By Jesse Bertel
Across The Street

More than 60 new works of art by Yavapai College (YC) Visual Arts students will go on display starting Friday, Nov. 25, for the Fall Juried Student Exhibition. The exhibit at YC Prescott Art Gallery, 1100 E. Sheldon St., runs through Jan. 13. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

The exciting and varied collection of paintings, drawings, printmaking, digital art, sculpture, woodwork, jewelry, lapidary and ceramics was chosen from more than 150 submissions by YC art students representing a wide variety of art forms.

There will be an Opening Reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2. All related events are free and open to the public.

This year’s exhibition was juried by artist Hiroshi Sato, a painter who has participated in numerous solo and group shows in the U.S. and the U.K, including at the Marrow Gallery in San Francisco and the Abend Gallery in Denver.

Sato used two main criteria to evaluate the artworks that were submitted and determine which would qualify for the exhibit.

“You judge it for the aesthetic and the quality of the craftsmanship relative to what seems like the intent of the work,” Sato said. “Intent is kind of the main, I think, criteria of how those two are weighed with each other.”

By measuring the balance between the visual appeal of the work and the artists ability to craft the work relative to its intent, Sato was able to determine the value of each work across different styles and mediums.

“If the craftsmanship seemingly, on the superficial level, didn’t seem like it was ‘good’ but the intent was that it was supposed to have a certain degree of like, let’s say, callousness, or like, let’s say seemingly, improvised or something, that’s a different standard of craftsmanship judgment relative to, let’s say, something that is supposed to appear ‘pristine,’” Sato said.

According to Sato, the highlight of this exhibit is the diversity of styles and approaches to multiple types of art.

“Everybody was doing something of their own thing, that’s what I was relieved to see,” Sato said. “There wasn’t like a teacher or something and they were doing kind of like the same thing that the teachers taught them to do, but it was more like they were really just doing their own kind of work. So, it’s more that diversity is the highlight rather than the individual work itself. In a lot of ways that’s not what’s important. It’s more about what’s being produced.”

For student artists who are considering pursuing a career in art, Sato explained that the main thing that separates working artists from unsuccessful ones is the consistency of creating new work over time.

“The reason a lot of people ‘fail’ is because they stop doing it and that’s like the only reason actually,” Sato said. “Regardless of your situation or whatever happens, if you keep doing it, someday it will still work, or happen, possibly.”

For more information call Gallery Manager Tim Hull, at 928-776-2031, or visit www.ycvisualarts.com.

Jesse Bertel is a reporter/videographer for the Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter @ JesseBertel, email him at jbertel@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 2043.