ARC Art Faculty

ARC Gary Pruner
Gary Pruner was an ARC art faculty emeritus. Gary Pruner was a popular and respected art instructor at American River College from 1970 to 2002. An active and ambitious artist since the age of 14, Pruner studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California, then began his art teaching career at Sacramento’s Encina High School in 1964. He later graduated from California State University, Sacramento, completing his Masters in oil painting, and finally secured a teaching position at ARC. As a painter he developed his own luscious photo-realistic technique, Pruner was considered an expert on form and color. For years he taught the Art Department’s hardest course, Color Theory, giving out homemade badges to the survivors. Pruner’s paintings have traveled both nationwide and abroad, with many works settling into noteworthy permanent collections such as; The Kansas City University Museum, Crocker Art Museum, Monterey Peninsula Museum, Bell Telephone, and M.T.S., Inc.. His reputation broadened with exposure through traveling shows in Germany, Paris and Sweden. Many examples of his work can be found online. Upon Gary’s retirement, the Art Department created a scholarship endowment in his name. Gary passed away in 2017, but has left a permanent legacy at ARC.