Sparks Gallery’s annual “minis” exhibition returns this year, featuring artwork by many local artists. All works are 12x12 inches and under, and priced under $500.

Julia San Román was born in Madrid, Spain, where the sun is abundant and the quality of light shapes the everyday landscape. As a child she was fascinated with art; however, she concentrated her formal education on science, choosing to move to the United States to further her career, ultimately earning a Phd in Biology. She found herself transplanted in sunny San Diego, CA, a place where the atmospheric landscape mimics that of her home country. After receiving training in Studio Arts and Art History at the collegiate level, she committed her life to painting.

Light takes center stage in San Román’s latest body of work, assuming the role of protagonist while the role of antagonist is cast as large, foreboding nimbus clouds. In these celestial scenes, light is in constant battle with the clouds for room in the sky.

The shift to increased meat consumption is one of the major adaptive changes in hominin dietary evolution and likely had important repercussions for the behavior of our early hominin ancestors. Meat-eating by hominins is well documented at Early Pleistocene (Oldowan) archaeological sites in East Africa by butchery marks on bones. While it is established that Oldowan hominins butchered mammal carcasses, there has been disagreement about whether these carcasses were hunted or scavenged, as well as disagreement about the nature of competition between hominins and large carnivores.

 Step inside The San Diego Museum of Art galleries from anywhere and at any time with a new 360-degree virtual interactive tour. Enjoy 360-degree views of your favorite galleries, zoom in to see art details, and read full label text in both English and Spanish, all from the comfort of home.

 Experience SDMA 360: https://www.sdmart.org/sdma-360-tour/