News
AWC faculty and staff showcase artistic talents at fall show
September 30, 2026Yuma, Ariz. (September 30, 2026) – Arizona Western College (AWC) invites the community to the 2026 Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Faculty Art Exhibition. The free exhibition highlights the creative talents of AWC faculty and staff, showcasing a range of works including ceramics, graphic design, and photography.
“This is a valuable recognition of the skill and knowledge of the AWC faculty, a chance for the students to see how their professors engage with artmaking, and a wonderful cultural opportunity for the larger Yuma community,” said art professor Galen Dara. “We look forward to seeing you there!”
The opening reception will be held on Wednesday, October 7th from 3 to 4:15 p.m. in the AWC gallery (AB 110). The reception will include refreshments, an art station, and a dramatic reading from theatre professor Giovanni Ferreira and his students.
Every year, the AWC Art Gallery runs a variety of exhibitions with work from AWC students and outside artists, in addition to one annual exhibition dedicated to the work produced by full-time VAPA professors.
“This exhibition, along with full-time VAPA professors, we are also showing some of the work of our adjunct professors and classroom technicians,” Dara said.
Featured artists include:
Galen Dara, Professor of Art 2D
Gigi Janko, Professor of Art 3D
Giovanni Delgado Ferreira, Professor of Theatre
Brad Pease, Professor of Computer Graphics
Holly Hendrick, Adjunct Ceramics Professor
Stuart Gibson, Adjunct Art History Professor and Dean of Business, Education, Social & Behavioral Sciences
Violeta Isaacs, Adjunct Art Instructor
Alma Angelina Aispuro, Ceramic Classroom Technician
The exhibition will run from October 7 to October 28 and is open to the public. The Art Gallery is open Monday-Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Questions about the exhibition can be directed to the AWC Visual and Performing Arts department at fine.arts@azwestern.edu.
Learn more about the featured artists below:
Galen Dara is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans a wide range of media and techniques. Best known for her work as an illustrator in the science fiction and fantasy genres, she has received critical acclaim, including honors such as the Hugo Award, the Chesley Award, and the World Fantasy Award. Galen is frequently invited to present at speculative fiction conventions, where she discusses her work and industry trends. Her personal work focuses on a process driven approach and interrogating themes of identity and neurotypical frameworks. View Dara's work here.
Gigi Janko (they/she) is the Professor of 3D Art at AWC. Their installation practice tends to be long, laborious, and immersive—sometimes to the point that it becomes difficult to say where the work ends and daily life begins. For past projects, they have spent years tearing down houses to build a 20,000-square-foot outdoor installation or carried bits of cut-up stuffed animals everywhere with them, sewing them into thousands of feet of “stuffed-animal rope.” Often, being an artist gives them permission to dive into activities they are drawn to somewhat inexplicably. Currently, they are exploring what returning to their technical origins in ceramics means for their artistic practice. View Janko's work here.
Giovanni "Gio" Delgado Ferreira (he/him, él/ele) is a Cuban-Brazilian theatre maker, playwright, director, dramaturg, and educator whose work explores the intersection of storytelling, social justice, and play. He recently earned his MFA in Theatre for Youth and Community from Arizona State University, where his research centered on developing Level Up!, an original theatre-making methodology that blends video game storytelling, devised theatre, and social-emotional learning to empower participants as collaborative storytellers. As a playwright, his original works center Latine and LGBTQ+ communities through stories that celebrate imagination, identity, resilience, and belonging, and his artistic contributions have been recognized through honors.
Brad Pease is a photographer and graphic artist whose work explores the overlooked, energetic, and strange. His photography documents roadside memorials throughout the American Southwest, as well as bands within the punk scene, where he seeks to capture the kinetic energy and raw expression of live performance. His graphic work takes a more playful approach, featuring an ongoing series of illustrated insects and other creatures with exaggerated features and distinct personalities. Appearing on stickers, T-shirts, and other formats, these characters are often given names that hint at their peculiar nature—such as the Reluctant Firefly.
Holly Hendrick is currently pursuing her Master of fine arts in Ceramics at Fort Hays State University while educating high school and college students in Yuma. Her sculptural work explores themes of power, technology, disinformation and societal division through expressive ceramic forms and layered symbolism. View Hendrick's work here.
Stuart Gibson is an artist and art educator whose works explore sentimentality and existential woes through a variety of media including photography, sculpture, drawing, screenprinting, performance and video. His work has been shown nationally and internationally for over two decades and is included in numerous public and private collections. Gibson currently serves as an Academic Dean at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Arizona. View Gibson's work here.
Violeta Isaacs is a Mexican artist and Art Instructor at Arizona Western College whose work celebrates color, culture, emotion, and creative expression. Her perspective has been shaped by her Mexican heritage, her experiences living abroad in Madrid, Spain, and the different cultures and environments that have influenced her life. Her vibrant work blends traditional inspiration with a contemporary sensibility. As an educator, Violeta is passionate about encouraging creativity while helping students build strong artistic foundations and find their own individual voices through art.
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Contact:
Galen Dara
Professor of 2D Art
Arizona Western College
galen.smith@azwestern.edu
(928) 317-6084