Every two years, an exhibit is put on by the University of Guam's (UOG) art professors, showcasing their disciplines.

From now until Jan. 26, you can stop by the UOG Isla Center for the Arts and immerse yourself in the artistry and creativity of these seven talented professors.

For Lewis Rifkowitz this year's UOG Fine Arts faculty biennial exhibition is bittersweet, as after 34 years, the UOG art professor is retiring.

“They've been wonderful. It's been my home, it's been my family, my place to be. And sadly this is my last faculty biennial,” He expressed.

And in knowing this was his last, much of his art on full display, a timeline of his creative process.

Rifkowitz shared, “I wanted to have the experience of putting it all out and looking at it myself. Having my reflective sense to look and see where my persona was and where I am now and what I see in it. All that changes when you work with different materials like clay or metals, and different types of colors. It's a process-oriented media, and you have to spend a lot of time with it, so as with any art, you're involved in teaching, and world events, and you are involved in life events, all those filter in whether you are aware of it or not.”

It was his opportunity to step back and take a look. And speaking of taking a look, every corner and space is filled with such amazing pieces from UOG's seven art professors you can immerse yourself in.

One of them is Ric Castro, who has been with the university since 1998.

“The biennial event happens every two years… it's a chance to showcase each discipline- sculpture, printmaking, painting...this is the stuff they will be exposed to,” He said.

Castro, primarily considers himself an abstract artist but occasionally returns to his influential roots of realism in the form of local landscapes. One of his favorite subjects? The dense tropical jungles of Guam.

Along with Rifkowitz and Castro, other faculty featured are: Jerrold Castro, Perry Perez, Victor Consaga, and Tara Sood.

Another art professor that was featured,”My name is Irena Keckes. I'm an associate professor in Art.”

This is Keckes’ 9th year with UOG.

She earned her PhD in Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland, New Zealand back in 2015.

Her creative practice includes large-scale woodcuts, print installations, and collaborative print media practices.

“In this space you can see my large scale. I used old doors to my studios and printed them on both sides and here are the results of that endeavor,” Keckes shared.

She sees the whole process as therapeutic, especially after a crazy day. She shared, “The reason why I like printmaking is because....concept I have.”

She said she fell in love with the combination of crafts and art and it's something she really honed in on throughout her studies.

Castro says these biennial exhibitions allow the professors to show their progressive side; let their hair down so to speak.

“We do teach more academic types of medium as far as basic painting but in this exhibition, you will see stuff more progressive...more wilder and it will show students what will come out of four years of the art program,” Castro said.

The UOG Fine Arts faculty biennial exhibition wraps up on Jan. 26.

The Isla Center for the Arts is open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for more information, follow @uogislacenter on Instagram.

Rifkowitz said, “Isla is the premiere art center on Guam. We have galleries and we have a museum, and they are wonderful but the isla is sort of like the educator's gallery. We get to use it as educators to show students and with this biennial you get to see the work of the art professors and what they do.”