An upcoming exhibit at Ohio Wesleyan University's Ross Art Museum will feature 26 northern New Mexico artists selected by OWU students who visited the artists as part of a university-funded Theory-to-Practice Grant project.

An upcoming exhibit at Ohio Wesleyan University's Ross Art Museum will feature 26 northern New Mexico artists selected by OWU students who visited the artists as part of a university-funded Theory-to-Practice Grant project.

"New Art/New Mexico," to be on display from Feb. 11 through March 30, was curated by six students who spent almost three weeks in May and June of last year visiting art galleries, meeting artists, gallery owners, museum curators and patrons and learning about curating, guided by Ross Museum director Justin Kronewetter, professor emeritus of photography.

Kronewetter, who wrote the Theory-to-Practice grant that allowed the students to travel to New Mexico, continues to teach OWU's gallery management class.

In an OWU news release, Kronewetter said the experience allowed the students to see what is involved in curating a professional art exhibit.

"I also sought to organize a multi-media exhibition consisting of artwork created by African American, Native American, Hispanic and Anglo artists in an effort to diversify our exhibition programming," Kronewetter said in the release.

Several of the artists whose work is included in the exhibit will come to Ohio to speak about their work in programs that will be free and open to the public. The first presentation will feature fine arts photographer Nancy Sutor, who will speak at 4:10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 in Room 121 of Edgar Hall, 35 S. Sandusky St. More about Sutor, who studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, can be found at nancysutor.com.

OWU's Ross Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday; and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 740-368-3606 or visit ross.owu.edu for more information.