(MANHATTAN, NY) — Each year, College of the Sequoias hosts a Human Rights Art Exhibition which features art pieces that, while varied in mediums and styles, share a common theme: “the intersection of art, human rights, social justice and environmental issues.” The college, located in Visalia, California, recently displayed Empire State University faculty member Raul Manzano’s piece “Grasping for Freedom, Grasping for Hope.” The painting, which depicts a wide-eyed Statue of Liberty peering over a wall that several hands are desperately trying to grasp the top of, won a Merit Award just over a week into being displayed as part of the competitive, international exhibition. 

Featured artist Manzano, a visiting assistant professor at SUNY Empire, has long been a member of its community with his first experience at the university dating back to 2003.

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