In addition to the opening reception for Tom Krumpak: Bulit & Placed, there was also a special closing event for the exhibition featuring text and poetry readings by authors Glenn Bach, Sharry Phelan Wright, Miles Krumpak, Nelly Reifler, The 597K Group, and Ray Gavilan Robinson.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

September 17 – November 4

View the Exhibition:
Katya Kompaneyets: Tarkovsky's Hamlet

In one of the most fascinating and inspiring exhibitions in Emeritus Gallery history, Emeritus student Katya Kompaneyets presented extremely rare costume and stage designs from a banned Soviet theatrical production.

The designs were created in collaboration, by Kompaneyets with Georgian artist and political satirist Tengiz Mirzashvili, for a theatrical production of Hamlet by legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.

Hamlet was the only theatrical play produced by Tarkovsky, a brilliant filmmaker considered a political dissident. Performances by the Theater of Leninsky Komsomol opened in Spring 1977 and were banned shortly after.

The costumes were not designed to be historically accurate. According to Kompaneyets, they were based on familiar figures – including actors – and on favorite paintings. “Hamlet’s costume design and hat were based on a Hans Holbein portrait,” she said, noting that costumes for undertakers reflected works by Hieronymus Bosch. “The ringed armor for the ghost of father-king I made myself, weaving it from ropes. The armor had a very ghostly look. We also worked on a color scheme, always thinking of how costumes will look together on a stage. We wanted a stage to look like a painting.”

Most of the sketches for the costume and stage designs – and the actual costumes – have been destroyed, and none of the performances were filmed, so Kompaneyets' sketches offer a rare glimpse into a moment in history.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

November 12 – January 6

View the Exhibition:
The Ongoing Moment 2015 Exhibition

This annual series centers around a collaborative journal of original writing and art created by Emeritus students in the memoir writing class led by author Monona Wali and the watercolor studio class taught by artist Catherine Tirr. The annual event includes the release of the publication, a selection of live readings by Emeritus Student authors, and an exhibition in the gallery of watercolor and collage works featured in the journal. The following artists contributed to the project in 2015:

Artists:

Akemi Watanabe Martin Luber Lee Zeldin Toni Berger Gisela Mueller Leslie Stormon Wendy Hagar Rose Cheng Suying  Iren Shieh Larisa Rubinshtein Helene Poletti Susan De Freitas Kay Chatowski Estelle Tuvman Marilyn Landy Angela Boies Linda Freedman Trudy Forney Jill Benham Paula Ross Jeanne Blessing Hector Chao Laura Kuper Marcia Harris Alice Mouradian Barbara Milliken Sandra Wong Sylvia Young

From the classrooms of Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

January 16 – February 14

View the Exhibition:
AMPlified: Selected artwork from the Santa Monica College Art Mentor Program

Emeritus Gallery was the site of a curatorial collaboration in this exhibition, for which curator Becky Koblick offered the space to advanced students from the credit-based main campus SMC Art Mentor Program. Faculty within the program worked with Koblick to develop an interdisciplinary exhibition with works by the following Art Mentor Program students:

Cosmas & Damian Brown Dante V Durand Nevada Hardman Michael Jensen Anthony Johnson Ozzie Juarez Oscar Manuel Lopez Ana C. Massette Chihea Moon Shannon Pollak Michelle Rhee Lili Said Svetlana Shigroff Rory Toole Emeritus

Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

February 27 – April 18

View the Exhibition:
Katy Crowe and Jacob Melchi

From curator Becky Koblick’s text for this two-person exhibition of professional abstract painters:

