Yesterday’s art students of San Jose City College will soon display some of their sculptures and paintings in SJCC’s art gallery.

Hector “Dio” Mendoza, 43, will display a combination of soft sculptures, objects and site-specific installations.

“All the work that I am currently doing uses refurbished materials that I find in the street or at thrift shops,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said he has always been interested in graphically showing how something as useless and meaningless as garbage put together by a creative mind can become meaningful and beautiful.

Juan Luna-Avin, 39, will present a selection of nine to eleven mixed-media paintings that show song lists of imaginary bands and music performers, he wrote in an email.

He will also be showing his Mexican punk timeline, which includes facts about more than 130 punk bands from several cities in Mexico, Luna-Avin wrote in an email.

An interactive sculpture will also be on display.

“The poster will have about 40 sections on the edge of the paper that could be torn out,” Luna-Avin wrote in an email. “Each piece of paper will have a written email address.”

By writing to this address, visitors will be sent a downloadable zip file of limited edition music box sets with an emphasis on unknown artists and emerging projects, he said.

“This sculpture represents my interest in expanding my box set projects and reaching a wider audience using the internet as the mode for distribution,” Luna-Avin wrote in an email.

The date of the artist reception has not been determined yet.

Luna-Avin and Mendoza studied at SJCC during the 1990s.

“Teachers at SJCC, such as Luis Gutierrez, Eve Mathias and Deborah Kennedy, encouraged me to take risks, learn technical skills and take art seriously,” Luna-Avin said.

Both Mendoza and Luna-Avin stood out as art students, said Mathias, drawing and painting instructor at SJCC.

“Dio’s fundamental skills and critical thinking were exceptional,” Mathias said. “Juan was also exceptionally skilled and always thinking outside the box and exploring exciting new ideas.”

Luna-Avin and Medoza took different paths after SJCC, but it was only a matter of time before their paths crossed after college.

Both Mendoza and Luna-Avin met again at California State University, Monterey Bay, where they are lecturers in the Visual and Public Arts Department.

“I think these days artists, whether visual artists, musicians or actors, have two jobs: a day job and their own careers pursuing their practices and working on projects,” said Luna-Avin.

Teaching is not only a way to finance their art-making, but a way to contribute to students.

“Mentorship played a major role when I was a student, and it is important for me to give back to my community in the way of teaching,” Mendoza said.

As a student, Luna-Avin had many of the same dreams that he wants to help his students achieve today.

“I wanted to see if I could do art for a living,” he said.

Making art for a living takes a lot of sacrifice and struggle because an artist has to be creative and inventive not only in making art,  but in creating opportunities to finance their art practice, as well.

“The life of the artist it is not an easy life, but it can be fulfilling in so many ways,” Luna-Avin said.

Still, Mendoza sees art as a profession like any other.

“There are conceptual, formal and historical skills that need to be addressed and learned,” he said.

While at college, Mendoza focused on learning as many skills as possible that would later aid in the creation of his art, he said.

Both consider learning basic skills fundamental to becoming a successful artist.

Luna-Avin advised students to “learn basic skills properly, have goals and don’t give up.”