The Santa Monica College Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery will present "AMP 2015," an exhibition of works by gifted students in the highly selective Santa Monica College Art Mentor Program (AMP). "AMP 2015" will combine two-dimensional works on canvas and paper with mixed media installational sculptures, video and audio works, and performance.
The show will be open to the public from Tuesday, June 9, to Saturday, June 20, with a gallery reception on Saturday, June 6, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The gallery is located at the SMC Performing Arts Center on Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street in Santa Monica.
This year's exhibition curator, Megan Flanders, has curated projects for the Patrick Painter Gallery, CSU Santa Barbara, California Institute for the Arts (CalArts), and Chaffey College. She is currently organizing an upcoming exhibit at the Brand Library in Glendale.
The Art Mentor Program is a unique yearlong program for gifted visual art students, selected by SMC Art Department faculty. AMP was created to provide an innovative, experimental, and interdisciplinary environment for students to explore a variety of art forms, professional practices, and critical theory. Led by department chair Ronn Davis and faculty member Carlson Hatton, students experience rigorous critiques, interactive demonstrations, and exposure to a range of contemporary artists, curators, and other arts professionals through a curated speaker series and onsite studio visits.
The spring 2015 group boasts a strong selection of emerging artists who will transfer this fall as third-year students to a wide range of art programs at colleges and universities that include UCLA and UC Berkeley, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Pacific Northwest College of Art, Harvard University, CSU Long Beach and CSU Northridge, and Otis College of Art and Design.
The student artists this year are Melika Abikenari, Billal Ashai, William Ashe, Daniel Bae, Michael Bardales, Angela Davis, Ramon Espinosa, Michelle Guthrie, Saba Hakimi, Jacqueline Kim, Charles McCrory, Nicole Noriyuki, Garen Novruzyan, Talya Petrillo, Eric Potts, Alicia Ramos, Lili Raygoza, Akim Safdari, Spaltro Serap, Amanda Sutton, and Yecenia Torres.
Hours for SMC's Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. All exhibits, gallery talks, and opening receptions are free.
For more information, call (310) 434-3434.
