For every month of the year, Owens finds an ideal location to photograph a place in the city of Oswego and creates paintings based on the photos. His goal is to get people to see his process and understand his work, as well as to think about the environment of the city and how it transforms month after month.

     Owens will display and talk about the paintings he has completed and his project at Quest, the college's daylong celebration of scholarship and creativity. The symposium is free and open to the public.

     The artist hopes to turn these paintings into a 12-month calendar once he is finished.

     "I wanted to make the project relatable to people who see it and get them to understand my process," he said.

     With his camera in hand, Owens spends approximately two hours capturing the perfect moment for a potential piece in his artwork. He has fully completed paintings for the months of January and February, and is currently finishing one for March.

     Owens received a grant from the college's Scholarly and Creative Activity Committee to assist his project. The grant helped him pay for art supplies, boards and paint that would have been much too expensive for him otherwise. He also received the SUNY Oswego Presidential Purchase Award in 2013 and 2014 at the Juried Student Exhibition.

Opening doors

     Owens is one of two students selected to represent the college in the "Innovative Exploration Forum: Undergraduate Research in New York State's Public Higher Education System" in April at the University Faculty Senate in Albany. His painting for the month of January also was displayed in Schweinfurth Memorial Arts Center in Auburn.

     "This project has opened a lot of doors for me," said Owens, who continuously sends his artwork to publications and regional shows.

Art faculty member Richard Metzgar mentors Owens in the development and completion of his project, and the student has appreciated the teacher's efforts.

     "He's invaluable," Owens said. "His professional work relates to mine as an artist, and he pushed me conceptually to go with this idea." Metzgar also helps Owens with grant applications and posters that are going to be on display.

     Owens said he has always been passionate about painting and expressing himself creatively through his artwork. Along with pursuing his project, he contributes to the student-run newspaper, the Oswegonian, through cartoons, editorial illustrations and covers. His artwork is displayed on his website, www.cargocollective.com/faidstudios.

     Most of the presentations for Quest will take place in the Campus Center. Parking is free for those attending the April 9 symposium in the rear half of the lot behind Hart and Funnelle resident halls and the adjacent commuter lot.

     Visit www.oswego.edu/quest for more information, including times and places for the more than 300 presentations, exhibitions and other events.