From Feb. 6 to Feb. 18, the University of Arizona hosted the annual “On Our Own Time” art exhibit, showcasing art from UA employees and their families.
The exhibit featured art from across many different mediums and styles, consisting of five categories: professional, intermediate, amateur, teen and youth. First place in the professional category was awarded to Jennie Norris, an employee of the FM-Sign Shop for “Power of Presence.”
“My Sweet Little Donkey ‘Mario’ ” by Sue Chacon of the College of Veterinary Medicine swept the intermediate category, while Anna Alkozei, who works in Family and Community Medicine, won the amateur category for “Christmas in the City.”
The youth and teen prizes were awarded to “Golden Eggs” by Sophia Todd and “right-handed” by Avery Maland, respectively.
Sergio Castrezana, an employee of the Entomology department, won Best in Show with “Not all of us who travel on this ship have the same direction,” a vibrantly surrealistic piece that is reflective of Castrezana’s experience as a person with Asperger’s syndrome, a condition along the autism spectrum.
“I’ve always had problems with … fitting in places. As a part of that I also have a long history with depression. One of the things I tried to express with the title is … everybody is just in this world, but we don’t [all have] the same way [of seeing] the world.” Castrezana said.
Castrezana also opened up about his struggles in presenting his art to galleries.
“They’re always asking … ‘Hey, what is your background in art?’ … I don’t have it, sorry. I just studied biology. There’s always this stigma of ‘you don’t have an art background; you can’t be an artist.’ This [competition] gives me a chance to show what I’m doing.”
This is not the first time Castrezana has competed in “On Our Own Time,” having won Best in Show 13 years previously when the event first debuted. He believes strongly in the message behind the project.
“I’ve had the chance to work at different universities across the United States.” Castrezana said, “[None] of them offered … the chance for regular workers like me to have a space to express ourselves … It’s really important for [people] who do not have a background in art to have this space for expression, so it’s a real gift.”
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