Marvin Malecha , the dean of the College of Design, has an exhibit called The Urge to Draw, the Cause to Reflect: Drawings, Sketchbooks, Provocations open in the D.H . Hill Library .

It opened to the public Aug. 12, and will have its grand opening celebration Sept. 15. The exhibit will feature both Malecha and his artwork.

The exhibit features many different subjects ranging from interwoven Pepper Trees in Greece to the imaginary home that Pegasus might have if he lived with the Greek goddess Athena.

William Spencer, a sophomore in environmental engineering, described the piece “Athena’s nest for Pegasus” as his favorite in the entire collection and regarded the structure sitting on a mountain as almost illustrating the story in his head.

“It’s interesting how he uses perspective to show the environment surrounding the structure,” Spencer said. “The artist’s realistic play with shadows makes me expect to see Pegasus come flying around the cliff at any moment.”

Malecha was inspired for the Pegasus piece by one of his mentors, who was dean at the University of Southern California. The two visited each other frequently, and when a job opportunity took Malecha’s colleague to Switzerland, the tradition remained the same.

“He was a brilliant architect, and to keep himself awake he would entertain imaginary design jobs. While in Switzerland, he was attempting to design twelve houses for the twelve Greek gods and goddesses,” Malecha said. “Jokingly, I said ‘Well, you lived in southern California, so you know that each house needs to have a garage for Pegasus,’ which inspired a philosophical debate that later gave me the idea to make a nest for Pegasus in Athena’s home.”

Malecha described art and drawing as a refuge from the fast-paced world that we all live in, and says that inspiration can come from all over. Taking the time to sit down and draw gives him a “sense of calm and a chance to really see, interpret, and think about art in a deeper way than just looking at a photograph,” Malecha said.

The exhibit is one of only two that Malecha has ever been featured in — the last being in 1982. The dean describes his art as something he does for himself and never expected anyone else to be interested in.

Though he has never sold any of his art, he has written and illustrated a book titled Angels in Architecture.

The book was not originally intended for any eyes other than those of his six-year-old daughter.

“While I was away in Italy for four months, I would write little letters to my daughter everyday,” Malecha said. “One day, when she was eight or nine, she told me in August that for Christmas she wanted me to illustrate the letters I had written her years before.”

Thus, the letters of a father to his loving daughter inspired a book that was eventually published. Several of the illustrations in the exhibit are straight from this collection.

“I love the imperfection represented by a certain ‘roughness’ in the artistry,” Rianna Riddle said, a sophomore in business administration. “They really look like the artist was inspired by a passing view and was compelled to stop and record it.”

The exhibit is open to the public during regular hours on the second floor of the library in the “Special Collections” room until Dec. 16.