DURHAM. N.H. - The works of more than 20 emerging artists from the University of New Hampshire and other universities and colleges around the country go on display Friday, March 26, 2010, at the UNH Museum at the Dimond Library in an exhibit titled "The Cat Without the Smile: the 2nd Annual UNH Masters of Fine Arts Invitational."

"The Cat Without the Smile" showcases the artwork of the Master of Fine Arts degree candidates in a month-long show running through May 21, 2010. A preview reception, free and open to the public, will be held Friday, March 26, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The media represented in the show include oil on canvas, oil on panel, color pencil on paper, bronze and plaster sculpture.

Last year, UNH graduate students each asked two artists from other schools to join them in exhibiting their work in the first MFA invitational. Students from Brandeis, Washington University, Mass Art in Boston and the Maryland Institute College of Art who weren't included in the 2009 show have been invited to participate this year.

"We all come from different parts of the country, and have different influences in our past. These influences aren't always direct correlations to the work we are doing now but we can still have an appreciation for them, and of where we come from," says Alan Rushing, UNH MFA student and organizer of this year's show. "The title of the show this year is a reference to this, and this show is the result."

Other UNH MFA students exhibiting are Dustin O'Hara, Mark Soderling, Nicole Webber, Suzanne Dittenber and Youngsheen Jhe.

The artists from other schools include Aaron Yamada-Hamff, Collin Campbell, David Horton, Emily Trenholm, Helena Wurzel, Jason Alan Colvin, Jenna Weiss, Kate Gartrell, Marjory Ridler, Martina Nakova, Nate Risteen, Nishiki Tayui, Sarah Rubin, Stacy Mohammed, and Trevor Wallack Amery.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.

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