SUNY Oswego’s Tyler Art Gallery will open its spring season with two exhibitions with similar themes on recovery, rebuilding and healing after wartime.

Opening on Tuesday, Feb. 7, “Fire For Effect” –- by local artist, combat veteran and SUNY Oswego graduate Paul Pearce –- and “How We Rebuild” are free and open to the public. A public reception for both will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17. The exhibitions will run through Feb. 26.

“Fire For Effect” is a showcase of both old and new work by Pearce, a combat veteran haunted by his past. His work has evolved from anti-war to an introspective exploration of the culture of war and violence. He believes humanity exists in a world of tension and division, with a dark cloud of fear and paranoia threatening any sense of well being. 

“I look back at an innocent boy who made war with toy soldiers. Where was my moral compass? What happened when I played war?” Pearce wrote in describing his exhibition. “Now old toys, from an era that suffered from war, wounded and suffering toys. I embed my childhood face and wonder where I would be if I really knew the consequences of these playtime battles.”

Pearce also will host a talk on his exhibition and other work at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Tyler Art Gallery.

“How We Rebuild” asks the question: “After conflicts have ended, what does it take to recover the heartbeat of humanity?” The exhibition draws from 12 years of work created by grant winners and finalists from The Aftermath Project, a non-profit organization committed to telling the other half of war stories, after the conflicts have ended — what it takes for individuals to rebuild destroyed lives and homes, to restore civil societies and to address the lingering wounds of war while struggling to create new avenues for peace for 35 years.

The exhibition of “How We Rebuild” is a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Tyler Art Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays or by appointment. The gallery is closed on Mondays and school holidays.

For more information on the exhibitions or Tyler Art Gallery, email artswego@oswego.edu.