Long Beach City College hosted its first Spring Market in the horticulture garden after months of hard work and preparation by the students of various programs and clubs in which the horticulture department gave free plants to every attendee at the TTC campus from April 17 through April 19.
From the gifted plants of the horticulture department to colorful ceramics, the Spring Market took a few months to be assembled since most of the art being exhibited and sold were handmade.
“This is a great way to showcase and expose the work of our students, as a school we have to do a better job about showcasing our work,” Jorge Ochoa, a horticulture professor said.
The student-run Spring Market included many departments and clubs such as the horticulture department, metal fabrication & jewelry and clubs such as The Club d’Art, The Society of Women Engineers, The Undocumented Students Club, Ceramixa Ceramics Club and The Engineering Club.
The three-day market featured various activities and entertainment such as live painting, on-demand 3D printing, ceramics and horticulture workshops.
DJ Miguel Zavala was in charge of live music during the event and specialized in using vintage equipment such as a vinyl turntable and stereos connected with A/V RCA cables.
“Speaking with Ochoa, we realized we had to bring in as many departments and clubs as we possibly could,” Isabella Alvarez, a student in horticulture and metalsmithing said.
Jewelry and metalsmithing student Elaine Lao’s nail guards, inspired by Chinese tradition, were a great example of the effort that students put into their craft. The nails took a few months to be completed due to the high complexity of the process.
“These nail guards were inspired by Chinese tradition, in old times these were used by empresses and concubines in order to show status but now they’ve got plenty of other purposes,” Lao said.
Nails made out of metal by the artist Elaine Lao that are on display at the Spring Market on Thursday, April 17. (Paloma Maciel)
Instructors and students were also giving small lessons, they explained the process they do in order to do things ranging from ceramic sculptures to taking care of seedlings.
“Most of these projects are accumulated work that goes over years for some of the students participating,” Alexandra Dickinson, jewelry and metalsmithing instructor said.
The Horticulture Department originally planned to sell their collections of fruits and vegetables seedlings but decided to simply give them away to anyone that wanted one.
“It’ll be a better gesture to the people that show up to receive a plant from us,” said Ochoa about the change of plans.
“I wanted to support one of my friends and the rest of the people here, they got a lot of things going on here,” LBCC student Danny Palma said when asked about what brought him to the event.
After its successful three-day run, it is still unknown whether there will be a second edition of Spring Market next year, as organizers are yet to confirm future plans.
A variety of Jewelry and pottery made by LBCC students for the Horticultural Spring Market, April 17. (Paloma Maciel)