Young Contemporaries 2021

37th Annual Juried Student Exhibition

Glitch, by MiaBella Chavez.
MiaBella Chavez, Glitch, 2020, photo collage with paint, 8.5 x 11 in., courtesy of the artist

Young Contemporaries 2021
April 22 – ongoing

View the virtual exhibition HERE

The Laband Art Gallery’s Annual Juried Student Exhibition is open to all students who have taken a Studio Arts class during the past school year. The Laband encourages students to submit their best work in any media of their choosing including drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, graphic design, sculpture, and multimedia. We invite two professionals who are active in Los Angeles’s art world to serve as co-jurors. Now in its 37th year, this exhibition serves as an excellent first professional experience for student artists and celebrates their flourishing creativity.

Meet the 2021 Jurors

  • Erik Benjamins is a multidisciplinary artist and writer who celebrates the possibilities for embodied knowledge. Recent projects have brought him to Chengdu, China; the Banff Centre, Canada; Spring Workshop, Hong Kong; the Jan Van Eyck Academie, the Netherlands; and the Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico. Most recently, he has exhibited at Foreland in Catskill, New York; the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine; and River and Marta, both in Los Angeles. Erik is a proud alum (’08) of LMU where he double majored in Communication Studies and Studio Arts. He received his MFA in Studio Art with a focus on Performance at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Tufts University in 2012. From 2013-2015, he served as an LMU Clinical Assistant Professor in Communication Studies and Studio Arts.

  • Nathalie Sánchez is an interdisciplinary artist, social justice arts educator, museum worker and arts advocate raised and rooted in Los Angeles. Nathalie firmly believes in the transformative power of arts education and community. She has developed and led visual arts education, museum education, and professional development programs at ArtworxLA; Avenue 50 Studio;  ESMoA; Fowler Museum at UCLA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA); and P.S. ARTS. Currently, she is the Interim Education Program Coordinator at the Vincent Price Art Museum. In 2016, she founded the Art Education + Social Justice Book Club with over 300 members internationally. She graduated from LMU in 2007 with her BA in Art History and Studio Arts with an emphasis in education, and received her MFA in Public Practice from Otis College of Art and Design in 2010.

2021 Jurors' and Director's Awards

Jurors' First Prize

MiaBella Chavez
"Glitch," 2020
Photo collage with paint

Jurors' Second Prize

Becca Simor
"Chair Piece after Yoko Ono," 2021
Laser jet ink on paper

Jurors' Third Prize

Louise Royer
"Interactive 3D World (Banana)," 2020
Interactive web page

Jurors' Honorable Mention

Joseph Capestany
"Heads Up," 2020
3D rendering(sculpture)

Jurors’ Honorable Mention

Lauren Mitzelfelt
"Steven’s Daughter," 2020
Photocollage book

Jurors’ Honorable Mention

Kaelyn Belloni
"Artist Book: Birth Month Flowers," 2020
Handmade paper, embroidery thread, Bristol paper, fabric

Grace Swanson Painting Award

José Miguel Camacho
"Me," 2020
Acrylic on canvas

Laband Director’s Award

Danica De Forest
"There is No Planet B," 2021
Digital media