May 13, 2008

“India,” an exhibit of photographs by art professor Joan K. Sharma, is on display through Oct. 17 in the President’s Gallery at California State University, Fresno.

The gallery, which is inside the main entrance to the Thomas Administration Building, is open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no admission charge.

A reception is scheduled 5-8 p.m. Sept. 6 and will be part of the community ArtHop.

The exhibition includes digital photographs taken during the past winter break when Sharma and her husband, Brijesh Sharma, led a study tour of the art and culture of northern India. The tour (with academic credits) was co-sponsored by the university’s College of Arts Humanities and the Division of Continuing and Global Education, and by the Fresno Art Museum.

Other photos were made during a family trip to southern India in June.

Sharma, who is an associate professor in the Department of Art and Design at Fresno State, is an active artist member of the Fresno Fine Art Collective and Gallery 25 and serves on the board of the Council of 100 and Golda foundation. In Fresno, she and a group of volunteers she directed painted a mural at Poverello House and Sharma painted a mural at the Fresno County Children’s Mental Health Outpatient Clinic.

She is area representative for Care for Children, an innovative school and service program for poor children and their communities in rural India that provides free education, books, balanced meals and regular medical care.

To view a Flash video of the trip, click here.

Related link: Care for Children - www.careforchildren.org