FAE 2013: Cerritos College Faculty Art Exhibition at the Cerritos Art Gallery will feature work from 22 different faculty members this year.

The exhibits will range from sculptors to photography, print-making and more.

This annual exhibit is sure to interest students and community members from all backgrounds.

Students will have the opportunity to get a glimpse into the careers of their mentors and view art work that influences the teaching techniques brought into the classroom.

James MacDevitt, the director of the Cerritos College Art Gallery, describes the overall goal and atmosphere in the art departments as, “inspirational.”

MacDevitt goes on to say, “The faculty comes by and drops off their work. We don’t know what to expect, but it’s usually great.”

The art department has a website and catalog dedicated to the work of current and past faculty members that have participated in this event.

On CerritosGallery.com there are short bios of each faculty member and photographs of art that has been displayed at previous exhibitions.

Featured artist and faculty member Steven Portugal expresses how his inspirations manifest themselves into teaching and his art work,

“Inspiration is a complex process. Everything that you have experienced up to that moment enters into it. All of the art I have seen, nature and the environment, history, politics and current events, and maybe most important dreams and the unconscious.”

Portugal continues by giving the rundown of his advice to aspiring artists, “I show the work of the artists that have inspired me to my students whenever I can.

“I encourage them to look around, to be aware, to use the library—inspiration is everywhere. I encourage them to find their own visual vocabulary. And I try to help them understand the artistic process—it is not magic—it takes a disciplined approach to be a good and successful artist. My goal is to give my students the tools that will help them realize the images and forms of their imagination.”

The exhibition will begin Feb. 11 and run through March 15 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission to the exhibit is free and open to the public.