Berkeley City College’s (BCC) Students Arts Guild is currently accepting submissions for its Fall 2025 art exhibition. According to an Oct. 18 Instagram post, the guild is accepting submissions of “all media” from applicants until Nov. 11.
The guild plans to hold a reception for the exhibition on Nov. 25 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the fourth floor of their home campus. The selected works will be on display until Dec 9.
Student Arts Guild organizer Gavin Piedra said the theme of the show is “cyborg.” Piedra explained that the word cyborg is “a portmanteau,” a combination of the words “cybernetic” and “organism.”
Piedra said the guild is interested in exploring “the interactions between the cybernetic, the technological, the digital, the virtual, […] alongside what mirrors biology, what we think of biology, how we interpret biology” in the exhibition.
The guild was the product of a collaboration between BCC associate art professor Lisa R. Cralle and a group of studio art students: Nima Thapaswar, Juno Lumetta, Alix Sivolella, Toni Young, Jamie Anderson, Oberon Clavera Gonzales, Kristine Molina and Luca Dito. Its founding members held an inaugural art show in Fall 2023 in the parking garage across from BCC campus, before officially forming the guild in Jan. 2024.
Piedra called the guild an “open space” for students and members of the community to “meet other artists, freely talk with other artists, and use club time for their own studio space.”
The guild “is meant to serve as an intermediary between student artists and other art opportunities in the Bay Area,” connecting its members to “external art organizations, or guiding them through their personal artistic goals,” Piedra said.
The organizers often invite BCC alumni and representatives from other colleges to share transfer tips and portfolio reviews with guild members.
The guild also circulates a weekly newsletter that has a list of upcoming events, notifications of internship or fellowship applications with art programs happening around the Bay Area.
Aleah Harrison, a 23-year-old art major at BCC, said she enjoys meeting other creative people from the club.
“I love the peace I get from this club, how people are inspiring and sweet. Everyone is so creative,” Harrison said.
In a text message to The Citizen, Piedra wrote that the Student Arts Guild is “ready to expand beyond BCC.” According to Piedra, the organizers hope to “expand the guild to all Peralta campuses and further, starting with Laney College.”
Piedra encouraged Laney students who are interested in starting a new chapter of the guild to reach out to its leadership via Instagram at @studentartguild.bay.
