Dream. Imagine. Create. Art Exhibition Recap

June 2, 2021 /  sefmarketing  /  Art Exhibition, SEF Blog, SEF news!

Click here to view the Art Exhibition video.

In the spring, the foundation launched our 2021 Youth Art Exhibition ~ Dream. Imagine. Create. which was developed to inspire youth to share their experiences of their time during quarantine and to engage and support our community. We were delighted to invite all of the almost 5,000 grades K-12 students in San Gabriel public schools to participate in a virtual art exhibition during a time when in-person engagement was not possible.

We recognize the faith and trust that has been placed in our organization and are proud to share the exhibition proved to be overwhelmingly successful from the very beginning. We wanted to give students a chance at the opportunity to publicly display their artwork in the community for all to enjoy and to share in a community celebration of creativity and resilience.

We kicked off our celebratory events with a drive-thru gift distribution on Tuesday, May 18th. All participating students were invited to move forward and “stop” by each of the gift tables (while remaining in their cars at all times) to receive a swag bag containing a custom deck of playing cards, developed with their very own masterpiece, gift certificates to Nothing Bundt Cakes Pasadena and Wetzel’s Pretzels, a themed baseball cap, and even a sweet treat. It was an incredibly uplifting event filled with spirit, much enthusiasm and marvelous artwork!

Then on Thursday, May 20th we unveiled the 2021 Art Exhibition ~ Dream. Imagine. Create. virtual art exhibit during an online celebration. Guests were invited to enjoy the exhibit which contained 63 original pieces of artwork commissioned by inspiring grades K-12 San Gabriel public school students. Please click the link at the top of this article to enjoy the video.

That same evening we were pleased to announce the 2021 Art Exhibition Award of Excellence winners whose artwork best captured the theme “Art in a Time of Quarantine.” Each winning artist was invited to the San Gabriel Grapevine to receive their winning prizes. The SEF Board President, Alison DeVriendt, Vice President, Events Rosiris Paniagua, Executive Director Adela Angiuli together with the San Gabriel Unified School District Superintendent Mr. Jim Symonds and City of San Gabriel Councilwoman Denise Menchaca congratulated the winning artists and presented each of them with a $50 gift card and a framed print of their masterpiece. With much enthusiasm we continue to congratulate the winners:

As you can imagine, there was an immense sense of pride to be able to share in the celebration in a public space of such historic significance in our community.

The fun does not end there…it is with great pleasure that we publicly announce the thirty individual masterpieces that were selected, developed into pole banners and are hanging within the City of San Gabriel Mission District for public viewing now through the end of June. We are happy to share the selection process took place by an outside agency not affiliated with the foundation and the announcement that took place during our virtual celebration was a wonderful surprise to everyone! The artists whose masterpieces were selected for public display and viewing are:

Adrian: 12th grade, “Don’t Rain on Me”
Alexis: 3rd Grade, “Let’s Work Together”
Angelina: 12th grade, “Day & Night”
Caylee: 5th grade, “Half way there”
Colleen: 1st grade, “Undersea Adventure”
Conner W: 3rd grade, “Daydreaming In My Version of School”
Daniel: 11th grade, “Ice Cream”
Dax: Kinder, “The Covid Heart”
Devin: 4th grade, “Harry Potter”
Divine: 5th grade, “Dream Imagine your creation”
Emi: 1st grade, “Life Underwater”
Emily: 2nd grade, “My gratitude Tree”
Henry: 12th grade, “Bonsai Tree”
John: 6th grade, “We Choose to go to the moon”
Kaiya: 11th grade, “Current!”
Kayce: 4th grade, “Wishing Bridge”
Kyle: 11th grade, “Red Dawn Samurai thing, thing”
Madeline: 2nd grade, “Bebe Elefante/Baby Elephant”
Megan: 11th grade, “Awaiting”
Moya: 12th grade, “Tea Time”
Natalie: 2nd grade, “I Have a Dream”
Odin: 6th grade, “Let your Imagination Soar”
Paxton: 5th grade, “Dream, Imagine, Create your future”
Rachel: 12th grade, “Tiger Cloud”
Raidyn: 3rd grade, “Imagination Flowers”
Samantha: 6th grade, “Quarantine Essentials”
Samantha: 10th grade, “Monster of Dreams”
Skyli: 1st grade, “My Dream Animals”
Subrina: 12th grade, “Road to Home”
Sydney: 6th grade, “California Flowers”

We would like to thank All of the amazing artists for sharing their creativity, joy and resilience with us!! We invite the community to take a walking tour of the public display of the 30 pieces of youth art, which has been hung in the Mission District. The walking tour begins on Mission Road in front of the San Gabriel Mission Church and runs through Mission Drive north to Broadway (there are plenty of small shops and eateries to stop by and visit during your walk. Don’t forget to tell them SEF sent you). We truly believe the public display of talent is sure to leave you with a sense of the magnitude of the importance of the arts in education.

Inspired by our grades K-2 Award of Excellence winner Emily….we continue to add to our “Gratitude Tree” as the celebrations continue!!

Recently, City of San Gabriel Mayor Chin Ho Liao and Councilwoman Denise Menchaca presented SEF Board President Alison Devriendt and Executive Director Adela Angiuli with a Certificate of Congratulations in celebration of the success of the program. Included was a special thanks for the contribution of art towards the beautification of San Gabriel.

Dream. Imagine. Create. is hosted by SEF thanks to generous grant funding received from event sponsors and the wider community.

We are incredibly grateful to the following Event Sponsors:

An anonymous donor advised fund at the California
Community Foundation
Cathay Bank Foundation
Chick-fil-A, Pasadena
Mission Valley Free Methodist Church

Shout out to the incredible team of highly skilled professionals at the CRP Group who have designed and developed creative marketing collateral for our organization each and every time they are called upon. CRP Team, your commitment to our organization has helped us achieve our goals and meet our sometimes impossible deadlines. Your investment in the mission of SEF has played a pivotal role in the branding of our organization and in our efforts to effectively communicate with all of our stakeholders and for these reasons and so many others, we are extremely grateful to you for your support!

We would also like to thank the City of San Gabriel for their partnership in our inaugural event. We appreciate the confidence you have placed in our organization and your collaborative efforts in support of the students in San Gabriel public schools. A huge thank you to all of the amazing student artists for sharing their talent and creative energy with us. We are inspired to dream, imagine and create because of you!!

We extend our deepest gratitude from the bottom of our hearts to all those who believe in our mission. You have allowed us to promote and enhance the community’s capacity to support the educational environment in our community for all students!!

What’s next? It has been an incredible honor for us to bring this shared celebration of the arts to our community. We hope that by bringing the students’ artwork together we have been able to effectively show how they were able to conceptualize their individual experiences during quarantine. We have been asked what we feel is the secret formula to the success of the event….our answer is simply there is no secret. It is the meaningful engagement and contributions of many that allowed us to support our youth and build community.

As we continue to promote the power of the arts we remain thoroughly committed to collaborating with a diverse group of individuals in support of the arts in San Gabriel public schools. We will continue to do what we do with passion, integrity, and a positive attitude all while remaining mission driven and self-directed. We invite you to join us in our cause, donate your time, treasure or talent to help us continue our good work. If you have questions about our organization please continue to refer to our website and our Facebook page . Reach out to SEF’s Board President at sefboardpresident@gmail.com if you would like more information on joining our team!!