# @ucsc on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/ByVzw5MhYGq
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20346462-ucsc-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/b69691f941.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-06-05T20:02:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** UC Santa Cruz (@ucsc) — https://gondola.cc/ucsc

## Caption

#SlugStories Commencement 2019 Special Feature “In America, we’re full of sugarcoating. My artwork breaks beyond that barrier in showing the good, the bad, and the ugly through my paintings and sculptures…. My work consists of confronting globalization and the endemic existence of social strife in our lives, whether caused by transnational adopted cultures or the faults of society. I do my best to present these standards of social class and power and bring forth from my creativity an awareness of certain dilemmas that may not affect every viewer, but will hopefully teach them about the experiences of others…. Art can help America understand racism, prejudice, classism, globalization, ethnicity, the ecosystem and environment, and one another. It can inspire and motivate people, and cause them to question their motives. It helps us communicate. 
You have to really ask for things. You have to pay attention, and love what you’re doing! No one is going to do everything for you. It’s up to you to get up and start moving and doing the things that are going to make you a better you, whether it be writing for grants or scholarships, or even working on how to be a better problem solver. The Art Department taught me to be a better person.”
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John Joseph Contreras Romero is receiving his B.A. in art. He is a Marine veteran and first-generation Latino student, and has overcome homelessness—all of which influence his artwork. During his time at UC Santa Cruz, he was a Koret Scholar, and he won the Carillo Scholarship and the Irwin Scholarship—the Art Department's most prestigious award. He has been accepted into San Jose State University for graduate school in its Spatial Art program. In the next five years he hopes to be at Notre Dame studying art therapy, something he has always wanted to pursue.
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Photo: lunar_lindsey
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#ucsc #ucsantacruz #ucscalumni #classof2019 #graduation #graduation2019 #commencement #commencement2019 #art #artstagram #artist #socialjustice #studentprofile #studentstory

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## Tags

commencement, slugstories, graduation2019, studentprofile, studentstory, socialjustice, ucsc, ucsantacruz, commencement2019, artstagram, art, graduation, classof2019, artist, ucscalumni

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