Metaphorical foliage and female relationships collide in Michele Rivera's "She" Leaves, the newest artistic offering to the HUB-Robeson Center.

The exhibition, which will include a mixture of ceramic pieces and watercolors, will be showcased in Art Alley, the area located outside of the HUB Gallery. It opens today and will run until Oct. 19.

Rivera, a 1999 graduate of Penn State, is an ideal candidate to display art in this location, said Faye Kendall, communications assistant for the HUB-Robeson Galleries.

"Art Alley and Art on the Move are especially designed to give Penn State graduates and students the opportunity to share their work with the community," Kendall said.

Rivera said she often exhibited work at the HUB as an undergraduate student. However, her path toward pursuing an art career was a bit more unconventional than most. While at Penn State, she was an older student with the added responsibility of her three children.

"There was some snobbery going on that only some people could create," Rivera said. "Being a mom with three kids, I wasn't taken as seriously as other students."

Rivera was inspired to create this exhibition from an idea she had while studying at Penn State.

"As an artist, at first you don't know what you're doing," she said. "You think, 'Why am I working on trying to refine a certain image or feeling?' It finally came to me later on that it was an exploration on touching base on who I was as a woman. Being home with kids all the time, I got distanced with that."

"She" Leaves was instrumental in helping Rivera understand the importance of female friendships. In fact, she names these friendships as her motivation for the collection.

"It was the grace of God and the support of other strong women in the community who were my cheering circle," she said.

The title of the exhibition comes into play with the leaves that are featured through Rivera's art.

"They're pretty, but then you start to notice that the leaves are not just leaves. I sculpt in little forms of women," Rivera said.

Rivera said public feedback was the most important and exciting aspect of showing her work in Art Alley. As an artist, she said she usually works for herself. This exhibition, however, has the ability to empower other women, she said.

"I'm hoping for other Penn State students, both men and [women], to get that experience of seeing the importance of a bond between female students as very critical."

Teri Rosenbaum, a long-time friend of Rivera and a fellow artist, identified Rivera's use of color and display of emotions as her strong points as an artist. Her strengths as a person are also notable, she said.

"She's a very caring and very giving person," Rosenbaum said.

"Among all the things Michele does, she's very genuine and she does everything from the bottom of her heart. She looks for ways not to make money, but to better the society in which she lives."

Rivera has created two philanthropic organizations.

In 2000, she opened Artistic Horizon, a non-profit integrative art center for the State College area. Then in 2001, she began "Bears that Care," a program that collects toys for children who suffer from crises. This program was inspired by the events of Sept. 11.

"I'm originally from New York, and when everything was happening, it was a shock to me," Rivera said. "I thought about the kids and what they're going through with this. Maybe they don't understand what's going on."

Though Rivera has stopped counting, she said the number of collected toys tops 15,000. People help by donating toys and offering money for shipping costs.

"The toys go to Iraq, Germany," she said. "They've been more places than I have."