A farewell exhibition by art professor William Minschew will showcase a collection of his latest works at California State University, Fresno, Sept. 1 through Oct. 5.

Minschew’s sculptural work is well known locally and he has exhibited for some 40 years nationally and internationally in galleries from Palazzo Venezia in Rome and Ken’s Gallery in Florence, Italy, to the Fourth Bamboo Congress in Ubud, Bali.

This final one-man show, “GEOMETRICA/PIERO,” includes the first graphics collection for Minschew, who retired from Fresno State’s Art and Design faculty in July, 1999.

The exhibit will run in two of the campus’ three art venues: the Phebe Conley and the President’s galleries beginning with a reception on Friday, Sept, 1.

The reception will be from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Phebe Conley Gallery located in the Conley Art Building. The President’s Gallery is located in the Thomas Administration Building lobby. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“The exhibition is the result of Y2K ushering in a dual vision: a decade of continuancy employing the computer as fabricator of geometric form, and my recurring fascination of Piero della Francesca’s haunting imagery,” Minschew said, adding that the exhibit is a gesture of gratitude for 37 years of faculty, student, campus and community support.

He said the works were inspired by a return to Italy replicating many such visits there throughout his career.

“For the turning of the millennium I returned to Italy and to an ensuing pilgrimage throughout Tuscany to experience afresh the brilliance of Piero which I first witnessed at the impressionable age of twenty,” Minschew said.

The 40 works, which compose the graphic segment of the collection, is a start in this exploration and are offered in limited editions, framed or unframed. The prints are produced by the prestigious firm of Nash Editions of Southern California. All exhibited works are for sale including smaller versions shown by appointment through Minschew’s studio.

Public lectures will accompany the exhibition. For more information call Abelino Bautista, Gallery director at 559.278.2121.