NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Works on paper by four internationally known Siberian artists are included in "Message from Siberia," which will open at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St. in downtown Nacogdoches.

The exhibition is the second half of an exchange developed by Charles Jones, retired SFA professor of art, and Andrey Martynov, a previous curator for the Novosibirsk State Art Museum, and current director of the Moscow Bienale. Both men will speak during the opening reception.

Jones and Martynov met while both were jurying the Ural Print Triennial competition in November 2007, in Ufa, Bashkortistan, Russia. After Martynov visited SFA in the following spring, the two men made plans for exchange exhibitions that would counter stereotypes Russians have about Texans and Texans have about Russians.

Works by SFA and area artists were exhibited in Moscow in the summer of 2009, and now Martynov is bringing the Russian work to SFA.

"Message from Siberia" is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art. It is sponsored in part by Nacogdoches Junior Forum and the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts.

The show will run through Tuesday, Nov. 23. Regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission to the opening and the gallery is free. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.