Two artists, two shows.

Two Omaha "heavy hitters" -- Terry Rosenberg and Larry Ferguson -- are opening shows this fall.

Terry Rosenberg: Colors of War opens at the W. Dale Clark Main Library downtown tomorrow, Oct. 1. A free opening reception for the show is slated for Saturday , Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. Rosenberg will show 100 digital images (one is at left) that take conflicts throughout the world and present them in a new, thought provoking context. Emotionally charged couplets of words - like "Israelis/Palestinians" and "Democracy/Terrorism" appear in vividly colored arrangements on each piece, opening up an opportunity for debate, discussion and interpretation.

Viewers can also post their comments and engage in debates through the artist’s interactive blog www.terryrosenberg.blogspot.com, which features exhibition images and the essay Colors of War and the Colors of Words by Richard Shusterman, the Dorothy F. Schmidt Eminent Scholar Chair in the Humanities at Florida Atlantic University. Following its run at Omaha’s Main Public Library Branch, Colors of War will travel to fine art venues and libraries in the US and abroad.

Larry Ferguson: Moved by the Spirits will open at Modern Arts Midwest Oct. 3 with a 7 p.m. reception. The show is a solo exhibition of black and white images of trees, a subject Ferguson has found inspiration from since childhood, when he watched his mother plant more than 600 olive trees to serve as a windbreak at his rural Nebraska home. (And in case you were wondering, yes, the trees are still there 40 years later.)

Close to 100 images make up the show, which includes the release of an accompanying, limited edition plate book with the same title as the show. City Weekly critic Mike Krainak and art writer Kim Carpenter contributed essays to the catalog.

above photos courtesy Terry Rosenberg and Larry Ferguson.