Stephen F. Austin State University

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Art will open "Russian Icons from the Collection of Mary Moody Northen" in Griffith Gallery on Friday, Nov. 16, as part of th3 2007-2008 University Series.

The opening will begin with a 6 p.m. informative lecture by Dr. Jill Carrington, SFA associate professor of art history, in Room 306 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building. Immediately afterwards, the exhibition will open in Griffith Gallery (Room 208 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building), and Nacogdoches Junior Forum will host a reception.

The exhibition, which is on loan from the Moody Mansion Museum in Galveston, includes objects from the 16th to 19th centuries: icons depicting Christ, Mary, saints and holy events, as well as a shrine that housed a holy relic, a Gospel book and a chalice that held communion wine.

"Viewers will be drawn by the heavenly light of gold backgrounds and the preciousness of silver-plated covers and frames," said Carrington. "A symbolic meaning is conveyed by the recognizable stylizations of the elongated, flattened figures, pointing to God's divinity and the heavenly promise offered to the faithful."

The exhibition, which will run through Sunday, Feb. 10, is sponsored in part by Texas Commission on the Arts, SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum. Paint for the gallery was donated by Sherwin Williams of Nacogdoches.

Admission to Griffith Gallery and the show's opening is free. Regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.