Though representing different generations, Los Angeles based artists Crowe and Melchi utilize similar methodologies when constructing paintings. Both have committed to strategies involving an intertwining of aesthetics sourced from geometric abstraction, symbolism, pop graphics, and process-based painting. For Crowe and for Melchi repetitive mark-making and layering processes often form patterns that reemerge in multiple works, sometimes as pronounced structures that determine the “architecture” of a composition, and sometimes as distant traces that only become evident under closer inspection. Both artists have total control of their craft, and though there is some small degree of preciousness, neither practice is locked into the finish-fetish of hard-edged geometric abstraction. In fact, many of the marks made by these two artists might be best described as geometric yet quirky, funny, with none of the self-important bravado of modern abstraction. They are abstraction that has gone through pop and conceptual histories, and been repackaged as something more self-aware, aware of itself as a container for symbols, and as a symbol of itself. While historic abstraction (that of the modern avant garde), distanced itself from symbolism and pop culture, contemporary painters Crowe and Melchi have the benefit of critical distance, enough to allow symbolist references from anything from architecture to baseball for Melchi, and weavings to black widows for Crowe. However, both pop-influenced practices come back around through a truly painterly commitment to process and materials.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

May 1 – June 13

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2014:

Tan Arnold  Virginia Baldioli  Emil Benko  Nehama Bentovim  Julie Bucka  Rose Carcich  Christine Chambers  John Dalton  Robert Durej  Ruth Erb  Tayebeh Ehtesham  Pamela Finkel  Lilly Gephart  Rex Gephart  Jim Gerstley  Trude Haas  Steve Heinrich  Lindsey Hinds  Jeff Hogue  Suzie Kim  Chenkung Lee  Iris Malinsky  Christine Metoyer  Doris Power  Art Siegel  Sam Swarz  Michael Telerant  Alan Tossman  Linda Velonis  Alex Vital  Gloria Vitto  Isaac Yusim

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

November 21 – December 3

View the Exhibition:
Pen & Brush

An early iteration of the Emeritus event that later became known as “The Ongoing Moment”, this annual series centers around a collaborative journal of original writing and art created by Emeritus students in the memoir writing class led by author Monona Wali and the watercolor studio class taught by artist Catherine Tirr. The annual event includes the release of the publication, a selection of live readings by Emeritus Student authors, and an exhibition in the gallery of watercolor and collage works featured in the journal. The following artists contributed to the project in 2014 in a gallery space on SMC’s main campus:

Artists:

Sandra Wong Akemi Watanabe Martin Luber Rose Cheng Mary Lou Muir Wendy Hagar  Linda Freedman Joyce Rosenblum Phyllis Tanasaki Helène Poletti Laura Kuper January Garabedian Leslie Stormon Barbara Ochs Gordon Marilyn Landy Estelle Tuvman Angela Boies Jill Benham Marcia Harris  Mel Bertolozzi Barbara Milliken Bernice Glenn Kathy Rodman Binnie Bell Betty Kelly Shoko Sakanaka Kay Chatowski Sylvia Young Larisa Rubinshtein

From the classrooms of Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Jesse Benson

February 13 – March 7

View the Exhibition:
Lois Haytin: Collage Works

In her long-awaited solo exhibition, Emeritus’s celebrated collage master Lois Haytin provided a generous glimpse into her skillful and joyful process.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

March 14 – April 4

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition

The annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2013:

Tan Arnold Anne M Atmayoana Emil Benko Julie Bucka Eva Caulfield Christine Chambers Walter Coronel John W Dalton Tayebeh Ehtesham Philip Flanders Marshall D Friedman George Garcia Jim Gerstley Lorraine Ginsburg Alvin Glass Gertrude M Haas Charles Haskell Jeffrey R Hogue Liz Hooker Suzie Kim Judy Lamm Kathryn Leach Chenkung Lee Iris Malinsky Christine Metoyer Chris K Northrup Gail Osborne Doris Power Tahereh Shiekholislam Art Siegal Mieke Solari Michael Telerant Linda L Velonis Alex Vital Gloria Vitto Isaac Yusim

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

April 18 – May 9

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Jewelry and Calligraphy Exhibition

Emeritus student calligraphers and jewelers were brought together for this unique exhibition, featuring works by the following designers:

