The art department's faculty exhibit opened on the Feb. 15 and the display is impressive. I've taken my fair share of classes in the art department, and the interesting thing about art classes is that you've got an instructor directing you on what constitutes good technique, how to place your subject within the picture plane for maximum effect, the use of color, but you never get to actually see what the instructor's work looks like. The instructor could just be some no-talent hack who teaches art rather than practicing it. That was part of the reason why this show appealed to me. I really wanted to know what my old art instructors' work looks like: I found out. I can assure you the art teachers at Butte have more than just theoretical knowledge of art; they have more than adequate practical experience.

The first piece I noticed was "Rice Field with Egret," an oil painting by drawing and painting instructor David Ruiz. It's probably the only example of direct realism in the show (with the exception of the photography entries). For a relatively small image, "Rice Field with Egret" displayed a remarkable amount of fine detail and clarity. The piece depicts a lush, open field of tall green grass, a wetlands scene rendering endless open space, but the focal point is the lone egret in the upper right-hand side suspended low in the air with its wings spread in mid-takeoff.

Ruiz's piece provided an appropriate segue to the next image, a large photo by photography instructor Anthony Dunn entitled "Sutter Buttes and Rice Fields." The photo, featuring a midday shot of the golden-yellow Sutter Buttes speckled with dots of emerald-green foliage and surrounded by winding, verdant green rice fields, evokes such an indescribable sense of expansive, open space that the viewer is struck with a feeling that can only be described as ultimate freedom. Looming above the Buttes is a crystal-clear blue sky full of majestic, upward-stretching clouds. The clarity of the photo is something to strive for in the world of photography. Of course, you can take it home if you wish for a mere $600.

Not far away from this photo you'll find drawing and painting instructor Jon Cummins' "Empirical Circle." The large oil painting lives up to its name, I can assure you. In it, a group of five separate panels connect to create an overpowering image of a large, textural circle. The image, reminiscent of the work of Dadaist painter Francis Picabia, varies greatly in texture and color from panel to panel. Some panels take on a deliberate, almost antique quality, while scratched into another panel are several seemingly random words including the word "circle." Still other panels are criss-crossed with geometric lines, secondary of course to the central circle.

I especially enjoyed photography instructor Clancy Gehrke's photo, "Christmas at #244 Holiday Blvd," a quaint image of a mobile home beset by palm trees and decked out in unimpressive yet effective holiday decorations. The piece renders the reality, rather than the fantasy, of an American Christmas, challenging the holiday stereotype of the two-story white house with a picket fence surrounded by snowmen and kids with sleds.

"Sweep": Encaustic by drawing, painting and printmaking instructor Paula Busch. Photo by Gabriel Moss.

Perhaps one of the most visually appealing images in the show is drawing, painting and printmaking instructor Paula Busch's encaustic entitled "Sweep." The piece depicts a seed pod from a magnolia tree against a light yellow background, with two flies circling around it. From the description it may not sound like much, but the remarkable aspect of this piece is the way that Busch uses the qualities of the encaustic medium (which essentially involves painting with hot wax) to create diverse and innovative three-dimensional textures that mimic the actual surface of the organic material depicted. The path of the flies' flight is traced by lines that cut through the yellow background into a red layer underneath it, exposing the layer's color as a method to create these lines. The rough surface of the seed pod is created by different shades of green overlapping like the scales of a fi sh and again they actually protrude three-dimensionally creating a surface that literally jumps off of the canvas. A fiery yet subtle red outline traces the outer dimensions of this shape. The porous surface of the stalk actually has many small wholes punched into it to create the surface and lower where the stalk has a vertical grain to it, the texture is again literally carved out. You can make this uniquely charming encaustic yours for only $600 and to tell you the truth, if I had an extra 600 bucks lying around I probably would.

Photography instructor Michael Agliolo's digital print "In the beginning" depicts Earth in the primordial stages of its development, floating in space and surrounded by glowing orange and white gases. Imagine an exploding supernova: that's what the piece looks like. The sheer brightness of the digitally rendered image had my retinas pulsating as I stared, mesmerized, at it. It's definitely a cool piece to check out. Unfortunately it is not for sale.

Sculpture lab technician Marc Cadinet's impressive metal sculpture "A Stitch In Time" is a dynamic fusion of movement and shape. The piece melds hard, industrial shapes into an overall composition that has an unexpected, organic, streamlined quality to it. From certain angles it resembles a bird or a wisp of grass blowing in the wind. And what is most entertaining about it is that the whole piece moves, the bottom half rotating on an axis while the top half orbits its outstretched form.

Printmaking instructor Nancy Scott Patton's collagraph "Making Light Happen" is composed of four horizontally aligned rectangles stacked atop one another, traversed by the overlapping silhouettes of architectural forms and darkened doorways in greens, rusty reds, dirty light blues and faint tans. The piece has a certain melancholy charm.

Other very impressive works include David Cooper's encaustic "Hot Jazzy," and Julie Shaw's piece, also an encaustic, entitled "Ode to Georgia O'Keefe."

Unfortunately, some very enjoyable pieces were not included in the actual gallery show but were relegated to the display case in the lobby of the cafeteria as an advertisement for the show itself (although this may have been a blessing in disguise for these artists since this area actually receives more foot traffi c). Alas, some of us don't have the time to pop into the Coyote Gallery so we have to settle for scoping out the art in this conveniently-located display case. If you're one of these people, you won't be let down by the work available there.

Although drawing and painting instructor Simone Senat has a piece in the main gallery, I was really more struck by her encaustic and mixed media image, "Blue Fields" in the cafeteria display case. The encaustic, an abstracted image of flowers swaying in the wind, is composed of a visually stunning juxtaposition of light blues and oranges.

Art appreciation and history instructor Alexandria O'Neill's abstract mixed media piece "Nexus," at the same location, runs over with ripples of highly textural blue and orange forms as well, but with a much different overall impression than Senat's work. This beautiful piece can be yours for a real bargain at only $250.

Finally, of the works in the display case, ceramics instructor Margaret Allen's massive crimson vase humorously entitled "Yard Art" takes advantage of entertaining geometric and flowing styles to create a piece obviously influenced by various historic periods of design.

I can't help but feel that I've done a disservice to the very talented three-dimensional artists whose work is on display at the gallery. There are impressive clothing designs, sculptures and jewelry to be enjoyed in the show as well as paintings and photos, and I wish I had the time and the space to go into more detail about them as well.

Overall, I'd definitely encourage you to check out the display case, the Coyote Gallery's main show, or both. The spectacular interplay between artist and viewer is alive and thriving right here on your own campus. You'd be cheating yourself not to indulge a little. The show runs through March 16.