Two faculty members from San Bernardino Valley College recently displayed their work in the Inland Empire Museum of Art (IEMA). SBVC Art Department Chair Mandi Batalo and Ceramics Adjunct Professor Gina Lawson-Egana were two of only 43 artists featured in the IEMA’s exhibit Faces: Portraits from the Collection that ran through August 27th, 2017 at the museum’s gallery in Upland.

The exhibition focused on the diversity of people with whom we interact everyday, from the workplace to our social lives. As humans, we are compelled to create, explore, and interpret what we see, with our expression limited only by our imagination. The IEMA intended to explore a common subject of our creative attention: people and their faces.

The IEMA Gallery in Upland opened the Faces exhibit on July 29, and displayed portraits by 43 artists from the Inland Empire. The interpretations of faces varied from water-color paintings to bronze sculptures.

Mandi Batalo portrayed her portrait connotation as a black and white 9-photo collage entitled “Pam”.

 

In contrast, Gina Lawson-Egana’s rendition, entitled “Rising Star”, was a large clay sculpture with three faces and a small bird.

The IEMA is a local non-profit focused on recognizing community artists and emphasizing the importance of art education. Its belief is that humans are inherently inquisitive, and a portrait will stimulate wonder and exploration among viewers. The museum hopes community members were inspired by the expressions, gestures, and moods displayed in the Faces of the exhibit.