HANNAH BUCHANAN, Special to the Tyler Paper

The University of Texas at Tyler Department of Art and Art History is presenting its first two exhibitions of the academic year.

The Meadows Gallery, in the R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center, is showing the “BFA Alumni Exhibition.” The exhibit assembles art made by 22 UT Tyler Bachelor of Fine Arts Program alumni. It continues through  Sept. 30.

“With so many different artists participating, we have an outstanding variety of artistic styles and mediums represented in this exhibition,” Michelle Taff, gallery coordinator, said. “Our program has always supported artistic individualism and it’s nice to see that our alumni are still embracing that trait.

“Many of them have become teachers and professors themselves, passing along some of the skills and the knowledge they received during their undergraduate studies at UT Tyler. We are extremely proud of the work they are creating and the difference they are making in this world,” she said.

The department also is featuring “Parallel Cultures” in the university’s Fine Arts Complex Gallery. “Parallel Cultures” is sponsored by the UT Tyler Global Awareness Though Education Program. The exhibit is one of the projects GATE students complete.

It called for entries nationwide and is juried by UT Tyler’s own professor of art James R. Pace.

A public reception with gallery talks is set for 6 p.m.  Sept. 8 at the gallery. The exhibit continues through Oct. 8.

“The idea of this juried exhibition was to communicate how all cultures share some similarities but at the same time can be so diverse,” said Tyler’s Diego Loya, GATE student and exhibit organizer “It is also another way to get the viewer out of their comfort zone, and let them know it is ok to be different and to learn new things. ‘Parallel Cultures’ has been more than just a project for me, it has been a great opportunity to grow as an artist and deliver the delightful experience of various cultures to others.”

Hannah Buchanan is a media relations coordinator at The University of Texas at Tyler.