Before the semester ends

Before the campus empties out for winter vacation, there are still some end-of-the-semester events to attend before the year is over.

• The CSULB Film and Electronic Arts Department will present its semi-annual Student Film/Video Showcase on Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the William Link Theatre. The selected films will represent the diverse cultural, social and ethnic backgrounds of CSULB students. Admission to this event is $8 for adults and $6 for students. Advanced tickets are $5. For further information or tickets, call 562/985-7000.

• Ann Justine D'Zmura's play "Green Piece" will be presented by the University Players until Dec. 13 in the Studio Theatre. "Green Piece" applies folktales andmyths from around the world to examine our relationship to the earth. For more information, visit the University Players website. Tickets may be purchased online at $15 for general admission and $12 for seniors or students with I.D.
  

"Why, yes, I made this for you myself..."

The 40th annual CSULB Holiday Art Sale began Sunday, Dec. 7 and will last until Thursday, Dec. 11. The sale will take place in the Student Art Galleries on upper campus with regular gallery hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

More than 500 individual pieces of art from a variety of genres made by students and faculty will be available for purchase. These unique and original ceramics, prints, pottery, jewelry, woods, fibers and photographs will not only be creative and worthy holiday gifts, but also part of a helpful cause to raise funds for the art department. A portion of the sale proceeds will support the Potters' Guild, various other student art organizations and art travel scholarships.

There is no admission fee. For more information, contact the Art Department at 562/985-4376.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Thanksgiving may be over, but the holiday season is just kicking in. Classes are assigning final projects, final exams are nearing and Christmas is now upon us.

To start off the holiday season, the Cole Conservatory is hosting its annual Winter Festival Concert on Dec. 6 - 7. The concert will take place in the First Congregational Church of Long Beach and will be directed by Olga Artemova, Christine Guter, Julie Ramsey, Jonathan Talberg and Leland Vail.

The concert lineup will feature the Chamber Choir, University Choir, Forty-Niner Chorus, Women's Chorus, Men's Chorus, brass, handbells and a 68-Rank Möller Pipe Organ.

For more information, visit the church's official website. Tickets may be purchased online or via 562/985-7000.

"Free" art for the poor college student

The UAM is not the only way get your free art fix on campus.

Other interesting venues to consider are the Design Gallery located by the SSPA building and the Student Art Galleries located between the Fine Arts buildings.

This past semester, some exhibitions displayed in the Design Gallery included "Return to Burma," which documented a CSULB student's humanitarian efforts in tsunami-ravaged Burma, and the "Prague Experience," which featured individual scrapbook diaries of CSULB design students full of Prague architecture sketches and photos.

The Student Art Galleries are rotating in new exhibitions every few weeks from a variety of artistic expressions that include photography, printmaking, sculpture and performance displays. Recent exhibitions are "Hysteria," a curated art history tour that investigates hysteria and Surrealism in art, and an installation by Patrick Ballard that explores pattern recognition, subjectivity of measurement and meditation-- concepts all influenced by particle physics.

Again, there is no admission for CSULB students to enjoy these galleries.

photo of industrial projects in the Design Gallery