LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- More than 20 accomplished artists will present their individual creative visions of New Jersey in a group exhibition of paintings in the Rider University Art Gallery next month.

The show, which will bring the University's 1998-99 exhibition season to a close, will open on Thursday, March 11 and continue through Saturday, April 17. A reception for all 21 of the participating artists will be held in the Art Gallery on Friday, March 26 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Succinctly and appropriately titled "New Jersey Landscapes," the show will feature the state's natural beauty, including scenes from the Delaware River and Baldpate Mountain as well as general countryside vistas of waterfalls, orchards, and seasonal arrays of trees and flowers that caught each artist's eye.

Curating the exhibition will be internationally renowned artist Lois Dodd of the Fischbach Gallery in New York. Dodd, whose painting of a Blairstown scene entitled "Across the Pond" will be included in the exhibit, has been showing her work since the mid-1950s at respected galleries and forums in New York and throughout the eastern United States. She is considered one of America's most important artists.

"The paintings exhibited are the work of artists who share an enthusiasm for standing outdoors observing nature," said Dodd, an art instructor at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. "Excited and enlightened by the ever-changing landscape, they transcribe on to the canvas, board, or paper that which they see around and in front of them."

Among the participating artists is Dr. Harry Naar, professor of fine arts at Rider and Art Gallery director.

"I would like to thank Lois Dodd for her enthusiasm, interest, and care in curating this exhibition," he said. "It is hoped that through this exhibition, the viewer will be able to comprehend the artists' challenges and indulge in the artists' visions in order to experience the landscape with renewed interest.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Art Gallery is located on the third floor of the Student Center on Rider's Lawrenceville campus. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m. For more information on the exhibit, contact the University's department of fine arts at (609) 896-5168.

Rider University's Lawrenceville campus is located five miles south of Princeton and three miles north of Trenton on Route 206 in Lawrence Township, NJ, one-half mile south of exit 7A of Interstate 95.