MFA alumni returns to show works.

Ten of Edinboro University's most gifted MFA painting program graduates returned to their alma mater, on the night of Sept. 3, for the opening of the Alumni Invitational at the Bruce Gallery, located in the Doucette Hall basement.

This annual event featured established and up-and-coming artists and gave them the chance to rub elbows and meet with curious art appreciators.

Each artist is a graduate of the Edinboro University MFA program between 1982 and 2006. Some of the selected artists were in the first classes to go through the MFA program, founded in the 1970s.

There were the traditional oil-on-canvases, but also some untraditional choices. For example, Nancy Werder used Popsicle sticks in all of her pieces "because they're common. They're a metaphor for the common people I use," she said.

And, by seeing her eye-catching exhibit "Shiva Nataraja Werder," it's obvious the importance Werder puts on things some people would simply cast aside.

Instead, she elevates them to art. Perhaps the first piece to capture your attention (partly due to its impressive size and the 7,000 popsicle sticks that help make it up) is a "self-portrait" in which Werder imposed herself upon the Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction.

Shiva typically is seen "standing on top of what he's overcoming, which is the dwarf of ignorance."

Except for Werder, her "dwarf of ignorance" has been replaced by a laundry basket. The common is celebrated, again. Her other pieces, more outright political in nature, were also made with Popsicle sticks.

Another artist who employed an unusual medium was Robert Sheerer. All of Sheerer's pieces were done in blood.

Whether it was the African-American blood in "Antebellum Classicism" or the HIV-positive blood of "Bride Stripped Bare II," it was enough to make your own run cold and the unsettling meaning of the piece sink in.

These will appear in the collection "Blood Works: Portrait of Love and Loss in the Age of AIDS."

"They say that the brightest stars burn out the quickest. It seems that this may also apply to lovers," said Sheerer when referring to "Nuptial Not", in a statement that accompanied the piece.

Sheerer is a professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and his works have been shown in galleries as far away as Florence, Italy.

Also attending the opening was Jack Coville, a professional artist based out of Conneaut, Ohio.

Three of his creations were on display, all of which he considered part of his "metaphysical" series. They were "Galactic Twist" (an acrylic), "Blue Landscape with Fishes" (also acrylic) and "Landing," an oil on canvas.

"Galactic Twist" is a spiral-centered design "stemming from Egyptians," said Coville. "I'm using that as a life symbol and building everything around it."

Coville has been represented in galleries spanning from New York to California. Most recently, he had a show in Erie's Glass Growers Gallery, as well as a display at Art III, The City Building in Cleveland.

He can be found in the private collections of households as far off as the United Kingdom and Australia.

He emphasized the importance of gallery work, having a polished resume and networking. "Don't be afraid to say 'I am an artist, this is my work,'" said Coville.

It is true that all of the artists included in the showing accomplished great things since their days at Edinboro University.

Some of them have become practicing artists, such as Coville and Werder, while others have gone on to teach art, such as Sheerer and Donald Robson, who is on the faculty at Leipzing International School in Leipzing, Germany.

The MFA Invitational was in memory of Professor Steve Emmett, who helped organize the event.

The Edinboro University MFA Painting Alumni Invitational will run through the Sept. 25 in Bruce Gallery.

Hours for the Bruce Gallery are Monday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m and Saturday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Sundays.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2008

my first art piece- I was scared out of my mind at this art opening. because I'd never been to one before. ...