To the left is a rusted, robot-like sculpture built out of scrap metal, which seemed to be waving a welcome.
A bit further down and there are jagged wood cutouts etched with the same slouchy, punk rocker in different colors. Faces of African wildlife painted on palm fronds hang in the center of the room.
To the right, a tall warehouse wall full with works as neat as clockwork and 30-brushstrokes-to-finish abstracts.
What originated as a project in a Cal State University Long Beach event planning class turned into Get On Up, an art exhibition and silent auction and benefit show held on Thursday in the East Village Art District of downtown Long Beach
“It’s about finding an organization and raising awareness on whatever we believe in,” senior communications major Stephanie Atwood said. “We chose this so we can match CSULB students with [ArtExchange], helping both our school as well as the organization.”
Her partner, senior communications major Jennifer Arenas, said that they were surprised by the amount of donations they received for the event after only three weeks of outreach. CSULB donated $2000 to the students in the event planning communications class to put on the exhibit at ArtExchange.
All proceeds at the event were donated to the ArtExchange, which is a non-profit that began 15 years ago.
ArtExchange strip on 3rd St. studios is only about 3 years old Nicolassa Galvez said, the CEO of ArtExchange. The venue now host 13 studio artists.
“What we want to do is put more value on [art] professionally,” Galvez said. “We don’t want these artists to be hobby artists. We want this to be their profession.”
Sketches, collages and watercolors from Kenny McBride a surrealist painter and studio artist with ArtExchange, had work on display from when he was age 12 to his current age.
“For this show I thought it’d be kind of nice to see where someone has started,” McBride said.
A vivid, Jurassic landscape of long-necked herbivores grazing before the meteorite strikes in the piece titled “End of Paradise” and a self-portrait fit for the Tim Burton aesthetic were some of his showcased works.
In March, McBride moved from Merced to Long Beach and was able to rent a $200 studio by April through ArtExchange.
Although bright, detailed pieces with clean lines and dark undertones make up the bulk of his work, Long Beach has inspired him to loosen up his brushstroke, he said.
“From the minute I got here, having all of these different artists to associate with, they’re all so diverse in style,” McBride said. “I see someone use just 30 brushstrokes on a canvas and it’s a finished piece. I see that and I want to learn from it.”
CSULB students of the Fine Arts department donated about 15 pieces for the exhibit.
ArtExchange hosts 3rdsdays every third Thursday, which is an open studio night to meet artists and participate in art-related activities, and also host an art walk every at Second Saturday’s.