Five Cerritos College students embraced the idea of combining each other’s art to be showcased at a Bellflower Coffee house, Casa De Luna, to get their art displayed to catch the attention of the public.  

Rosario Cetina, photography major, experienced her first art show as well being the only photographer that presented her work.

“At first I was a little nervous because I’m just starting out and I don’t have that many pictures to show, and the coffee house had a limitation on which ones to show, so right now I just have my really basic ones,” Cetina said.   

Cetina was asked by her friend, Jeph Ortega, who was also exhibited at the coffee house, to display her art to get a chance to know what it’s like to present at a public show.

The show had begun at 8 p.m. and much of the coffee house was a gathering of friends and family of the artists.

Art major Galileo Gonzalez said he and the rest of the artists exhibited wanted to host a show even if it didn’t have a big outcome of people.

“A lot of us who are or were in the Art club wanted to throw a little art show – nothing too fancy, but just to have something to show our art,” Gonzalez said.

Many of the works exhibited by the students was based off from the store manager’s choice of content that would be suitable to the public.

Even though the art that was chosen didn’t contain explicit content, one local art admirer, Giselle Carroll, thought some of the art had presented a nice compilation of the student’s work.

“I really like the paintings and the photography of the little girl,” Carroll said.

“I like the painting of the bridge of Downtown Los Angeles. It reminds me of my childhood.” Carroll continued to say about Rick De Anda’s painting.

Art major Sergio De Anda, who is Rick De Anda’s cousin, felt that the limitation of art content for the coffee house didn’t allow him to show the paintings that he wanted, but respected the manager’s policies and stayed humble.

“I’m excited that it’s on here, but I had other new paintings that I really wanted to hang. The content for it wasn’t right for the place and I do feel like a sellout sometimes, but at the same time you have to understand their vision.

“Even though I didn’t get a painting up, I got a drawing and I think it’s good enough. And I think people will enjoy it,” De Anda said.

Musician Rick Carroll was asked to perform at the coffee house for the show by De Anda, but also complimented the artistic approach that each of the paintings have captured.

“It’s all different and unique with all sorts of styles. I’m familiar with Sergio’s art and they’re fantastic. There are also some here that I haven’t seen before and I think they are all rich and colorful,” Carroll said.