Artwork of Woodland Community College students is on display

Maria Del Carmen Reyes Fabian explains her colored pencil on paper work titled “La luz De Los Muertos during a showing recently at Gallery 625 in downtown Woodland. Fabian is finishing her second year at Woodland Community College. PHOTOS BY JIM SMITH — COURTESY

Woodland Community College art student Ridley Silva talks to a visitor at Gallery 625 during the First Friday Artwalk. Silva was one of silver students recognized for his work.

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By Jim Smith

special to the Democrat

The artwork of Woodland Community College students is now being showcased at Gallery 625 in downtown.

Unveiled during the June First Friday Artwalk, the display features around 22 pieces created by students under the direction of art professor Manuel Fernando Rios.

Assembled under the direction of YoloArts, the work will be showcased through Aug. 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, on the second floor of the Erwin Meir Center at 625 Court St., Rios’ mural class was also prominently featured in mid-May after completing art for the “Eagle’s Essential Marketplace” at Woodland College in Building 700 of the campus at 2300 E. Gibson Road.

The Marketplace is a food pantry for students and staff at the school.

The exhibition features exceptional WCC student work including the 2023 Kingsley Merit Scholarship Award finalists. Artists featured include “A.A.”, Carol Butzbach, Maria Del Carmen Reyes Fabian, Andres Marquez, Joey Sable, Ridley Silva, Acacia Sisneros, Gricelda Vargas, Kaitlyn Wright and Daniel Zapata-Kraft.

Zapata-Kraft’s work was among the 2023 Mert Award Winners selected by the Kinglsey Art Club for exhibition through July 23 on the first floor of the Crocker Historic Building at 216 O St., Sacramento.

Selected for display was Zapata-Kraft’s painting “Seed of Evil,” which basically shows a colorful “catlike” stick figure walking upright and pointing to a black seed with gloved hands.

The Kinglsey Art Club has sponsored the annual Merit Awards scholarship to acknowledge promising art students since 1954. This year, the art faculties at Woodland, American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake, Sacramento City, and Sierra colleges each selected a student and their artwork to represent their college as a Merit Award recipient.

Many recipients have said that receiving the Kingsley Merit Award has made a difference in their lives by financially supporting their continued education, recognizing their artistic efforts and exhibiting their art at the Crocker Art Museum. The award recipients each receive $600.

Rios, the college’s first full-time art professor in over a decade, said, “Adding WCC to the Kingsley Merit Scholarship Awards was one of my top priorities when I was hired, along with finding additional opportunities for students to showcase their work to cultivate and help grow the art community in Woodland.”

According to Rios, “Having students exhibit their work at venues such as Gallery 625 is one of the most rewarding feelings an art professor can have.”