A painting of a football field, fiber arts and what a firefighter sees when he first arrives at the scene of an emergency are just a few of the artworks on display at the Southwest Minnesota State University Art Museum this month.
The annual SMSU alumni art exhibit will run through Oct. 29 at the SMSU Art Museum and features about 20 artworks from 10 graduates.
Some alumni include Terrence Fogarty, Micah Bloom, Victoria Hanna, Cat Abbott and Galen McCarthy.
Retired SMSU art professor Ed Evans said the alumni art exhibit is one of the traditions at Southwest Minnesota State University, one that has gone on for almost 40 years.
"The exhibit is a rather eclectic one, some different mediums are represented, not one particular style," said Evans, who coordinates the alumni exhibit. He said he looks for a unified theme with the exhibit and this one has figurative work and a strong use of color.
McCarthy, a 1998 graduate, is in his seventh year as an art teacher at Jackson County Central High School.
"I was the 'Cow Guy' at SSU," McCarthy said.
Many of his paintings, which featured cattle, were rendered with airbrush painting, he said.
And he's tried to participate in the alumni exhibit a few times in the last decade. Although McCarthy didn't have anything on display last year, he's bringing three artworks for this year's exhibit.
"It's a way for former graduates to give back and show their stuff," McCarthy said, citing other SMSU art graduates, such as Fogarty and wildlife artist Michael Sieve.
Fogarty continues to do commission work around the Twin Cities area. One of his latest pieces was for the Minnesota Twins for the opening of Target Field. It hangs in the Legend's Club area.
"That was released about three weeks ago. It's kind of a different perspective," Fogarty said.
"The view is the seats from field level."
Fogarty said he spent a good part of May doing research for the Minnesota Twins painting.
But once in a while, Fogarty will paint other subjects besides sports, such as landscapes from a trip he took to Ireland or private commission work.
"But most people don't see that work," he said.
McCarthy has also been a fire fighter and EMT for the last 12 years, and sometimes his art will be of scenes he sees while on that job.
"I have a camera in the rescue truck and when the opportunity arises" McCarthy said.
For the alumni exhibit, Fogarty said he did a painting of the high school football field in Danube. He has driven past that field for the last 30 years and finally got the right shot.
"I was able to capture a full moon on a Friday night," Fogarty said.
Fogarty's work has been part of the alumni exhibit in the past, and he said it's
"It's fun to have a piece in there," Fogarty said. "It (the football field painting) made a lot of sense to me because it had a southwest Minnesota flavor."
McCarthy said several of his former students from JCC have gone on to SMSU.
"I push it and not just because I went there," McCarthy said.
And McCarthy said what he can appreciate about the exhibits is seeing former art classmates.
"Ed's been doing a good job," McCarthy said. "I learned so much in those three years there."