College art professor, Manuel Fernando Rios, to present this student showcase of drawings and paintings for the 2nd consecutive year. This exhibition features exceptional WCC student work including 2024 WCC Kingsley Merit Scholarship finalists. The finalists were carefully and skillfully selected by the YoloArts Exhibition Committee. YoloArts firmly believes in the value of recognizing the top finalists and thus has happily provided the funding for this year’s additional awards.
Each year Sacramento’s Kingsley Art Club sponsors an awards program to support emerging art students from community colleges in the Sacramento region. The visual arts faculty at each of the colleges selects one outstanding student to be recognized and receive the $550 monetary award.
Woodland Community College’s art department was revived in 2020 with the hiring of Manuel Fernando Rios, the college’s first full time art professor in over a decade. Coupled with the announcement of the college’s new Performance and Culinary Arts building, students have been enrolling in art classes and responding with impressive artwork, as the programs are being re-built, according to Professor Rios.
Rios expressed, “With the addition of the new Performance and Culinary Arts building and the offering of more art courses this past year, I believe our students really responded with some inspiring artworks. I believe the art community in Woodland as a whole has grown significantly since I was hired, and I’d like to think that WCC art students have a lot to do with it.”
The artists and Professor Rios will attend the opening reception and awards ceremony, 5:30-8 p.m. Friday June 7, coinciding with the downtown Woodland First Friday event. Live music by Amataza Yasha, light refreshments, and Yolo County wine will round out the reception which is free and open to the public.
The artwork can also be viewed (and purchased) online at yoloarts.org/online-galleries.
2nd Annual Woodland Community College Student Showcase curated by Manuel Fernando Rios continues at Gallery 625 through July 26.
Gallery 625 hosts exhibitions and receptions every other month. New exhibitions typically open on the first Fridays of February, April, June, August, October, and December.
Gallery 625 is located at 625 Court Street in Woodland, in Yolo County’s Erwin Meier Administration building and is open Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, contact YoloArts at ya@yoloarts.org.