The University of Mary Washington Galleries is hosting its inaugural Melchers Gray Purchase Award Showcase, the first time the collection has been shown together since the founding of the Purchase Award in 1995. The exhibit is one of two shows that opened Thursday, September 4, at UMW Galleries, including “The [Visual] Poetry of Logical Ideas” at the Ridderhof Martin Gallery.   Click to view slideshow. The exhibitions will run through Sunday, Oct. 5. Admission is free and open to the public. The Purchase Award Showcase features the work of students who have won the Melchers Gray Award, a recognition presented to one student each year during the Annual Student Art Exhibition. The award-winning work becomes part of the university’s permanent collection. This exhibition will feature more than 20 works including sculptures, painting, prints, photographs, mixed media and digital media pieces. “The [Visual] Poetry of Logical Ideas”explores the relationship between rationality and beauty- between the perfection of a conceptual form and the visual pleasure it manifests. This gallery also will exhibit the “Arthur Hash: Wearable Objects.” Hash’s recent works utilize digital fabrication technologies, such as 3-D printing, which will be on display. Ridderhof Martin and duPont galleries are located on the Fredericksburg Campus near the intersection of College Avenue and Thornton Street. They are open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (540) 654-1013 or visit http://www.umwgalleries.org/.