Artist tells students to embrace their struggle

 The Art Department’s first guest speaker since the pandemic started praised Del Mar’s art students during a visit to the Fine Arts Building on Nov. 9.

Jimmy Pena, a self-taught artist, encouraged the students to learn as much as they can while they pursue their art degree.

“I wish I would have gone to art school to learn about the history of art and all the techniques. It’s a good thing you all are here to continue learning about art,” Pena said.

Pena, an artist from K-Space Contemporary Art Studios, spoke to a packed room of art students as he shared some of his works and told about his journey. He encouraged them to believe in their art and follow their dreams at any cost. 

Being an artist is not just a job for Pena, it has become a lifestyle. He has been working at K-Space Contemporary Art Studios for about 24 years now, where he spends five days a week with a total of 20 hours spent at the studio weekly and some weeks even more. 

According to the professor of Art Gerardo Cobarruvias, Pena has “produced about 500 original works of art throughout his career.”

Cobarruvias said Pena inspires students with such a humble attitude toward his artwork. 

“Most artist egos can’t handle that kind of uncertainty and are afraid of a new technique that could be abject as failure. He steps into a new technique and pulls through by sheer determination to create new work,” Cobarruvias said. 

Throughout Pena’s inspirational presentation he told art students to not let their personal life struggle bring them down, but instead to embrace it into their art. 

3 thoughts on “Artist tells students to embrace their struggle

  1. Really enjoyed the article. I like that Pena told the students embrace the struggles it hopefully that piece of advice will help them not only with their art but with the struggles themselves.

  2. I personally feel like struggle is a part of the artistic journey. Encouraging artists to endure the difficulty of the process, and to overcome the struggle will only strengthen the art itself.

  3. Melissa, I enjoyed the part where you included how Pena stated that artist should embrace their struggles into their art. Not only does this uplift his audience, but it gives them motivation to pursue their dreams even with battling their own problems.

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