The three exhibits include “The American Dream in Terra Cotta,” “BC Space: Mything in Action” and “Dividing Line,” each exuding a different theme around the GCAC, tying the exhibit together.

As visitors walk into the main entrance of the gallery, they are immediately overcome by the energy radiating from the positions of the art, as well as the people observing.

“The American Dream in Terra Cotta,” located in the GCAC Project Room, features artist Jonathan T. Ginnaty. Ginnaty – best known for transforming spaces into living rooms, offices and bedrooms – has changed the project room into a wood and terra cotta office space, complete with a kitchen.

Many of the terra cotta pieces are typical pieces of equipment that can be found in any office. Among them are coffee pots, a multi-function fax machine, printers, monitors, telephones and chairs.

One of the more complex pieces of art in the “office” is the life-size water cooler with an extra water jug placed strategically at its side.

As spectators make their way to the next room – located towards the back of the building – they are welcomed by a giant black and gray “BC Space: Mything in Action” logo.

In this room, which is sectioned off to make multiple rooms, there are many art pieces by various featured artists that deal with controversial ideas incorporated into their work in a variety of ways.

Some of the most eye-catching pieces include a collage of small individual photos of the sky, all laid out to make one giant photo with an array of colors.

Even though this piece of art is already larger than life, it was supposed to be even larger, according to one of the curators, Andrea Harris-McGee, who was explaining this to one of the observers.

Also in this room are two American flags hanging from the ceiling just above and to the left of the sky collage. The flags are constructed out of different materials and fabrics.

One of the flags was constructed from, what looked like, old army uniforms. The stars and stripes were made out of the camouflage colors green and tan, with little aircrafts accenting on the tattered edges of the flag.

Opposite of the camo flag is a flag made of metallic silver and gray fabrics with red accented stars.

One of the most popular art pieces was another collage, one that is a little more complex than the sky.

This collage was divided into four different sections and drew many viewers.

The first section features photos of “evil things,” all complied to look like hell.

The next level of the collage was a mixture of individual images of spiritual beings and humans.

The third level was of solely mankind and materialistic things, as well as celebrities and chiseled naked bodies.

And, of course, the last level was heaven, made of photos of angels and deities.

Lelda Suez, wife of retired CSUF ceramics professor Vincent Suez, originally went to the gallery to look at Ginnaty’s terra cotta work, but found herself captivated by the collage of heaven and hell, and gazed at the collage trying to piece together exactly what it was and, more importantly, what it meant.

“It’s really fascinating to look at — very interesting,” Suez said.

As she took a step closer to observe, she noticed a photo of Oprah.

“That was one of her in her thinner times,” chuckled Suez pointing to the individual photo.

Visitors then make their way to the final room of the exhibit — the sales gallery. This room holds unique artwork by artists Patrick Haemmerlein and Walt Hall. Many of the paintings focused around a child, maybe even a teen, dressed in a bird outfit. This is the smallest of all the exhibits, but seems to house the most pieces. The paintings in this gallery are smaller than the others. The colors in the paintings, making up for their lack of size, are vibrant and accented by the wood on which they are painted.

Back in the artists’ workrooms, away from the exhibit, graduate student artists could be found talking about their artwork with the public.

One CSUF graduate art student, Preston Daniels, showed off his sculpting work and answered questions from fans at his workstation. Daniels’ work resembled something found in Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas. Daniels had before created a piece for Burton that is displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Around the art gallery, graduate students can be found walking around helping out with fixing artwork knocked over or disturbed by viewers.

Second-year exhibition design graduate student Heather Rose explained that not only do the artists work in the GCAC building, they also live above the building in housing provided by the university that comes with renting a workspace in the gallery.

“It’s not merely going to work. It’s going down and submerging yourself in art,” Rose said.