Cerritos College
Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

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Cerritos College Art Professor selected to judge Hillcrest Festival of Fine Arts

“Judging is an honor and I take it seriously.”

Retired art professor, Joe Girtner, said this regarding how he feels about being a judge at the Hillcrest Festival of Fine Arts.

On Feb. 25 through 27, the Hillcrest Congregational Church will be hosting its 51st Annual Festival of Fine Arts, where Girtner is being called to be a judge in the festival.

In every year of the festival, he enjoys coming forward and seeing new things that are being created.

“Joe is really a good teacher, with lots of enthusiasm, and has great talent. He really made wonderful duck decoys, which were really amazing. He is really being missed in the school,” Steven Portigal, chair of the Art Department, said.

From 1968 to 1998 at Cerritos College, he taught jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, crafts, drawing, 2-D and 3-D design, printmaking and art for elementary teachers.

He taught jewelry, ceramics and sculpture in his final 18 to 20 years here.

“Art, to me, is a personal, creative expression through the process use of ideas resulting in a tangible object. Of course, many things need to come together to create a meaningful piece of art,” Girtner said.

Since retiring, he has continued to make jewelry, wood carvings, art-concept knives, duck decoys, carving knives and tools. He is also learning to play the banjo.

“I feel that it is a must to study art with qualified instruction,” Girtner said.

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Cerritos College Art Professor selected to judge Hillcrest Festival of Fine Arts