Sometimes, art is difficult to understand.

Perhaps that's why Penn State art professor Lonnie Graham received the Governor's Award for Artist of the Year this month.

Michael Faison, arts in education director of the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, said Graham was honored for his community-based projects that explore a myriad of social and political issues in a universal way.

"Artist of the Year is recognition for brilliant working artists in Pennsylvania," he said. "I've known Lonnie for years now, and he is pretty extraordinary."

Although Faison did not have a vote in the award selection, he said he was very excited.

"He has just done so much good work as an artist over his career," he said.

Faison met Graham at the Manchester Craftsman's Guild in Pittsburgh in the mid-'90s and has followed his work ever since.

While in Pittsburgh, Graham started exploring his garden projects, which have received much of the aforementioned attention.

"When I was getting out of school, I was such an elitist," Graham said. "I went to a school where Ansel Adams would come to the graduation."

For graduate school, Graham attended the San Francisco Art Institute, where his teacher said he was very mysterious.

"There are some people that are so good at all mediums of art, they have the inescapability of becoming an artist," San Francisco Art Institute professor Linda Connor said.

Connor taught Graham for many years and has remained a close friend.

"When he was still [in San Francisco], he would always pop in unannounced," she said. "We would talk about everything; I always loved seeing what type of car he was driving."

In addition to loving cars, Conner said Graham could have been a killer DJ.

"Lonnie has the tremendous ability to mix life and art," she said.

Fast-forward a decade, and Graham is attempting to bridge the high-art/low-art gap.

"One time, I brought my parents to an exhibition I had in a very nice museum in New York City, and they didn't understand it," Graham said.

"They couldn't have understood it anyway. It' s around that time that I decided to make art my parents could understand," he added.

For Graham's garden project, he had Africans show welfare mothers how to grow food in a garden.

"It was supposed to question the stereotypes that Africans don't know anything and welfare mothers are lazy," he said.

Graham has since begun garden projects in a number of cities.

"Over the past few years, I have turned into a bit of a community activist," he said.

Heather Doughty, external affairs and communications director of the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, said she enjoyed Graham's projects.

"I was very impressed with Lonnie's artwork," she said. "It is very special."

Recently, Graham worked on what he tentatively calls Conversation of the World, going to a myriad of countries and asking people a set of eight questions.

"It's fascinating just how similar everyone is," Graham said. "We are all humans."

Integrative arts dean William Kelly spoke highly of Graham.

"We were looking to hire someone for a photography position, but also someone with a high level of social commitment," he said. "When we started asking around, everyone said, 'Oh, you want Lonnie Graham.' "