'Landscapes of the Mind' exhibit opens Sept. 17 at University of St. Thomas; seven-college gallery tour is Oct. 5

Karen Klein's "Oceanscape"

Landscapes of the Mind' exhibit opens Sept. 17 at University of St. Thomas; seven-college gallery tour is Oct. 5  

"Landscape art." Think the term describes the faux oils at a starving artists' sale in a hotel lobby? Think again.

Landscapes are limitless in a fall exhibit, "Landscapes of the Mind," at the University of St. Thomas.

The exhibit features works in a variety of media by four metro-area women artists: Stephanie Hunder of Hudson, Wis.; Karen Klein of North St. Paul; Alis Olsen of St. Paul and Mary Olson of Hopkins. Printmaker Hunder creates textures and moods utilizing graphic processes ranging from ancient to modern. Klein's photo collages rework her black-and-white photographs, rendering them dreamlike and surreal, yet hyper-real, too.  Olsen, a sculptor, creates three-dimensional assemblages of organic material that not only describe the natural world; they comment on it – sometimes satirically so.  And painter Olson combines realism and abstraction to bring light and movement to her landscapes.

Alis Olsen's "Wing"

Free and open to the public, "Landscapes of the Mind" will run from Monday, Sept. 17, through Friday, Oct. 26, in the lobby gallery of O'Shaughnessy Educational Center on the St. Paul campus. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 10 p.m. Sundays.

The public is welcome to attend a free reception for the artists from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at the gallery.

College art gallery crawl: Guests also are welcome to visit six other local college and university art exhibits between 5 and 8 p.m. Oct. 5 at the fourth annual college art gallery crawl.

The College Art Gallery Collaborative Fall Tour features exhibits at St. Thomas and six other institutions -- Augsburg College, Bethel University, the College of St. Catherine, the College of Visual Arts, Concordia University and Macalester College. Free shuttle buses will take visitors from gallery to gallery, where they'll enjoy refreshments and music along with exhibitions.  For shuttle schedules, gallery listings and exhibitions at the participating galleries, visit www.stkate.edu/fallarttour or call (651) 962-5560.

For more information: For more information about "Landscapes of the Mind" at St. Thomas, contact the university's Art History Department, (651) 962-5560.