Artist and Cal State San Bernardino alumna Jean Vezzalini will host a reception to showcase her paintings on Thursday, Feb. 2, at the university’s Palm Desert Campus, with all proceeds from the exhibition to be donated for student scholarships.
The reception will be from 5-7:30 p.m. in the lobby of the PDC’s Indian Wells Theater. The paintings are available for viewing in the Indian Wells Theater lobby through June 2017. To RSVP to the reception, e-mail Mike Singer at msinger@csusb.edu.
As an international student, Vezzalini started taking classes at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus in January 2004. She completed her associate’s degree in liberal arts, English composition, in May 2004 from College of the Desert, and went on to complete her bachelor’s degree in English, English literature track, in June 2006. She continued her studies and in June 2010, obtained a master’s degree in communication studies.
After she retired in Italy, Vezzalini started to work on a dream – a dream to write and illustrate a collection of short stories in English. English is not her first or second language. Vezzalini speaks French, Italian, English, Arabic, Spanish and Greek. To attain that dream of writing a book in English, she chose College of the Desert to begin her studies.
Along the way Vezzalini worked on the campus newspaper and completed associate’s degree in digital and design production. She also became a watercolor, acrylic and oil painter. She has had two solo exhibitions of her work on the Garrow Gallery Wall at COD. Her work has also been exhibited in the Walter N. Marks Center of the Arts in Palm Desert. She donated her work to the campus to raise funds to improve existing art programs on the COD campus.
The city of Palm Springs and the Public Arts Commission in 2008 awarded Vezzalini with an Honorable Mention for Typically Jam. In 2009, the 11th City of Palm Springs Annual Juried Art Show nominated Vezzalini’s Jenial first in the Acrylic, Gouache and Tempera categories.
Today Vezzalini splits her time between Italy and Rancho Mirage. Her thirst for learning and knowledge continues to propel her to greater intellectual and artistic achievements. A painting or digital design and production class will always trigger Vezzalini’s interest. Most of all, she likes to share and give back.
Her passion for the arts and communication elicit her enthusiasm. Whether volunteering with special events at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, studying or working on the completion of her book, Vezzalini continues to make art.
The CSUSB Palm Desert Campus is located at 37-500 Cook St.
Located in beautiful Palm Desert, the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, a doctorate in educational leadership, and teacher credentials and certificates. With more than 1,400 students, it is the Coachella Valley’s four-year public university and plays a vital role in educating and training the region’s growing population.
For more information about the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, contact Mike Singer in the campus’s Office of Public Affairs at msinger@csusb.edu or (760) 341-2883, ext. 78107 or visit the campus website.