Jessie Tai Mary Memory Virginia Halstensgard Marilyn Korade Nancy Varat Julia Chu Francine Lucey Judy Penchansky Wanda Norman-Storey Fereshteh Haeri Susan Temkin Ruth Olay Karen Gladstone Linda Larson-Singer BoGay Salvador Rosemary Lackey Barbara Jean Nafiseh Fahid Judy D’Arcy Edna Brock Evie DePoister Elli Evertsen Anita Foxman Hatsuko Mary Higuchi Sandy Lew Kline Violet Lew Jean Marie Pappas Sherry Schrut Constance Stambler Barbara Wood Fatemeh Satrap Tayebeh Ehtesham Gina Farzam Sousan Alborzi Mahnaz Marvi Mehri Marvi Mildred Wilson

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

May 16 – June 8

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition Part 1

Part 1 of the annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2013:

John G. Alcantara Pamela Bennett Angela Boies Michele Boyer Richard Brammall Lloyd Cameron Susan DeFreitas Cheri Dickinson Ena Dubnoff Linda Freeman Arturo Fribourg January Garabedian Marie Hadji Wendy Hagar Sachiko Higuchi Liz Hooker Joseph Juliano Carol Klinger Ervin T. Kovacs Kathryn Leach Cindy Liu  Leticia Lua Paula Mahan Gloria Markowitz Elle Martin Alva McNeal Starrie Ming Frances Nichols Wanda Norman-Storey Donna Rosien  Barbara Rubin Susan Sackett  Daniel Tarr Donna Weiser

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

June 27 – August 30

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition Part 2

Part 2 of the annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2013:

Anne Axelrad Patricia Barron Ann Benson Sylvia Bock Parvin Brevik Eva Caulfield Farideh Ebrahimi Tiare Ferrari Joseph Fitzpatrick Lorraine Ginsburg Jeanne Hahn Janice Hanks Nancy Hardin Kazuko Hashimoto Lois Haytin Christine Ketvirtis Suzie Kim Katya Kompaneyets Gayle Macdonald Ann Olsen Nancy Pau Doris Power Ina Jo Scheid Ellen Travis Judith Ubick Gloria Vitto Diane Williams Emily Winters Elizabeth Woiwode Dorothy Yamamoto Jane Zingale

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

September 5 – October 4

View the Exhibition:
Catherine Tirr

Artist and Emeritus faculty member Catherine Tirr worked with gallery curator Becky Koblick to select acrylic works from related series for this exhibition. The works appear primarily abstract, though they hint at natural organic structures of both the micro and macro scale. Within these works the visual field takes several forms, but there are certain consistencies, such as highly saturated color, dynamic compositions, and tightly rendered patterns reminiscent of cellular forms that emerge out of cloudy amorphous spaces.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

October 10 – November 8

View the Exhibition:
Merwin Belin

For the first outside professional exhibition brought in to Emeritus Gallery during her tenure, curator Becky Koblick collected collage and sculptural works by renowned California conceptual artist Merwin Belin. Belin’s interdisciplinary efforts target, recontextualize, and subvert popular and political culture. From reconstructed newspaper front pages to text/image reassignments to impoverished original assemblages, his work is consistently witty, irreverent, spare, and often elegant. His significant history of production and continued commitment were evident in this exhibition, which consisted of works spanning three decades.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

November 14 – December 13

View the Exhibition:
Pen & Brush

An early iteration of the Emeritus event that later became known as “The Ongoing Moment”, this annual series centers around a collaborative journal of original writing and art created by Emeritus students in the memoir writing class led by author Monona Wali and the watercolor studio class taught by artist Catherine Tirr. The annual event includes the release of the publication, a selection of live readings by Emeritus Student authors, and an exhibition in the gallery of watercolor and collage works featured in the journal. The following artists and authors contributed to the project in 2013:

Artists:

Gladys Barsallo Bernice Bell Jill Benham Jeanne Blessing Angela Boies Hector Chao Kay Chatowski Rose Cheng Judith Ciasulli Susan Defreitas Joyce Gale Seth Goldstein Wendy Hagar Marcia Harris Laura Kuper Marilyn Landy Kathryn Leach Paula Mahan Barbara Milliken Mary Lou Muir Estelle Tuvman Akemi Watanabe Kay Whiteley Sandra Wong

