Midterms are mostly out of the way and some students are beginning to breathe easier as November rolls around. However, for 17 Master of Fine Arts students, the first weeks of school have only served one purpose: preparation for the 2012 MFA Fall Exhibition.

Gallery manager Ben Evans, who has worked for weeks to coordinate with the students about installing their pieces, said this exhibition will mark the first time the class will showcase their work in a professional, installed space. This in turn provides the students with their first opportunity to see how their work is displayed in a well-lit gallery setting.

It may seem that pieces from 17 different artists would not be able to coexist in a single gallery space, but at the opening reception on Thursday, everything came together, Evans said.

The pieces represent all genres of art, with oil paintings adorning the walls, sculptures strategically placed on pedestals and the ground and videos playing in darkened rooms. Groups of people clumped near the exhibits, talking about the art that was displayed around them as the Master’s students mingled with the crowd.

The exhibition serves as a stepping-stone to the spring exhibitions, where approximately four of the graduate students display their art in each show.

Graduate ceramics student Timo Fahler created the sculpture “Priest Bundle/Mictlantecuhtli” with a combination of objects found in Oaxaca, Mexico, as well as hand-made ceramics.

Fahler said his art has evolved to pay a lot more attention to the conceptual and theoretical aspects of creating rather than just the technical and structural aspects.

“Before, (my art) was just about making a beautiful object. Now it is about incorporating meaning too,” Fahler said.

The graduate program does not only include the more traditional art forms of painting and sculpture, however.

Master’s degrees are offered in everything from interdisciplinary studio to new genres, which combines sculpture, film, performance, painting and almost any other medium available.

According to graduate student in new genres Mathiew Greenfield, though, the art for the spring show does not need to be related to the art in the fall show.

“The work will evolve from the same methodology and place, though the manifestation could evolve,” Greenfield said.

In this show, Greenfield will display four sculptures, “Blu,” “Wall,” “Upright” and “Fallen.” His work “Blu” is an intricately bent blue box holding a cactus, while “Wall” is a red half-wall installation attached to the side of the gallery. “Upright” and “Fallen” directly play off of each other, with “Upright” consisting of a suspended green balance ball, and “Fallen” serving as its deflated counterpart.

As Evans predicted, Greenfield has used the show to see how the pieces interact in a gallery environment.

The artists with works on display are not the only ones drawing inspiration from the space. Though graduate painting student Lilly Aldriedge is not graduating this year, she said she would attend the show to support her fellow students.

The show is not only for art students and their supporters, however.

“There has been an increase in foot traffic from South Campus in the past year,” Evans said.