Massive art show brings together work from LA's college students

For over 60 years, East Los Angeles College has held an exhibition to showcase its students’ art.

But when Steven Wong, who directs the college’s Vincent Price Art Museum, took the helm in 2021, he expanded the show to include work by students across the Los Angeles Community College District — from the San Fernando Valley to the South Bay.

The show takes place every other year. Titled “New Voices,” this year’s event will feature work from a wide array of fields, including architecture, photography, illustration, costume design and much more. The exhibition opens with a reception on April 19.

Getting in the show is competitive. Nearly 400 artists from the district’s nine campuses submitted their work for consideration. In the end, only 58 were selected. The exhibition, Wong said, is a treat for museum-goers who’ll have the chance to see what the next generation of artists has in store. For the artists, the show is a chance to build community and make themselves known.

When students see their work in the museum’s galleries, “it’s magic,” Wong said.

‘Mom, Dad: I want to study art’

Wong earned an M.F.A at UC Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in Asian American Studies at UCLA. His academic journey started at Santa Monica College.

“If I didn't go there,” he told LAist, “I wouldn't be where I am today.”

Wong knows that students who are the first in their families to pursue higher education often start at community college, like he did. He also knows that parents are often less than thrilled when their children say they want to study art.

The exhibition, Wong said, is a means to “break down those barriers.” When students invite their families to the show, parents begin to realize that the artists “could actually make a living.”

The exhibition also serves as a vehicle to prepare them for the art world.

“We're not just quickly throwing student work up [on the walls],” Wong said.

He and his team treat student work with the same care and attention that they give to internationally renowned artists. They also demand that students respond with the same professionalism.

“Students have to learn how to pack their work, just as [if] they would be submitting it to another museum, like the [Museum of Contemporary Art] or the Broad,” he said. This involves a lot of paperwork. White glove handling. Condition reporting.

“Part of our role here is to demystify the museum world,” Wong said.

What’s on display at the museum?

Tanya Flores Hodgson enrolled at East Los Angeles College after studying fine art at Cal State Long Beach.

When she signed up for advanced photo classes at the community college, she told LAist, “I hadn't made anything in five years.”

The classes at ELAC gave her access to resources and equipment. They also helped her reconnect with fellow artists and get feedback from peers and professors.

One of the three Flores Hodgson photos in this year's biennial.

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Courtesy Tanya Flores Hodgson

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The “New Voices” jury, composed of local professional artists, selected three of Flores Hodgson’s photographs.

Flores Hodgson moved to the U.S. from Nicaragua when she was 8 years old. Because of the country’s repressive political climate, she hasn’t returned since 2018. Since then, the artist has not seen her mother and grandmother.

“My work reflects the experience of being an immigrant, of longing for my homeland,” she said.

In one of the photographs in the art show, Flores Hodgson poses for a self-portrait, standing before a plumeria tree — Nicaragua’s national flower. On her face, she has the words to a poem by Managua-born writer Gioconda Belli. This work is titled "Desparramadas." The word, Flores Hodgson said, means to scatter what was once whole.

For Daisy Rodriguez, a student at L.A. Mission College, the exhibition is a confirmation that she’s on the right path.

Rodriguez was at UC Santa Barbara during the pandemic. But she wasn’t able to get housing, and the commute from L.A. County to school ate at her wellbeing — and her grades.

“I failed one class,” she said. “And I was just, like, ‘You know what? This is not me.'"

Rodriguez transferred to Mission College, where she’s kept a 4.0 grade point average and become managing editor of the school’s literary magazine.

She’s also taken lots of art classes. Her professors encouraged her to submit her work to the “New Voices” exhibition. When she learned her work was selected, Rodriguez was pleasantly surprised. Her piece — a 24 x 32-inch painting — is titled "In a melting's notice." It features a small penguin floating on a piece of ice, edging toward two ominous-looking tigers.

Rodriguez has loved art since she was a child. But, in high school, she cast aside that part of herself to focus on getting into college.

Rodriguez said she might return to UC Santa Barbara, but she’s open to other possibilities. She also wants to keep making art.