Works by William B. Stephens, James Pace, Gary Hatcher, Amy Gerhauser, and Duane Johnson will represent a variety of media including printmaking, painting, sculpture, and ceramics.

William Stephens' career spans over forty years as a teacher, lecturer and painter. He has exhibited frequently. His most recent work features watercolors of landscapes and scenes of nature. Stephens says that he is trying to paint a "response to the land, a response uniquely mine, but one I think is shared by all who live with the land."

With an extensive exhibition history and numerous works in public collections, James Pace is recognized for his work in printmaking and drawing. He is also a painter, and his recent work incorporates mixed media (paint, objects, transfers, and fabric). His work celebrates, in his own words, "our innate ability to constantly evolve even in a social environment which values sameness, ... averages, and guises of quantification." He is a rebel whose mission is to help us-and himself-understand the "lessons of this life" through his art.

Since 1974, Gary Hatcher's clay sculptures have been featured in numerous group and one-person exhibitions. His work in clay expresses beauty by taking on qualities of formal balance as well as distortions and unusual surface treatments. The artist describes the process of creating clay objects as part of his "philosophical journey."

Duane Johnson, a printmaker and painter, often weaves an autobiographical theme into his work. He has participated in many group exhibitions and recently co-curated with colleague Amy Gerhauser an exhibition on sculptural artists' books for the Tyler Public Library. In addition to photography, printmaking and bookmaking, Gerhauser is known for her sculptures, which she describes as addressing "ideas about transience, journeys and transformation." These pieces utilize handmade paper or muslin membrane over wood or steel armatures and are intentionally placed in outdoor environments and allowed to deteriorate. As with other faculty, Gerhauser has an extensive exhibition record.

A special reception with the artists will be held at the Museum on April 3, 2003, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. There is a suggested voluntary admission charge of $3.50 for adults and $2.00 for seniors and children which helps support Tyler Museum of Art exhibitions and programs.