A crowd of Sacramento State photography alumni, undergraduate students, professors and their families and friends gathered together Saturday night to fill the Beatnik art studio for The Final Reveal.

The Beatnik, an off-campus art studio which is owned and founded by Sac State photography graduate Lindsay Calmettes, was dimly lit and held the work on its red brick walls.

The Beatnik had three black sofas placed throughout the room, a band consisting of a double bass player, drums and a European street-savvy singer Amity playing music to set a mellow and artsy mood for the evening.

The students’ photographs were hung in frames and below the photographs were small descriptions containing the title of the work, the photographer and a description of what the instructions or tools they were given to create the project.

The tools and instructions had been given to the students by previous Sac State graduate students who had done the same project the year before.

Friends and family members of the students gathered together in formal attire to share excitement over the pieces of art. A night of drinks, desserts and familiar faces while celebrating their masterpieces was what the students looked forward to the most.

“I enjoy seeing the results of my students’ work. The envelopes present them with a problem and as a teacher I get to see how they struggle with creating an imaginative solution for it,” said photography professor Doug Dertinger.

The students stood around excitingly as their family and friends looked at their pieces. One student, Crystal Dodds-Donnelly, held her children’s hands as she proudly took them to go see what “mommy had made.”

Donnelly’s piece was my favorite of the night; it was a portrait of multiple people holding Post-It notes that described them in some way.

“There’s not a lot you can do with Post-Its, so I was unsure at first. I had four different set-ups before I finally got this one and was excited about it,” Donnelly said.

Photography professor Nigel Poor said students looked forward to the event because it gave the students a chance to be showcased at a public venue outside of campus and let a wide variety of people come see their work.

Indeed, the night did bring many various people who came to socialize in the lighthearted environment. The crowd showed nothing but smiling faces as the artists rejoiced with nearly every face that walked through the door.

At times, some were overwhelmed with all the different expressions that sought their attention; nevertheless, they smiled and kept greeting their guests.

“It’s been a really fun night. The music the photos are great and the people are cool company,” said Iris Mwung, show attendee and junior organizational educational communications major.

People continued to come in and leave throughout the night, but the room remained packed at all times.

The Beatnik offered a look into the world of photography students at Sac State.

Not only did it showcase their work that they struggled on, but also provided a personal insight by bringing their loved ones together all in one room to share and revel over their work.

“The event keeps the photography community alive, it keeps Sac State professors coming back, it brings new students who haven’t graduate yet, students who are graduating and alums who serve as examples to the students that if you work hard, enough anything is possible,” Calmettes said.

Miriam Arghadiwal can be reached at [email protected]