PENN TWP - An exhibition of pastel and charcoal drawings by the late Slippery Rock University professor Michael Changnon will open during a special reception from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Butler County Community College Succop Conservancy.

The show features 25 original drawings produced from 1987 to 2000.

Changnon, who died in 2002, taught photography, painting and drawing at SRU for 34 years, from 1968 to 2002.

During that time, he helped to create the bachelor of fine arts degree, designed the darkroom at SRU, developed the first multi-media introduction to arts class, was adviser to the award-winning Saxigena yearbook, ran the Martha Gault Gallery for five years and was instrumental in developing the summer arts academy.

Changnon earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in photography in 1965 and his master of fine arts degree in painting and lithography in 1968 from Ohio State University.

He was best-known for his whimsical and colorful pastels, which were shown in the Pittsburgh area and nationally.

His past exhibitions include one-person shows at the Westmoreland Museum of Art, The Gallery Upstairs, The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, The Undercroft Gallery, St. Vincent's College, Metropol and The Zenith and Carson Street galleries.

His work is included in the permanent collections of the Westmoreland Museum of Art in Greensburg, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, the Westinghouse Corp., Pittsburgh Public Schools and other private collections.

Changnon's work was represented nationally in New York City at the Neo Persona Gallery; in Santa Monica, Calif., at the Christopher/John Gallery; and in Sarasota, Fla., in the Artforms Gallery.

He had exhibited and judged at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Arts Festival, and he judged and taught photography at the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Fine Arts from 1994 to 1998.

An additional 12 pastel drawings by Changnon will be exhibited at the Mary Hulton Phillips Gallery in BC3's Science, Technology and Cultural Center.

Both exhibitions will run from Friday through Dec. 30.

The Phillips gallery will be open in conjunction will performances at the theater.

The conservancy's gallery will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and by appointment by calling 724-586-2591.

The conservancy is at 185 W. Airport Road.