Over 150 pieces of art were curated by the art gallery operations class, ART443, for the Annual Student Juried Exhibition that opened on Thursday in the Art Gallery, with over 70 people turning out for the opening reception, featuring a DJ and snacks.

Art department chair Robin Johnson said students had the opportunity to submit their sculptures and paintings, among other works from over the past year to the gallery and have it juried by their peers. Students competed for first, second or third place between multiple categories.

This is the exhibition’s third year in a row and each student’s art piece was listed for sale in the gallery, with all proceeds going to the artist, according to the Art Gallery’s page on the campus website.

Desirae Pasamonte, a 20-year-old studio arts major, said she recently decided to fully commit to pursuing studio art and said the art gallery operations course was paramount in helping her decide what career she wants to have in the future. She said listing a price for the piece was required when she entered her submission to the gallery and would feel grateful if someone took an interest in buying it. Her 24-by-24 inch piece was listed for sale at $800.

“I experimented with acrylic and oil, and the flower blooming is just me getting more comfortable and exploring my medium, and hummingbirds help flowers pollinate, so I feel like I’m getting a lot of extra help here,” Pasamonte said.

She said her piece in the gallery, titled “Blooming,” paid homage to her first finished piece in oil based paint, using a monochromatic ultramarine palette. That means there was a single tone color used in different variations within the painting to create a unified design.

Pasamonte said she is heavily inspired by James Jean, a Taiwanese-American illustrative artist who creates pieces themed around women and nature.

The imagery of “Blooming” captured a woman basking in the wake of a hummingbird’s presence as it pollinated a blooming flower, with the flower silhouetted behind the woman as a representation of her.

Joseph Lee, a 22-year-old studio art major, said he submitted his 18-by-24 inch piece titled “Faceless Emotion” as a personal project to express backgrounds more than the actual subject and prove to himself that he could get his work out there. He said he wanted a dark, rainy and atmospheric background to capture a gloomy picture.

“Faceless Emotion” depicted a faceless figure dressed in dark business attire holding an umbrella in a rainy parking lot with cars, foliage and a lamp post painted in the background. The background’s detail is displayed by a reflection within the slick parking lot ground.

“Art has always been a part of my life, but growing up, I had parents who despised being in the art world, but as I got older, I wanted to show them that I could do something with it and get a career out of it,” Lee said.

He said Johnson was instrumental in helping him understand painting in general during an oil painting class when he started at Cosumnes River College two years ago. This was Lee’s second student art exhibition that he participated in after having entered a piece in December’s 10×10 Exhibition and successfully sold his piece. His artwork in this exhibition was listed at $150.

Hao Kieu, a 26-year-old studio arts major, said he submitted two pieces and won first place in the juried exhibition for his 12-by-12 inch piece titled “Samsara,” a linocut block print on Thai Mulberry paper depicting a fetus in the early stages of development when its form is indeterminate of its species. A linocut block print is a form of printmaking, carving out a design from a linoleum block and inking it into fabric.

Kieu said he took a linocut block print class, offered for the first time in over a decade at CRC, last semester after previously being out of commission.

“It’s this old tradition that’s coming back and I feel connected to that medium,” Kieu said.

He said he recognizes themes of life and death within both of his pieces and it’s something he is very curious about, but didn’t intentionally create that way.

“Samsara” was a wide-faced, square, black-framed mirror. Centered in the middle of the mirror is a white, circular linocut block print, depicting the fetus within a dark and smaller circle. It was listed at $333.

“I’m happy that my hard work has paid off and it’s recognized, and it’s using everything I’ve learned on this campus because there’s influences from Professor Robin Johnson, influences from Professor Sarma Karsiere, she taught me printmaking,” Kieu said. “Those two professors are my greatest influences here and I feel like this piece is a good display of that.”

The Art Gallery is running the student juried exhibition from April 23-May 15 with free admission and will be open to the public Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment through the campus website.