By Matthew Beccerra, February 3, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona’s Art Department will have a new exhibition called “Art Department Triennial” on display at the W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery.
“Art Department Triennial” exhibition showcases pieces by teachers and others who work in the department in five parts. The first section is about ethnic identity, culture and social justice. The second features work centered on landscape, environment and nature, while the third has more surreal and whimsical works. The fourth includes pieces about architecture and a multimedia installation, and the fifth features non-representational paintings and sculptures. Some of the pieces serve as transitions from one section to the next.
“Each time we do these triennials, you can see an evolution of different things happening based on what’s happening in the world,” Michele Cairella Fillmore, Curator of the Kellogg and Huntley University Art Galleries said.
Among the work in the first part is a mural by Art Department Chair Anthony Acock that also functions as a fundraiser supporting immigrant justice efforts. Acock’s mural includes 13 canvases on the wall, each available to donors who contribute to the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice.
The mural transitions from black and white to color, symbolizing the concept of going from one’s past to the future, which is theoretically more vibrant, according to Acock. He connected the visual transition on the canvases to migration and human movement, saying people don’t move to another country unless they’re looking for a better future.
The section also features ceramic and mixed-media works by artists whose practices reflect blended cultural identities.
One of these pieces is a fourteenth century manuscript which serves as a historical look into a different culture.
Professor Sarah Meyer’s work in the second section is heavily based on her relationship with nature, from trips in her childhood to backpacking as an adult. The small scale of her paintings is shaped by necessity as much as intention, Meyers said, with all of her supplies needing to fit in her backpack.
“For me, getting out there is a way of capturing the feeling, the expansiveness,” Meyer said. “I could never compete against how expansive and glorious it is, so I like to do a small reference to it.”
Meyer described her paintings as gestures of respect toward both the land and the people who came before.
There are other pieces in this section that deal with nature in different ways. Pieces by Devora Orantes, an Adjunct Lecturer that are made with acrylic and markers inspired by the flora she’s seen in both the wild and cities.
In the third section, there are pieces that incorporate unexpected juxtapositions, which Cairella Fillmore described as the idea of taking things out of context and putting unlike things together, referencing a painting with a glass head.
She also noted the section has multiple approaches to surrealism. He described it as a mix of fantasy, grotesqueness and human inhumane concepts.
“There’s the surrealism of sort of the next level, which is what we call biomorphic surrealism,” Cairella Fillmore said, describing forms that resemble living organisms while remaining abstract.
Though visually lighter in tone, the section still maintains conceptual depth, according to Cairella Fillmore.
Some of these pieces that highlights that depth are by Assistant Professor Jian Lee who’s work challenges societal norms and highlights patriarchal issues against women and questions what is “normal” according to her artist statement.
Jeffrey Ray, an assistant professor of art, bridges the architectural and abstract sections of the exhibition through an installation that combines film, sound, drawing and furniture making.
“I create all these different mediums because I’m stubborn,” Ray said. “I don’t want to say, OK, I’m just going to draw today,’ and forget about music for a few months.”
Assistant Professor Kevin Moore’s work, emphasizes emerging technology. The paintings and sculptures on view were developed during Moore’s recent sabbatical, where he began incorporating artificial intelligence into his painting process, using it as a generative tool.
“I spent a year before my sabbatical creating an AI that kind of understood what my influences were,” Moore said. “I would feed it my art and have it come up with new compositions.”
While his practice has long been grounded in three-dimensional modeling and perception, Moore said the results gave him a new terrain and starting point to explore and riff off of.
As the “Art Department Show” opens to the public with a reception Feb. 3, the exhibition offers students and visitors a comprehensive look at the creative work shaping the department beyond the classroom.
“This really gives the students an opportunity to see their professors in a new way,” Cairella Fillmore said. “It broadens their outlook on what can be art, and what they can be creating themselves.”
