The annual Performing and Fine Arts Month begins next week from March 19 to April 18 and is designed to create awareness and participation in arts-related dialogue.
Weekly events will be held at El Camino to encourage current fine arts students to further their careers, promote transfer opportunities, and to encourage prospective students to take courses in fine arts.
The seven departments in the Fine Arts Division will hold individual panel events where counselors, advisers or admissions staff from various institutions will be on campus to share information about their arts programs.
“College representatives will be on campus and students will have the chance to find out what is unique about their school,” said Berkeley Price, dean of fine arts.
From left: Professor Pam Huth, of three-dimensional design, Sergio Nuno, 23, studio art major; Kimberly Villacreses, 23, studio art major; Paloma Flores, 20, studio art major; Professor Russell McMillin, of sculpture; and former EC student Uyen Nguyen, toy design major at Otis College of Art and Design. Photo credit: Nicoleene Yunker
Price said EC has great ties with many universities, allowing students to have a large, open choice of schools to transfer to.
Additionally, Price said that the students in the fine arts programs transfer to several different schools depending on their major. The fine arts student body as a whole tends to transfer locally to the Cal State and University of California schools, though studio-art majors may choose private art schools, or performing arts students might transfer to out-of-state institutions.
“The majority of our students that have been accepted into these schools, from what I have heard, do as well or better than the students that started at those institutions.” Price said. “So when we send a student officially as a junior, they are usually at the top end of the student body of juniors; they skip over because we prepare them so well.”
Price gave advice to students planning to begin studies in the fine arts.
“Know the requirements and prerequisites of the courses, talk to the professors, and meet with the fine arts counselors and make an education plan,” Price said.
The events are intended to engage other students, from various majors, in enrolling in fine arts classes.
“Students of every age come to take our classes; either to fulfill certificates, degrees, achieve G.E. credits, or for learning new skills, like how to draw or play the piano,” Price said. “Our programs, classes, and events are great treasures for the South Bay.”
Various universities will have representatives presenting at EC to inform students about their fine arts and performance programs during the Transfer Fair at the Library Lawn from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 19, the first event.
Throughout mid-March and April, events with college representatives and panels focusing on fine art departments will be held weekly.
“We are grateful to our counselors for organizing these events to introduce opportunities, and for our transfer partners for coming in and providing great information for our students,” Price said.
Furthering the topic of transferring, EC students and the faculty of sculpture and 3-D design, Professors Russell McMillin and Pam Huth, were invited to Otis College of Art and Design on March 7 to tour the toy design department and participate in the action figure design class critique.
The attending EC students received a warm reception and were met by Toy Design Department Chair Deborah Ryan and Professors of Toy Design Markus Maciel and Alain Diaz.
Former EC students Eddie Hermosillo and Uyen Nguyen are now majoring in toy design at Otis College of Art and Design.
“The skills and knowledge that I received at El Camino greatly prepared me for my studies here in toy design at Otis,” Nguyen said.
“El Camino prepared me really well to pursue my career,” Hermosillo said. “My time in El Camino was great.”
For more information, Kelsey Iino, fine arts counselor, can be reached at [email protected] and 310-660-3593, Ext. 3404.
The Performing and Fine Arts Month panel events will be from noon to 1 p.m. and will be located at the Haag Recital Hall in the Music Building unless noted otherwise.
- Communications, on Thursday, March 21st
- Music, on Tuesday, March 26th
- Film, on Thursday, March 28th
- Photography, on Tuesday, April 2nd
- Dance, on Thursday, April 4th
- Theatre, on Tuesday, April 16th from 1 – 2 p.m.
- Art, will be held on Thursday, April 18th at the Campus Theater from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and an additional art portfolio review will be available after from 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
