On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the Aztec Student Union Board and Associated Students hosted an art walk in the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union, showcasing different pieces made by San Diego State students.
Students who attended the event could view 12 art pieces, vote for their favorite, enjoy snacks and refreshments, register to vote and design their own art with paint and small canvases.
The art pieces included a wide variety from portraits of Kehlani and Erykah Badu, to images of skeletons, to a piece of underwear with the words “Abolish ICE” stamped in red paint.
Aerospace engineering sophomore Monique Beck attended the event and said she liked the sunflower piece because sunflowers are her favorite type of flower.
“An art piece that stood out to me was a sunflower that someone painted which turned out really nice and I really like sunflowers,” she said. “There’s a song I like called ‘Sunflower’ that means something to me which is also why it stood out.”
Communication sophomore Desiree Rearte, the Aztec Student Union Board Union Nights’ chair, did not have one favorite in particular. She found all of the pieces to be eye-catching.
“It’s crazy to see the talent,” she said. “I was in awe, for the most part, inspired by some and also a little disillusioned because I wish I could do something like that.”
The Art Walk was started by criminal justice senior Kapri Walker, the Aztec Student Union Board’s culture, arts and film chair. She collaborated with international security and conflict resolution senior Angelica Espinoza, A.S. vice president of external relations.
Espinoza organized Rock The Vote, which was held at the same time as the art walk to encourage students to get politically involved.
For both Walker and Espinoza, this event involved months of planning and a lot of outreach.
“It was a little challenging,” Walker said. “I reached out to many different organizations, classes,and the art department on campus to find student-based art. This morning was when I got the most amount of pieces turned in, and so it was challenging. But overall, it was an enjoyable experience to plan this.”
It was also challenging for Espinoza, who was looking for ways to get students involved in politics at A.S., but also keeping it light-hearted. Last summer, she reached out to Walker and found exactly what she was looking for.
“Working with Kapri is good because she is really creative, whereas I’m more focused on the logistical aspects of it,” Espinoza said. “We wanted to focus on civic engagement, and the motive was to try and make politics more appealing to students, and so we added painting to go with the art walk to make it therapeutic, fun and light-hearted.”
Overall, students like Beck found the event to be a great way to escape from the stresses of school.
“I enjoyed the event because I was able to talk and meet with other students which was nice,” Beck said. “I also enjoyed it because I hardly ever paint so it was an opportunity to take time from studying to wind down and have fun to paint something instead of focusing and stressing about midterms.”
At the end of the day, Walker found the art walk to be a success.
“I’m a new member of the Student Union Board, so since this was my first event that I planned and proposed, it was rewarding to see it through and encourage civic engagement on campus in a fun way,” said Walker.
Espinoza hopes this event put a smile on students’ faces.
“I saw students laughing and taking polaroids of their art and voter forms, and so for me seeing smiles on peoples faces is a victory because students enjoyed them,” said Espinoza.
