Community College Celebrates Black History Month through Art

San Bernardino Valley College celebrated the month of February, also known as Black History Month, with lectures, dance performances, civil rights celebrations and “Shades of Black,” an African-American art show. The art show kicked off Feb. 22, with a reception Feb. 23 featuring special guest speaker and artist Charles Bibbs. Some of Bibbs’ artwork was displayed in the Clara and Allen Gresham Art Gallery at SBVC, along with seven other artists’ work, ranging from oil canvas painting to mixed media form. “We just wanted to show the creativity,” said Patrick Jewett, artist, art instructor and curator of the show. “Shades of Black” ran until March 10. Jewett, along with the help of art Professor David Rosales, put together the showcase and hung the pieces on the walls. Jewett used to be a student at SBVC and said he was proud to be a part of the gallery. It was the first group art show he had done in awhile. “I was asked to curate this particular show of African-American artists, and being African-American myself, I said ‘OK,’” Jewett said. “It was a challenge to get all of the people together. In the end, I’m glad that I did it and it came out really well.” Jewett, who owns his own art studio in San Bernardino, displayed three pieces of his own artwork, including a clay bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He said 50 percent of the other artists he contacted he knew prior to the show, but he began to contact friends of friends, as well. Each artist contacted was required to send in pictures of four pieces of their work, and then Jewett chose a couple pieces from each set. He said he was looking for a general mix of everything but was focusing on quality work. “We wanted it to be an African-American show and we were able to get some really good women artists,” he said. “That’s what I wanted. I wanted a mix of male and female and just general stuff. We have a little bit of abstract, a little bit of everything. Quality stuff was basically where I was going with it.” Emily McNichols, art gallery secretary, said usually the Dia de los Muertos show and Student Art Exhibit draw the most crowds, which are usually comprised of students, faculty and friends and family members of the artists. “(This) was probably one of our biggest ones,” she said. “This was in competition (with that).” Jewett said over 100 people attended the reception. During Bibbs’ speech, he advised students on some of the finer details of the art business. “He was really informative,” Jewett said. “He talked about the ins and outs of the art business and some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that the students really needed to know. They all liked that part. I think that the feedback that I got was it was an eclectic mix of African-American art.” Jewett mentioned that every artist needed to find his or her “niche,” which hinted at the reason behind the wide diversity of art form at the gallery. While Jewett’s work exclusively deals with clay and bronze, other artists featured at the show focused on acrylic, cast paper, mixed media assemblage, collages, oil on canvas and more. Many pieces of art at the show were also for sale, the most expensive being Bibbs’ acrylic and ink on paper artwork “Mother Earth,” which was going for $30,000. Jewett said the pieces of art chosen were representative of African-American culture, specifically with colors and subject. Many of the pieces displayed portraits of other black artists. More importantly, however, he said the show was a way for the black community to celebrate with one another because in the past, being an artist was not always financially feasible and therefore not as possible as now. “It’s a communal thing amongst us,” he said. “Before, black people didn’t really get a chance to use their whole self in being all the things they could be, like doctors, teachers, lawyers, everything else. You didn’t get a chance to become a painter or a poet… the importance is the camaraderie. Besides church, our daily lives are so busy we don’t really get a chance to commune with each other. When we do get together on that particular level, it’s comforting.” While “Shades of Black” has ended, the next art show, “Suenos Migrantes – The Journey Home,” featuring the work of photographer Salvador Ochoa, will begin at the Clara and Allen Gresham Art Gallery March 21 and runs through April 7, with an artist talk Tuesday, March 29 from 4 to 5 p.m.