The community is invited to join the Department of Art + Design for a reception and conversation with visiting artists Jorge Rojas and Siara Yazmin on Thursday, September 5, at 5 p.m. in the Lander Art Gallery, located inside the Abney Cultural Center at Lander University. The exhibit, titled “Mujer: Sanctuary,” will be on display in the gallery beginning August 21 through September 25. The reception and visits to the gallery are free and open to the public, and the gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Jorge Rojas is a muralist and educator with thirty years of experience in visual arts. Rojas is known for his large-scale mural art and expertise in the human figure, and received his formal education from the National University of Colombia. He previously worked as a studio artist and educator in Colombia, instructing aspiring artists of all age groups, while also designing diverse large-scale murals for various public and private organizations in Colombia, Brazil, the Philippines and the United States. He also owned his own company, Colombian Cobalt Blue, which specialized in custom tableware, utilitarian ceramics and ceramic murals on a commissioned basis. Rojas now works as a full-time commissioned muralist, residing in Greenville.

Siara Yazmin learned early in life just how wild and fun art can be. She watched her mother and grandfather create a magical Disney mural in the room she shared with her sister. She was enamored with crazy cartoon shows and fantastical animated movies. The endless possibilities of painting and drawing felt freeing, and that feeling never left her. Faces have always been her favorite subjects, either from her imagination or real life. “There is already so much emotion there, ready to complement the right style and colors,” she says. Yazmin also loves working with animals, wildlife and nature as subjects. She hopes to tell a story in each painting, and it’s touching to her when someone else sees and feels a story of their own in her art.

Please visit www.lander.edu/events for updates and to confirm event times and venues. For questions, please contact the College of Arts and Humanities at 864-388-8323, or email Perrin Rickenbaker at [email protected].

To make a gift to the College of Arts and Humanities, please visit https://giving.lander.edu/give/CoAH.