Art Show Will Feature Students' Finest Creations

Art Institute of California – Inland Empire student Traci Anderson with her creation for the 2008 PROCESS Student Art Show. Art Institute students will again display their work at the Division 9 Gallery in Riverside from Jan. 28 through Feb. 27 for the EVOLVE Student Art Show.


(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) First and foremost, students at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire are artists.

They’ll have an opportunity to show off their artwork in “EVOLVE,” a student art show taking place January 28 through Feb. 27 at Division 9 Gallery, 3850 Lemon St. in downtown Riverside.

“Art should be displayed and enjoyed,” said Stephen Bautista, academic director for Foundations courses and the show’s organizer. “The works the Art Institute of California – Inland Empire instructors will select for this show were created for class assignments. That means they are beautiful and have a purpose, and we want people to appreciate both of these roles art plays in everyone’s lives.”

Media Arts & Animation student Jake Castorena, who took part in the 2008 art show “PROCESS,” sees benefit to these art shows for students, their families, the Art Institute and the Inland Empire community.

“It puts our finest works of art before the community, and it may inspire young people in the community to pursue art as a career, as we have,” Castorena said. “It also allows the Art Institute to show how well we are instructed in art. And it shows our family what we do. We are so busy with school, working in our rooms or in a lab, they don’t see much of us. This allows us to show them what we have been working on for six or seven months.”

The show will feature 60 to 75 of the best works students have created as coursework at The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire. Some of this work will be the Web sites, animated videos and other computer-generated art they produce in advanced courses.

But the show will also include works produced with paper, pencils, paint and other traditional artistic media. Students learn the foundations of artistic expression in courses using these media at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire, thus the beginning courses are known there as “Foundations” courses.


“We are privileged to help students turn their passion for art into a career,” said Emam El-Hout, president of The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. “We believe that when the spark of creativity is alive in a person, they should be given the opportunity to nurture it.”

“This is the third year The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire has sponsored a student art show,” Bautista said. “Last year, more than 700 people viewed the work on display in the PROCESS art show. Since then, numerous students have expressed interest in having their work in our annual art show.”

The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment.

A “grand opening” for the art show takes place on Thursday, Feb. 5. It coincides with the Art Walk, an event the Riverside Arts Community holds the first Thursday of every month in downtown Riverside.

“We hope to increase the Riverside area’s awareness of The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire through this art show,” Bautista said. “Our campus is only 12 miles from downtown Riverside, and provides artists with a great opportunity to make a career out of what they love.”

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire offers Bachelor of Science degrees in Game Art & Design, Graphic Design, Web Design & Interactive Media, Interior Design, Fashion & Retail Management, and Media Arts & Animation. It offers an Associate degree in Graphic Design, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design. The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire offers an Associate degree in Culinary Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree in Culinary Management. Each program is offered on a year-round basis, allowing students to work uninterrupted toward their degrees.

It’s not too late to start a new term at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. Courses begin Feb. 19 and classes are offered in the day, evening and on weekends for new and reentry students.

For more information, or to arrange a tour, call The Art Institute at (909) 915-2100 or go on line to www.artinstitutes.edu/InlandEmpire.

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire is one of the Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu/InlandEmpire), a system of more than 40 locations throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals.


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