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Kaleidoscope Gallery

The Kaleidoscope Gallery is an auxiliary exhibition space at BRCC, located in the Houff Student Center lobby (Campus map).

The gallery showcases the diversity of BRCC, its students, employees and the community.

If you have an idea you would like to share, please contact Jessica Martinkosky at martinkoskyj@brcc.edu.

Current exhibition:

Hispanic Heritage Month: Ofrendas for a Deceased Artist Project
Art 131 – Two-Dimensional Design

Four colorful small posters

Ofrendas are part of the traditional Mexican Día de los Muertos celebration, also known as Day of the Dead. The word ofrenda translates to “offering,” and these offerings are a way to connect the living and the dead, not to worship the deceased.

Three colorful small posters

On a traditional ofrenda, the main objects are symbolic of life’s elements:

  • Water (often in a pitcher)
  • Wind (papel picado – paper banners)
  • Fire (candles, often in the shape of a cross)
  • Earth (bread, seeds, or spices)

Traditional ofrendas include two-dimensional components and three-dimensional components. They generally have two levels (sky and land), three levels (underworld, earth, heavens), but sometimes have seven levels for the stages a soul must go through to achieve peace. Traditional ofrendas generally include cempasúchitl (marigolds). They are often colorful and symmetrically balanced. A framed photo of the deceased to whom the altar is dedicated is usually positioned in a prime spot on the altar.

Three colorful small posters

Each design student created a collage (paper and other materials glued to a flat surface) ofrenda for the deceased artist of their choice. Students focused on the design element of space and used either a monochromatic (one color + black and white) color scheme.

Ofrenda information from:
Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum Day of the dead/Día de los Muertos
The Grace Museum Día de los Muertos: Symbols and Traditions

Past exhibitions include:

Festival – Around the World

Festivals celebrated in different countries are vibrant visual expressions of culture, tradition, and community spirit.

Week of the Young Child Art Show

Celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers, families, and communities.

Taste of Home

Images on the wall in Houff. The content of the images is too small to make out.
Images on the wall in Houff. The content in the images is mostly too small to see. The top left picture has text "Traditional Foods of Scotland". The image underneath has an African woman's face.

Beauty in Disability

four framed images; the rightmost contains a description of the exhibition but it's not readable in the image. Others are photos of a cane, of a woman lying down, of two people sitting together
Four framed pictures of various folks using prostheses or wheelchairs in various activities
Three framed pictures

Week of the Young Child Art Show featuring artwork from local schools

Scenes from International Student Celebration

Mis Quince – A celebration of the Latin community and Hispanic Heritage Month

This is Home – A collaborative project with the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge

Mandalas – A celebration of Native American History with visiting arts students from Fort Defiance High School