“Beautiful Bella” (2022) by Jo Tashima will be shown as part of the 2023 Annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition starting March 2 at smc.edu/emeritusgallery.

The Santa Monica College Emeritus Art Gallery is pleased to present its 2023 Annual Student Photography Exhibition on Thursday, March 2. The exhibition will be presented online at the gallery’s website at smc.edu/emeritusgallery.

A free, live Zoom Virtual Launch Event will be held online from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2. A link at smc.edu/emeritusgallery takes guests directly to the exhibition’s opening reception.

The opening reception will be hosted by Dean of Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman and Emeritus Art Gallery Curator Jesse Benson. The reception includes a live scroll through the exhibition and a discussion between Benson and several of the exhibit’s photographers about selected images.

To see the photographs online at any time after 5 p.m. on March 2, viewers may go to smc.edu/emeritusgallery and click the 2023 Annual Emeritus Student Photography Exhibition link, available 24 hours a day. The link takes viewers directly to the exhibition album on a Facebook page that is open to public viewing (Facebook account not necessary).

“We count on photographs to document our past and present. We use them as reminders and to elicit the moods embedded in fleeting moments,” said Benson. “Over the past three years, our Emeritus photographers have been telling the stories of their experiences as we navigate our constantly changing social conditions. It’s exciting to see that the photographic results have shifted recently from being mostly at-home investigations back to being more worldly chronicles of life experience.”

“Through photography, Emeritus students are able to capture a story and show us a different lens through which to see the world,” said Guadalupe Salgado, Associate Dean (Interim) of SMC Emeritus. “New or seasoned professional, we celebrate all our photographers who have submitted work for this show. Please join us in showcasing our student’s perspective and artistry.” 

The salon-style group exhibition features a remarkable variety of recent photographic works created by 25 students. The students are: John Alcantara, Kathleen Battersby, Dorli Burge, Christine Chambers, John Dalton, Caroline Gerstley, Jim Gerstley, Caroline Gray, Trude Haas, Susan Hannan, Kathleen Higgins, Marilyn Kabakov, Fran Lyness, Vicki Maturo, Wendy Miller, Regina Pally, Allan Popelka, Doris Power, Judy Raffel, Linda Rosman, Karen Sandler, Ganna Shneydina, Marilyn Stern, Jo Tashima, and Michael Telerant.

SMC’s widely praised Emeritus program — founded by Santa Monica College in 1975 as a noncredit program to serve the lifelong learning interests of older adults — offers more than 120 noncredit adult education classes and special programs that serve more than 3,000 students each year.

More information is available by visiting smc.edu/emeritusgallery or calling 310-434-4306.

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