Authors:

Cynthia Allen Mady Bergman Stan Bermann Sara Bragin Lorine W. Calhoun Dorothy Curtis Terry Dicks Tony Garofalo Gerry Gratch Bob Haddad Dinah Hatton Leonia Kallir Kurgan Roz Leavitt Sylvia Lieberman Femma Mahdessian Carolyn Maxwell Rhoda Newman Marilyn Pink Sonya Reese Joe Samuels Sally Schneider Libby Schwartz Roz Siegel Bernard Sklar Barbara Spiller Marvin Tanner

From the classrooms of Catherine Tirr and Monona Wali

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

March 22 – April 26

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition Part 1

Part 1 of the annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2012:

Virginia Baldioli Gladys Barsallo Carole Bender Emil Benko Julie Bucka Paul Bucka Christine Chambers Walter Coronel Theodore D. Ehrlich Harold Fetterman Susan Fetterman Barbara Gartner Jim Gerstley Lorraine Ginsburg Charles Haskell Doris Power

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

May 3 – May 31

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition Part 2

Part 2 of the annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition of photographs and digital renderings by Emeritus students, featured works by the following photographers in 2012:

Carole Bender Alvin Glass Pam Gross Charles Haskell Iris Malinsky Jeffrey Hogue Chenkung Lee Doris Power Dana Sephton Joanie Shapiro Tahereh Shiekholislam Art Siegel Michael Telerant Linda L Velonis Alex Vital Peter Wu Issac Yusim

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

June 7 – July 5

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition Part 1

Part 1 of the annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2012:

Gladys Barsallo Nancy Boyarsky Michele Boyer Cheri Dickinson Diane Durkin Trudy Forney Lorraine Ginsburg Marjorie Grace-Sayers Rosa G. Hogle Vicky Infante Christine Ketvirtis Cindy Lui Gloria Markowitz Elle Martin Gary E Matthews Starrie Ming Wanda Norman-Storey Ann P Olsen Wendy Oxman Whittemore Mahnaz Roshangar Alex Vital Diane Williams Jane Zinger

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

July 12 – August 9

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Student Art Exhibition Part 2

Part 2 of the annual Emeritus Student Art Exhibition, a juried exhibition of artwork by Emeritus students, featured works by the following artists in 2012:

Anne Axelrad  Ann Benson Donna Brown Lloyd Cameron  Ena Dubnoff  Seth Goldstein  Sally Hammill  Nancy Hardin  Kazuko Hashimoto Lois Haytin Cheryl Hines  Liz Hooker  Linda Imner  Ervin Kovacs  Elisabeth Mann Donna Rosien  Gerald Schneir Dana Sephton  Estelle Tuvman Emily Winters  Jane Wykoff  Isaac Yusim Gloria Vitto

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

September 6 – October 4

View the Exhibition:
Cindy Liu: Watercolor Portraits

Outstanding Emeritus student Cindy Liu’s solo exhibition consisted of a concise grouping of subtle watercolor portraits with striking color accents.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

October 11 – November 8

View the Exhibition:
Mahnaz Roshangar & Edwin Maltz

This exhibition of works by two Emeritus students paired figurative drawings and imaginative landscape renderings by Edwin Maltz with exquisite abstract and figurative sculptures by Mahnaz Roshangar.

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick

November 15 – December 13

View the Exhibition:
Emeritus Faculty Exhibition

The following professionally practicing Emeritus visual arts faculty members were brought together for this eclectic exhibition:

Jesse Benson Jacquelyn Brutsche Ken Buckner Lynn Goodin Freddie Manseau Janet Martorello Mary Pillot Trenton Reynolds Susan Ryza Jerry Schneir Catherine Tirr Bruce Trentham Ruth SanPietro Cheryl Walker

Emeritus Gallery Curator: Becky Koblick