Cheese Grits is the San Jacinto College South Campus Gallery’s current art exhibit. It is located in the Flickinger Fine Arts Center and runs from February 3 to March 13. The gallery is open Monday – Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday by appointment. The exhibit is set up by the Campus’ Fine Art department with a unique intent.
“The artwork is mostly photography and collage. Both artists are South Campus Fine Arts Professors, [which] is one of the reasons we decided to highlight their work. Professor Butler teaches drawing, painting and design, and Professor Lauback teaches photography, and digital media,” says Professor Bradly Brown, the Gallery Curator. The gallery represents who the professors are as people.
“This gives students and the community an opportunity to better know the professors helping to lead our program,” says Professor Brown.
Professor Butler utilizes collage to exhibit several aspects of Black history and culture to a visitor in a unique way, such as a cereal box showing an analogue collage of a black man. On the other hand, Professor Lauback uses photography to capture a combination of humor and grief, using nude photographs of two people to draw out a distinctive emotion out of a visitor. While the spread given to attendants highlights the story behind Professor Lauback and Professor Butler’s art, it’s up to the individual to determine the meaning.
“Visitors aren’t supposed to feel any specific emotion, art is subjective, it’s different for everyone,” says Professor Brown. Similarly, this goes for the name of the gallery, Cheese Grits. “It is open for interpretation,” Professor Brown says.
Behind the scenes, these exhibits take significant time and effort to plan and set up, which doesn’t account for unforeseen circumstances.
“We typically have 2 exhibitions per semester. We began planning [this] exhibition during the summer of 2024. Our typical installation schedule is two weeks, but this one took a little longer because of the snowstorm,” says Professor Brown.
While the gallery doesn’t have a volunteer program, “students can take a mentorship or Co-Op class with the gallery if they would like to get involved,” says Professor Brown.
The next opportunity for San Jac South Campus students interested in the galleries will allow them to express themselves with their own art.
“The next exhibition is the Student Art and Design Show. Students from South Campus can submit up to three pieces of artwork and we display all the work that is submitted,” says Brown.
For more information about Cheese Grits and future galleries, visit their Instagram page @sanjacsouthcampusgallery or their website at https://www.sanjac.edu/programs/areas-of-study/arts/art-design/south-campus-gallery
