MGCCC Jefferson Davis campus hosts alumni art exhibit

The fine art department at the Jefferson Davis campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Gulfport will honor the artistic legacy of many of its former students and faculty members with the show "An Alumni Exhibit: Fifty Years of Fine Art."

The show will be held Monday through March 24, with an artists' reception at noon on March 3 at noon in the Fine Arts Gallery.

The exhibit includes works by former Jeff Davis art students and faculty members active in the art world and have become well-known in the field.

Participating alumni include Steffanie Pinner, Carmen Lugo, Rikki Rhodes, Dustin Templin, Tessa Stockstill, Jennifer Emerson, LucyEllen Landry Cummings, Dave Perez, Elizabeth Huffmaster, Danielle Wagner and Ashley Nudo as well as instructors Sandra Halat, Joely Corban and Cecily Cummings.

Among the alumni is Steffanie Pinner, who lives in Los Angeles but grew up on the Coast. After attending MGCCC from 2009 to 2011, she worked with national marketing campaigns such as MGM Grand and traveled the country shooting for The World Series of Poker.

In Los Angeles, she has shown her work in DTLA Artwalk, Lot 316 and KGB Studios. She continues to find inspiration in the widely diverse city and pushes her own creativity. Her diverse portfolio evolves in subject and style.

Alumna Carmen Lugo is a Biloxi artist who attended JD from 2006 to 2009. She said at MGCCC she was introduced to various media such as printmaking, collage, mixed media and darkroom photography, and considers MGCCC an integral part of her foundation in the arts. Her teachers pushed her to apply for local galleries, scholarships and shows and provided mentorship. Lugo teaches children's and teen's classes at the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural Center for Arts and Education. She is a member of Mississippi Art Colony and has worked closely with art collective Art Can Change Everything on several public projects, including the Kress Building outdoor art installation and Revieux, a public outdoor art gallery.

Rikki Rhodes began studying at JD in 2005 and received a master of arts degrees in visual arts from the University of Arts London: Camberwell College of Arts. She teaches part time at The University of South Alabama while continuing to pursue her own art.

Dustin S. Templin, who studied at JD from 2009 to 2012, now studies graphic design at MSU.

"I like to invoke numerous emotions upon the viewer. This could be feelings of fear, intimidation, wonder, mystery and sometime glimpses of happy or hopeful things," he said.

He recalled the influence of former JD teacher Sandra Halat, who also will exhibit in the alumni show.

"I have her to thank for opening my eyes to wonderful and beautiful areas of art I thought I would never dabble in and even traveling the world, from Paris, France, to Dublin, Ireland," he said. Halat graduated from JD before becoming a full time instructor of art there from 2003 to 2013. She spends her retirement as an art consultant and instructor for the Pink Rooster Fine Art Gallery Ocean Springs.

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see," she said, quoting Edgar Degas.

The Jeff Davis campus is at 2226 Switzer Road, Gulfport. The art gallery is in the Fine Arts Building, Building D. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 3:12 PM with the headline "MGCCC Jefferson Davis campus hosts alumni art exhibit ."