Black Excellence Art Showcase

 The Black Excellence Art Showcase will be on display January 18 - February 24 during business hours, and features local Black artists, community members, and Afrocentric Student program members at COCC. Featuring works by local emerging artist Bethany Garland- Woods and the first Bend Creative Laureate Mosley Wotta.  A collaborative community art project honoring Black femme individuals organized by June L. Park will also be on display. If you have a picture of a black femme individual you would like to honor, please bring it to the opening. 
 
The Black Excellence Art Showcase is a collaboration between the Afrocentric Student Program and the Pinckney Gallery at COCC.

 

Meet the Artists

Mosley Wotta

MOsley WOtta (Jason McNeal Graham) is a legacy creative. His professional career spans multiple decades + mediums including, writing, painting, and music. His curriculum vitae highlights: Creative Laureate for the city of Bend Oregon, Oregon Fields Fellow, Oregon Humanities Conversation project leader + Bridging Oregon facilitator, Art in Oregon “Black Matter” Visual Artist, Salem Art Association Fellow, Slam poetry Champion for the State of Oregon, NPR , OPB ,TED X, The NBA, and several other three letter acronyms. His works focuses on making positive connections between the negative space of perceived difference. 

 

Bethany Garland-Wood

Bethany Garland-Wood is an up and coming self-taught artist, currently living and working in Bend, Oregon. She works mostly with acrylic paint, but has been known to experiment with water colors, oil pastels, ink, and mixed media. 

In late 2016, Bethany began to focus on exploring the path towards abstract expressionism. It was through that exploration she found an outlet to deal with the emotions stemming from the changing political climate, personal and career disappointments, and loss of family members.

 

Mel Smith

Mel is a COCC student and Digital Illustrator/Artist. They create from exploring their dreams and the imaginative world that is constructed within them. They are interested in pursuing a career in the film and video game industry.  

 

DeNathan Pickering

 DeNathan is a COCC student and Illustrator/Artist. He primarily is a digital artist interested in the field of animation, visdev, and illustration.

 

Anaya Sehrt

Anaya is in elementary school and loves creating art. 

 

Mansah Voelz

Mansah Voelz is a Ghanaian American artist who finds inspiration in nature, sports, and human connections. She is an adventurous young woman who has lived in Bend for six years and is currently a seventh grader at Pacific Crest Middle School. In her art, Mansah presents themes such as awe, justice, and beauty while also hoping to convey a sense of light-heartedness and appreciation for detail.

 

Tiana Fraser

Tiana Fraser is a high school student from Bend, Oregon. She likes drawing, painting, and sculpting, and enjoys realism in her artwork. She's been making art since elementary school when she first took an art class, and since then I have had art classes in middle and high school.

 

Kimberly Giron

Kimberly is a high school student involved in the Lead Program taught by Marcus LeGrand at MHS. She is a Salvadoran/Hispanic artist and enjoys creating art.

 

Gloria Ann Eversley

Gloria is a bright and vibrant senior who enjoys traveling, painting, and drawing. Gloria lives in Bend, Oregon with her granddaughter, grandson and their children. She is a mother to six, grandmother to over a dozen, and a great grandmother to even more.

 

Victoria Gutherie

Victoria is a community member who enjoys making art in her free time.

 

June L. Park

June is an interdisciplinary artist and Adjunct Professor at COCC. She is committed to building sustainable and healthy creative communities in Bend, Oregon. They draw inspiration for their art from the rhythm and energy of the natural world, and the perspective they've gained moving through this world as a non-binary Korean American immigrant who grew up in rural Idaho.  They hope their flavor of "just being" encourages others to acknowledge and celebrate the multitude of identities we each hold. None of us wants to be boxed into stereotypes that don't fit.  

Their professional experience and education in UX and graphic design, engineering, and teaching all contribute to their approach to art as an ever evolving learning process. Their early education in music, theater, and dance are also sources for inspiration.

They were recently one of the first Artist in Residence at Scalehouse Collaborative Arts,  had a solo gallery show at the Campbell Gallery in Sisters, OR, and was selected for an upcoming Artist in Residence at Suttle Lodge.