The Wylie and May Louise James Gallery is currently holding the Bakersfield College Art Student Exhibit 2011, a presentation of student works from BC art classes.

During the reception, giant birds made out of paper mache littered the front of the Grace Van Dyke Library and Transformers made from cardboard were presented in the foyer.

For Adel Shafik, a professor in digital arts, the experience was positive.

“It’s good for them to get their work in a gallery, and it encourages [them] to also take pride in their work,” he said.

Some of the works in the show were from an assignment he had given his students that had them make a postage stamp depicting a local landmark.

One notable example of this assignment modeled Dagny’s Coffee Company,

The students whose work was displayed came from a range of experience levels.

For example, Sarah Talon, a student at BC for two years and responsible for a wild green bird sitting in one of the trees in front of the library, had several pieces in last year’s show as well, while new student Debbie Korhonen also had a giant bird head piece displayed.

Also of note were several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. One of the artists, Heather Guerriero, created a chandelier made from steel and draping lace with working lights for her sculpture class.

Digital art was also strongly represented. Chris L. Hendrickson’s piece “Steampowered” was made by taking 85 photos of mechanical devices and pieces of metal found on campus and layering them “like a puzzle” over an image of a fellow student.

That created the illusion of a steam-punk future scene.

“It’s good experience for art majors to apply for shows,” said Laura Borneman, an associate professor who teaches advanced and beginning drawing. “I want to work with [my students] on photographing their work for shows.”

There was an outside juror, Joey Kotting, a full-time lecturer at Cal State Bakersfield and director/curator of the CSUB Todd Madison Gallery. He lectures on etching, screen printing, photography, painting, and gallery production.

“The show is flavored by that personal taste,” Borneman said, commenting on the selections that made it into the show.