Three exhibitions during March in Stevens Point art galleries will showcase different levels of artistic creativity.

"Two Sculptors," featuring the work of two art professors, will be held from March 2 through 30 at the Carlsten Gallery in the Fine Arts Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. To celebrate Youth Art Month, artwork by Stevens Point elementary students will be shown on the same dates in the adjacent Schneider Student Gallery.

"Emerging Artists" from area high school and junior high schools also will display their work at Riverfront Gallery in Stevens Point. The show runs from March 1 to 30. A reception for junior high school students will be Sunday, March 2, from 1 to 2 p.m., and for senior high artists from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

In the Carlsten Gallery, Edwin Jager, assistant professor of art at UW-Oshkosh, and Doug Calisch, professor and chair of the art department at Wabash College, will show recent work. A closing reception, Sunday, March 30, from 2 to 4 p.m., will coincide with the UWSP Festival of the Arts that runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

In the Schneider Student Gallery, featured artwork was selected by Stevens Point area elementary teachers. A reception for the students on Sunday, March 2, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. is open to the public, free of charge.

Jager who teaches graphic communication at UW-Oshkosh will exhibit "Inference," which presents the book simultaneously as sculpture on view and object to be read. This installation work combines books, text, image and structural elements into a multilevel viewing experience. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including recent shows at UW-Oshkosh; the Christopher Art Gallery, Chicago Heights, Ill.; Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John�s, Newfoundland; the Center for Contemporary Photography and the Ontario College of Art and Design Gallery, both in Toronto, Ontario; and Dancing Horse Studios, Denver, Colorado.

Calisch creates sculpture, wall reliefs and figurative effigies from materials he collects.

"The fact that each collected detail shows some sign of natural wear or past human activity intrigues me," he said. "It suggests that each sculpture has an expansive history beyond my involvement with the materials."

Calisch has received numerous grants, fellowships and commissions from individuals and corporations from across the U.S and internationally. He is affiliated with galleries in Indianapolis, Ind., Chicago, Harbert, Mich., Knoxville, Tenn., and Lancaster, Ohio. In addition he has published numerous articles and reviews in arts magazines and in the general press.

At the Riverfront Gallery, work selected by area junior high and high school teachers will be juried by John Davenport, a retired art teacher from Wisconsin Rapids. At the reception on Sunday, March 2, awards will be presented to three students in each grade at 1:30 p.m. for seventh and eighth grades and at 3 p.m. for high school artists.

Riverfront Gallery, 1200 Crosby Ave., is at the east end of the Clark Street Bridge (Hwy. 10). Admission is free and the gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Carlsten Gallery and Schneider Student Gallery are on the second floor of the Fine Arts Center, at the corner of Portage and Isadore streets. The galleries are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., and from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and evenings when performances are held in the Fine Arts Center.

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