When Justin Staller attended Penn State as an undergraduate art student, he wasn't a good artist.

In fact, he was terrible.

"When I went to Penn State, I was a really crappy artist," Staller, Class of 2002, said. "It took me a long time to figure out how I fit into the art world. Because I was a musician and an artist, it was hard to balance the two, but then I realized that I could do both and still be creative and successful."

That's precisely the message Staller hopes to convey to students when he gives a visual arts lecture at 9 a.m., followed by a demonstration at 11:30 a.m., today in 215 Arts.

Associate art professor Chuck Cave said Staller is one in a series of successful former students the art department has asked to come back to give demonstrations and talk to current students.

"[Staller] went to graduate school at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he learned a new technology, and we are asking him to come back and show us," Cave said. "He's talking about this new approach to printmaking, which is using all non-toxic materials, such as water-based paints."

Staller said non-toxic printmaking is contemporary art form similar to traditional printmaking without being such a health hazard.

"Artists work in terrible environment, and no one watches out for us," Cave said. "We don't have a union, and the government doesn't care about us, so we have to take care of ourselves, and his technique makes things a lot safer for artists."

Staller will also discuss Space 1026, an artistic community in Philadelphia of which he is a part.

"[It] was started by four kids who graduated," Staller said. "And as opposed to moving to Brooklyn or New York, they moved to Philadelphia and brought the spotlight to them instead of searching it out."

Staller said he wants students to be inspired by his story and to realize that artists can be successful after graduation.

"Part of my talk will be about what to do when you graduate from school and how to associate yourself with people and organizations that can further your career," Staller said. "There is a lot of power in association, and [it] cannot only affect your career, but your life as well."

Although Staller said he has learned a lot after leaving Penn State and wants to share that knowledge with current students, he is grateful for the lessons he learned in college.

"I had a professor who encouraged me to take my relationship with music and put it into a visual sense -- musical expression in a visual manner," Staller said. "I made a big transition -- I went from two years of just making things to making art and believing in the concept behind it. My work has become a product of that."