Eight Sonoma State Art students’ artwork was installed across campus from April 29, and will be displayed through May 17, at exterior locations including the Salazar Quad, Schulz Information Center, Wine Spectator Center, Stevenson Hall, and the Art Building. 

The eight students featured are Angela Hauser, Alphonso Palermo, Richard Frederick, Owen Martinez-Alejandre, Sophia Miller, Diane McNulty, Margaret Ahvenainen, and Ash Gregorio. 

The project is designed to be displayed during commencement, so families and friends visiting campus can see pieces of public art on campus. 

Alexander Hanson, Assistant Professor of Sculpture, is the current instructor for this project. He has worked closely with each student while creating their projects. He said students have the freedom with what they create, this class being an opportunity for art students to work with large materials that are funded and easily available to them. “These guys have had a good time doing this,” Hanson said. 

On May 17th, there will be a sculpture walk. Starting in the art building, students, friends, families, and community members can walk through campus and admire the 8 students’ sculptures. After the art walk, there will be a reception. 

Margaret Ahvenainen, fourth-year fine arts major, created the piece “Surface of the Water from Below,” a 10×18 foot painted banner currently displayed outside of Stevenson Hall along the outdoor staircase facing the quad. Ahvenainen’s piece represents her experience as a scuba diver. “Descending beneath the waves is like visiting another world,” Ahvenainen said. Ahvenainen wanted to give students a glimpse of “the wonder, peace, and exhilaration” of scuba diving and of “existing in a place humanity is not designed for, but going there anyway,”  Ahvenainen said.