Special to the News-Register
"City Sunset," a mixed media piece by Shirley Griffin,
will be included in the Student Spotlight Show that
began Aug. 20.

Photo by Steven Benezue

The artists featured in the 2007 Student Spotlight Show
are: (back row)Michael Escalante, Elza Guedes,
Shirley Griffin, Vinitza Solis. (Front) Leanne Boyce
and Jennifer Ciaccio.


Steve Benezue

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of North Lake College this semester, the Gallery will explore artists and art making of the college's present and the past.

The semester will start with the 2007 Student Spotlight Show. Each spring the art faculty chooses a group of students who have been in North Lake College's art program for several semesters. These students have exhibited a dedicated work ethic, exemplary grades and a distinct artist vision.

Many of the students chosen for the Spotlight Show plan to leave North Lake College soon to attend a four-year university where they will continue their artistic education. Not all of our Spotlight Show participants are pursing a four-year degree in art. Some of our current and past participants in the Spotlight Show plan to continue to study at North Lake for personal artistic enrichment.

The show will be on display in the Gallery from Aug. 20 through Sept. 11. There will be a reception for the artists on Sept. 15, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Refreshments will be served and music will be provided by North Lake College Chamber Ensemble.

This year's Spotlight Show will feature works from Leanne Boyce, Jennifer Ciaccio, Michael Escalante, Shirley Griffin, Elza Guedes and Vinitza Solis.

About the artists ...

Leanne Boyce was born in Enola, Pa., and now resides in Southlake. She works in a variety of media, including computer graphics and mixed media on paper. Leanne is considering a computer graphics degree at North Lake with an eye on a visual art degree as well.

"I chose North Lake College because I heard they offered some great classes and I was only going to audit a class or two to make my scrapbooks look better," she said. "As I sat in my first photography class I started hearing words like 'composition, color wheel, background, foreground, etc.,' and I wanted to learn more about these things. . . The teachers at North Lake have been such an inspiration and I just love learning."

*****

Jennifer Ciaccio, is originally from Rio Rancho, NM, and is now a resident of Flower Mound. She uses pastel, charcoal and inks as her media of choice. Jennifer chose to attend North Lake College because she liked the campus and had heard great things about the art department. She had been taking art classes since middle school, but had been drawing since she was very little. She plans to use her artistic talent to pursue a career in the culinary arts as a pastry chef, and will attend culinary school this fall.

*****

Michael Escalante was born in Carpentersville Ill. He now resides in Irving. His media of choice is digital photography and computer graphics. He said he chose to attend North Lake College because of its good computer graphics program, (a testimony to the hard work of Byron Black and the computer graphics adjunct instructors). Michael plans to attend a four-year university to earn his Master of Fine Arts and eventually teach in a college art program.

*****

Shirley Griffin was born in Northwestern Ark., but has lived in Texas for the past 38 years and resides in Irving. She paints in acrylic because of the speed of the drying time. She said that acrylics allow for easy manipulation of the paint and make for a variety of textures and surface effects.

"I started North Lake originally because of convenience and quality reputation," said Shirley, "plus, I have known several former students, including my son. After starting art classes here, I have enjoyed becoming friends with so many people of many cultures and ages. I believe NLC has the very best quality of instructors in a very nurturing environment.

"My goal is to catch up with all of the years I lost by not painting. I am here for the process not the outcome of education this time around.

"As one gets older, I believe we don't really change as much as we become the person we were meant to be. I am enjoying this part of my life very much and I can thank the wonderful instructors in the art department.

*****

Elza Guedes was born in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. She now resides in Irving. She paints with oil on canvas, but experience shows that Elza will paint on any surface she can! She is exuberant about art and about painting. She is also exuberant about learning, as are all of our Spotlight Show participants.

Elza decided to attend North Lake at the suggestion of a friend. She has plans to earn her Master of Fine Art to continue to improve her artistic skills. She said that she wants to, ".create art that brings joy to the people she see my work."

*****

Vinitza Solis lives in Dallas. She is from El Paso, but she said, "I moved around so much that it is really hard to call that place my hometown. My father worked for the government, so I spent a good portion of my childhood in Alaska, and then we went all over the United States - from Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and eventually even Canada."

Vinitza prefers to work in charcoal and pastels, but she has a growing interest in painting as well.

"Originally, I was going to be a film major, so I went to North Lake in order to begin taking a few classes pertaining to that subject," said Vinitza. "I soon switched over to fashion design, and I decided that North Lake offered the kind of environment that I wanted, so I chose not to go to a closer community college."

- Steve Benezue is the Gallery director at North Lake College.