Santa Monica College Art Department, in collaboration with the Pete and Susan Barrett Gallery, presents Well Fed, an exhibition featuring work from the Art 87 A/B/C Art Mentor Program taught by Professor Emily Silver, and curated by students from the Art 80/82/84 Exhibition and Display courses taught by Professor Kim Garcia.
Well Fed rewrites the antiquated myth of the “starving artist” by showcasing a community of emerging artists who nourish one another through creative and intellectual exchange. Through themes of consumerism, nostalgia, technology, bodily abjection, breaking conventions, and more, the artwork in this exhibition asks what it means to live a fulfilling and meaningful life, and what forms of sustenance one needs to make that life possible.
To be “well fed” is not simply to have enough physically. It is also to be sustained through community and creativity. Yet, this exhibition recognizes the consumerist nature of the contemporary art world, in which art functions as a commodity that can be bought and sold. With this tension in mind, Well Fed poses the questions: how do artists distinguish needs from desires? And, how can they stay committed to their artistic integrity within a capitalist system?
Santa Monica’s Art Mentor Program provides a uniquely collaborative environment for artists across backgrounds to explore these questions. The program fosters an environment that encourages collaboration and offers in-depth studio discourse, individual studio visits, professional artist presentations, and rigorous group-critiques. Whether they are preparing to transfer to a four year university, apply for graduate school, participate in an artist residency, or submit their work to galleries, these artists leave the program equipped with tools for both creative and professional sustainability.
Well Fed is itself the product of collaboration. Students in the Exhibition and Display courses worked closely with participating artists through studio visits and interviews, translating their ideas into a cohesive physical exhibition. By organizing into teams—curation, social media and press, graphics, and education and programming—they developed the exhibition’s layout, visual identity, communications strategy, and educational materials.
This exhibition exists on land traditionally stewarded by the Tongva-Gabrieleno people.
