Spring Market Sale showcases student artwork at TTC garden

LBCC’s annual Spring Market Sale filled the horticulture garden at the Trades Technology and Community Learning campus from April 17 to 18, drawing students and faculty for plants, custom goods and community spirit.

The event was hosted and coordinated by ceramics professor Gerardo Monterrubio and Jennifer Morales, an instructional associate in ceramics, in collaboration with the horticulture department. 

There were various stands where visitors were able to buy handcrafted jewelry, pottery and bouquets made by LBCC students and faculty. 

“And the idea is to bring the community together, to share the talents of our students and alumni, so that we could showcase what students do,” Monterrubio said. 

The horticulture garden brought life to the event because of the various flowers that were in bloom that indicated spring time and the active roosters in the background. 

“It’s spring, you know, the flowers are blooming, because you can hear the birds in the background,” Monterrubio said. 

Not only were there various appliances made via pottery being purchased, but also eye-catching bouquets were purchased by those in attendance. 

Most, if not all, items for sale were made by students and faculty who carry a passion for art. 

^{Amy Solis, left, a local jewelry maker and designer who’s an LBCC alumnus, shows an attendee her jewelry line based on the Native American agriculture technique named “Three Sisters” at the Spring Market Sale inside the TTC Campus’s garden on Saturday, April 18. The Spring Market Sale was an event for LBCC students, alumni and instructors of various art disciplines to sell their works. (Jacyn King)}

Faculty members like Angel Bermudez-Vong, a pottery instructor, want his students and those interested in attending LBCC to learn about the various art programs available for those who carry that same passion and may not have had a chance to explore it in high school.

“These programs, and honestly, this horticulture center as well, I think is something that needs to stay in these educational establishments,” Bermudez-Vongs said. 

Students, faculty and Long Beach residents were allowed to pick various pieces from the horticulture garden and have club members make a personal bouquet of their choosing.

Besides the plethora of flowers featured, there were also pottery wheels that demonstrated how the pottery shown throughout the event that was available to purchase was made. 

^{LBCC studio arts major Helen Soto, sculpting clay on a potter’s wheel during the Spring Market Sale inside the TTC campus garden on Saturday, April 18. Multiple artists were showcasing their disciplines which included painting, ceramics and sgraffito. (Jacyn King)}

LBCC student Khalid Al-Ajlouni described one of his favorite parts of the Spring Market Sale, “Interactions with the students themselves that made it, and (when they) show me how they made all the hard work,” Al-Ajlouni said. 

Monterrubio said the market is a continuing event, however, it mainly depends on when the horticulture and art department has an opportunity. 

^{Artist Lizbeth Navarro demonstrating sgraffito, which involved scratching designs onto a hard surface to reveal a contrasting color underneath, in this case painted clay, during a workshop at the Spring Market Sale on Saturday, April 18 at the TTC campus garden. The Spring Market Sale was an event for LBCC students and instructors of various art disciplines to sell their works. (Jacyn King)}