Landscape paintings and earthy sculptures fill the walls and displays of the USAO Art Gallery as the exhibit Murphy & Koerth gets underway. The exhibit features the paintings of Regina Murphy and Howard Koerth.

The USAO Art Gallery is located on the first floor of Davis Hall on the USAO campus. Davis Hall is on the oval at South 17th Street between Grand Avenue and Alabama Streets in Chickasha. Hours of operation are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The exhibit is scheduled to run though Feb. 5 with an artists' reception on Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. in the gallery. Admission is free and the public is invited.

Regina Murphy pursued many creative projects during her early years, but since discovering the joy of painting, has never stopped honing her skills and producing art. Art has been her passion for 30 years.

After exploring many different media and styles, Murphy settled on painting, either on canvas or paper, with oil or acrylics. She labels her work a blend of abstraction and realism.

Nature is her primary subject. She is known for her colorful landscapes. Her most recent works are experimental and can be colorful or muted, depending on where the experiment leads.

Her art is in corporate and public collections throughout Oklahoma, including USAO's permanent collection. Her work also is part of the collection in the city of Indian Wells, California.

Her home away from home is Studio Six, located on the Paseo historic art district in Oklahoma City.

Also based in Oklahoma City, Howard Koerth is a nationally recognized ceramic artist. He received his bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Kansas in 1983 and his master of fine arts degree from Indiana University at Bloomington. He is an art professor at Rose State College.

His award-winning work has been included in invitational and juried exhibitions throughout the United States as well as the Fletcher Challenge in Auckland, New Zealand, and in solo exhibitions. He received a Regional Fellowship Award in Crafts from the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Koerth says that his primary artistic influences are non-western art, surrealism and Henry Moore. His main media is ceramics. "At this point, my voice and my eyes are tuned to this medium. I also enjoy its diversity and flexibility," he said.

The Murphy & Koerth exhibition is supported with generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oklahoma Arts Council.