A new campus exhibit is aimed at UW-Eau Claire art students to show them that professionals can succeed in the world of art.

“We wanted to show the art students that it is possible to be an artist making a living doing their art, participating in the gallery scene and that their work is a legitimate art form that has appeal to the viewer,” said Thomas Wagener, director of Foster Gallery in Haas Fine Arts Center.

The display, which opened last Thursday, includes 38 pieces of art in a variety of media, such as paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and fibers by 19 Wisconsin artists. Some of the artists have statewide and national reputations.

Wagener said he was interested in having an exhibit of paintings. He spoke with Tiit Raid, an emeriti painting professor from the art department, about creating a painting show. Raid, who is displaying work, already was looking for six Wisconsin artists who painted landscapes, which is one of his interests.

Other departments at Eau Claire are using the art exhibit to further define topics in their classes, Wagener said.

The English department, for example, makes extensive use of the exhibits to teach its students about critical thinking, analyzing an artwork and then writing about it, Wagener said. The gallery has had exhibits that particularly interested physics, math, music, philosophy, religious studies and foreign culture studies, he said.

To decide who would participate in the new art exhibit, artists had to meet certain criteria. They had to be working artists who are represented by a commercial gallery and who are making money by selling their works, Wagener said.

Mark Horton, one of the local artists, has been a full-time professional painter since 1987 and has solo works featured in Groveland Gallery and in Cassiopeia Gallery in Chicago.

His works in the exhibit are urban landscapes.

He said he believes that art has its rewards.

“One satisfaction is creating something no one else has seen,” Horton said. “People looking at it will be thinking about what you did.”

Horton also said he believes that students would get something out of the exhibit.

“It will challenge them to think broadly and more about art,” he said. “There is something for everyone at the show, from abstract to realistic.”

Horton had an optimistic view of the show, because when he was asked to show his art, he was able to pick his own pieces. Usually, he said, the carrier selects the pieces for the show.

“It reflects a more personal view from the artist,” he said.

Other artists featured in the exhibit include Rebecca Crowell, Osseo; John Meyer, Pepin; Scott Robertson, Eau Claire; Amy Arnstson, Lake Mills; Tom Jones, temporarily in Chicago; Ruth Lull, Ashland; Warrington Colescott and Francis Myers, Hollandale; Jeb Prazak, Dodgeville; Ken Schneider, Waunakee; Fred Stonehouse, West Allis; Tom Uttech, Saukville; and Denise Presnell Weidner, Sheboygan.

Some of the artists from Madison include Mary Bero, Barry Carlsen, Dagny Quisling Myrah and Dennis Nechvatal.