In spring 2022, the College of the Arts main art gallery and three student galleries showed their last exhibitions to the public in anticipation of the start of the multiyear, multimillion dollar Visual Arts Modernization project. Artwork was displayed in the Nicholas & Lee Begovich Gallery; Marilyn and Cline Duff Gallery; Leo Freedman Foundation Studio and MFA Art Gallery; and Exit Gallery, which is now the Stan Mark Ryan ’75 Gallery.
Completed in fall 2024, the project added 52,315 square feet to the visual arts complex, including two new buildings, a stand-alone gallery structure in Building G, digitally enhanced classrooms, a 3D makerspace, and a motion-capture green screen studio. The renovation has transformed the iconically midcentury buildings into a series of modern, innovative spaces for learning, creating, and arts engagement.
To celebrate Building G’s opening, Jennifer Frias, director and curator of the College of the Arts galleries, wanted to present an inaugural exhibition that acknowledged the past while celebrating the CSUF alumni artists shaping visual arts today.
Begovich Gallery’s current exhibition “Vitae: A New Generation” nods to the beginning of the gallery’s permanent collection, begun in the 1960s, but wholeheartedly embraces the gallery’s future as a place where interdisciplinary collaboration and study is integrated with new technologies to further enrich the visual arts experience.
“Cal State Fullerton has played a significant role in each artist’s journey, so it was fitting to honor their legacy in this inaugural exhibition, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the university’s art gallery,” said Frias.
The eight alumni artists of “Vitae: A New Generation” explore their individual lived experience through media ranging from photography and video to painting and jewelry. All share a common thread of self-discovery with broader themes of social justice and the role of art in cultural discourse. The artists include: William Camargo, Salvador De La Torre, Joe Devera, D. Hill, Nicole Merton, Beatriz Mora-Hussar, Juliana Rico and Leonard Suryajaya.
Many of the artists in “Vitae: A New Generation” began exploring the themes represented in their work as graduate or undergraduate students at CSUF, where exhibiting artwork is a partial requirement of graduation in many of the Department of Art’s areas of study. Here, graduate and undergraduate students work with gallery staff to conceptualize and install their work in one of three student galleries, gaining valuable experience exhibiting in a professional gallery setting.
Campus and community visual arts engagement are two of Frias’ priorities going forward: “I want to create an environment where students, faculty and the broader community can engage with art in meaningful ways and not feel discouraged or left out of the conversation.”
The galleries have recently hosted several opening receptions to introduce the public to a new era of dynamic and thought-provoking exhibitions. Biweekly student gallery receptions have regularly drawn hundreds of visitors, bringing increased visibility to the department’s areas of study and the work created by its students.
“Vitae: A New Generation” is on view Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., through May 17 in Visual Arts Building G. Next year, the College of the Arts Galleries will present work by South Korean-born American visual artist and educator Soo Kim, known for her cut and layered photographic works, and American artist and CSUF alum Carole Caroompas, who fearlessly examined the intersection of pop culture and gender archetypes.