Thanks to the Consulate of Mexico, Red Rocks Community College is currently hosting an exhibit of José Sacal’s sculptures.
This semester, Red Rocks Community College’s (RRCC) Lakewood campus isn’t just a place to go to class — it’s also a place to find great art. The campus entrance has turned into an art exhibit, so students, staff and community members can easily experience art.
RRCC is currently hosting a sculpture exhibit titled “José Sacal: Un mexicano universal.” The exhibit displays the art of Sacal — a renowned Mexican sculptor — through 21 pieces that reimagine various historical figures through Sacal’s abstract lens.
For Dean of Academic Affairs Wendy Lubin, the exhibit is a way to help students connect with Latino culture through art.
“This exhibit allows students to see a Mexican and Latino culture represented and celebrated on their campus, while also giving the entire community an important way to learn and experience that culture,” Lubin said.
Sacal’s work tends to be more abstract, which Lubin believes makes it a great way for students to connect with art, as there are so many different interpretations that students can find.
“His work is very distinctive and focuses on the human form and the human experience,” Lubin said. “What makes this work particularly interesting for a college environment is that it invites different interpretations, because it blends a picture and creates different meaning to it. So people can look at the same sculpture and take away something completely different than the other person does. It creates opportunities for individual conversations, curiosity, and learning about what exactly his art is about.”
The exhibit came to RRCC by way of the Consulate of Mexico, which reached out to the school as it is working with the Sacal Art Gallery to display the artist’s work in colleges.
To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, the school held a reception on Aug. 6, which the Consulate of Mexico and Sacal’s wife attended, along with students and community members. The reception also had a speaker — Gregorio Luke — an expert in Mexican and Latin art, who introduced the exhibit, giving viewers a background to better understand the pieces they were looking at.
The art will be on display through Nov. 3, so students, staff and community members can come see the sculptures.
“(Luke) provides a deeper understanding of Sacal’s work,” Lubin said. “He talks about the sculptures, really helps people understand the stories, the culture behind them, the humanity, the meaning, the representation of his work through artwork.”
For Lubin, the reception was a great chance to see people enjoying Sacal’s art — which she hopes they will continue to for the duration of the exhibition.
“It was exciting to see people walking around the campus, looking at the sculptures, asking questions, really talking to one another, having those conversations, and connecting with one another through art and culture,” Lubin said.
The exhibit is part of a broader effort from RRCC to become a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), with other events on the horizon for Hispanic Heritage Month, starting Sept. 15. However, for Lubin, the work isn’t just about a designation.
“We want to make sure that this type of work that we’re doing is long-term work here at the college,” Lubin said. “So it’s not about just becoming an HSI; it’s more about how we truly are serving our students.”
The exhibit, which runs through Nov. 3, is open to the community, so anyone can come and see the sculptures on display in the Lakewood campus’ entrance.
“Just make sure you take some time to walk through the campus, look at the sculptures, and just experience the wonderful artwork yourself,” Lubin said. “You don’t have to be an expert because a lot of people feel like you have to be an expert to look at artwork. It’s just, it’s just one of the wonderful things of art. Everybody has a different interpretation, and they can experience it and decide the meaning that they have.”
