On a rainy Thursday evening, Burlington residents of all ages flocked to the University of Vermont’s Fleming Museum of Art for the opening reception of two new exhibitions for Fall 2011.

“I am particularly excited about our suite of exhibitions, which open a window on the artistic process and really allow the observer to see the motivation behind the artist’s work,” director Janie Cohen said. 

One of the exhibitions open for the first time on Sept. 20, titled “Open House,” is a five-part narrative by artist Andrew Raftery depicting a series of moments over the course of an open house. 

The final product of Raftery’s project, five copper-plated engravings with painstaking attention to detail, would have been an amazing exhibit by themselves. 

However, what makes this exhibit so special is that they are presented with many of Raftery’s preliminary studies in a wide variety of mediums. The observer is able to witness Raftery’s artistic process firsthand, which is exactly what Cohen is excited about.

Presented alongside “Open House” is an exhibit titled “The Incised Line.” It consists of a series of engravings from the museum’s own collection, ranging in date from the 1470s to the early 19th century. 

Albrecht Dürer, widely considered the greatest engraver in the history of art, is just one of many masters of engraving included in this exhibit.

Other recent exhibits also drew the attention of the observers at the reception. One was a collection of acrylic on canvas paintings by Ethiopian-born artist Wosene Worke Kosrof that opened on Sept. 13.

Wosene uses a vibrant color scheme in much of his work, but also utilizes the expressive power of simply using black, white and red. His work is rich with the culture and history of Ethiopia and deconstructed forms of Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia.

Finally, “Systems in Art,” first presented on Aug. 13, is a collection of work from artists such as Joseph Albers, Chuck Close and Nancy Dwyer, among many others. 

The collection highlights the exploration of the simple to complex systems that artists have used over the centuries to create patterns, parameters and spatial relationships for their work. 

All four of these exhibits will be open until Dec. 16 and are available to University of Vermont students for free.