A recent painting titled Siesta depicting a sleeping and wonderfully languorous leopard upon a tree limb won third place in a three-nation show sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. On exhibit during October 1984 in Ogdens Bertha Eccles Art Center, Siesta was also featured with a dozen other top Collett works in Print magazine, all part of a laudatory and revealing article on Farrell himself. The Collett style is largely representational rather than abstract or contemporary, but he understands the latter principles well, applying them indirectly in his work. He also appreciates other styles, knowing that the best art must always be an expression of ones unique, individual self. Good painting does not come from the brush, he says, it comes from within the mind and heart. RICHARD VAN WAGONER AN ERA OF TRANSITION The growth of Weber States Art Department was slow during its first two decades. When Prof. Richard Van Wagoner joined the staff in 1959, it included only three other teachers:, Farrell Collett, Doyle Strong and Charles Groberg, all distinguished artists who have gained distinction both locally and nationally. The entire department was contained in two classrooms, an area now housing Webers Printing Department. Offerings under the heading of art included drawing, painting, design, illustration, layout and poster design, and art appreciation. Dick Van Wagoner added print making and ceramics. Asked to prove a significant demand for the latter, he brought in a potters wheel and, unable to find a better spot, set up in the hallway of Building One. Harrison Groutage, a prominent art professor from the USU, came down and threw some pots right there in the hallway, Dick says. It generated a lot of interest and apparently made believers of the administration. Despite the Departments diminutive size, it contained an impressive talent, and Dick recalls with a little nostalgia the sense of camaraderie often arising under such circumstances. We all worked hard, he says, but we also found enough time to visit the gym together each noon for swimming and handball. As the Department curriculum expanded, it was moved to the Technical Education Building for more breathing space, and while there it obtained two more top-flight artists, Dale Bryner, and James MacBeth. Additional classes included sculpture, advanced drawing, and painting. The new art building acquired some time later afforded much-needed facilities and room for further growth. Photography, long headed by the late Fred Rabe, was now incorporated within the Art Department, and the faculty underwent more rapid development employing Peter Koenig, who replaced Farrell Collett as Department chairman, and Crescent Deru, an expert in pottery who, tragically, died of lung cancer possibly from inhaling dust and other residues in connection with her specialty. Mrs. Deru was succeeded by David N. Cox, also a talented potter, and Department Chairman at the time of this writing. Additional faculty included Arthur Adelmann, Sam Moya, Barbara Schulmann, and Susan Makov. Richard Van Wagoner became Department Chairman in 1975 and for the next six years provided a wise and steadying hand during an era of challenging transition. He also continued to paint and has steadily gained recognition for work in a variety of mediums including water color. Much of his subject material has focused upon en-vironmentalism, more specifically what he terms American Realism. Dicks paintings have been selected five or six times in national competition for the Watercolor USA Show at Springfield, Missouri as well as for many other exhibitions and one-man shows at every level state, regional, and national. Among his honors have been purchase awards in competition for the Springville Museum and during last years Brigham Young Annual Art Exhibition. More recently, he also received an impressive commission for a painting from the A-G Group Development Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I would hope that in time my art will have something significant to say about life, especially about the West and modern America, Dick says. Clearly, he has already come a long way toward meeting that expectation. WHERE DOES CULTURE END? As mentioned in the introduction to this article, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine where that something we call culture begins and ends. Surely, for example, English literature and creative writing are a part of the cultural offering at Weber State as are foreign languages, studies in philosophy, history, speech and forensics, and our important library facilities. The list goes on. In consequence, I have, reluctantly, limited this article to our three main performing and visual arts theater, music, and art, areas people in general most readily associate with the idea of culture. Weber State, however, is richly deserving in virtually all areas of its title A Center of Cultural Excellence bestowed by the National Endowment for The Arts in 1976, and no other university or college within the state has been thus honored. Like the magical pitcher, Weber State College culture keeps flowing and flowing.