In a city as gifted as this one is with major art institutions, it's hard for the efforts of smaller organizations to gain recognition. So before acknowledging a select 10 shows, a moment to consider and remember what else has been going on.

Medium-sized arts organizations continue to enrich, such as the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, which co-organized "Up Over and Down Under" with the Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association, debuting at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts before heading Down Under.

Silver Eye Center for Photography brought in "there is no eye: Photographs by John Cohen," the world as seen by the co-founder of the New Lost City Ramblers, while the Society for Contemporary Craft organized the thoughtful "Nature/Culture: Artists Respond to Their Environment," and continued their legacy Raphael Founder's Prize biennial competition.

Among university exhibitions was the eye-opening "Resounding Spirit: Japanese Contemporary Art of the 1960s" at the University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh.

Solo exhibitions by local artists illustrate the vastness of creative talent living among us, headed this year by the PCA 2006 Artist of the Year Jane Haskell. Also noteworthy were Kim Beck's 2006 Emerging Artist of the Year show (PCA), studio and life partners Kathleen Mulcahy and Ron Desmett's "Truth/Beauty" at the Pittsburgh Glass Center; "Rise Nagin" at the Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery (continues through Jan. 13); Kamal Youssef's retrospective at The University Museum, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Fabrizio Gerbino's "Tria Prima" at 5151 Penn (closing reception from 7-11 p.m. tomorrow).

Lynn Johnson pulled hate crimes out of their murky shadows in "From Intolerance to Understanding," which opened at the PCA, Pittsburgh Filmmakers and The Children's Museum, and has since traveled to St. Vincent College, Latrobe, and to Carnegie Mellon University.

Katharine Amsler closed Bird in the Hand Gallery after 38 years, but spaces continue to open along the Penn Avenue and Butler Street corridors.

Jason Busch joined Carnegie Museum of Art in August as Curator of Decorative Arts, replacing Carnegie Chief Decorative Arts Curator Sarah Nichols, who retired in the spring. Former Carnegie Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts Elizabeth Agro is now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and John Smith, formerly of The Andy Warhol Museum, left to direct the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art.

To get back to that list, here are 10 shows that stood out, but the number could easily be doubled:

1. 'FIERCE FRIENDS: ARTISTS & ANIMALS, 1750-1900'
Carnegie Museum of Art
Organized by the same team that shone with "Light! The Industrial Age, 1750-1900" -- Louise Lippincott (the Carnegie) and Andreas Bluhm (the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne) -- this expansive exhibition broadened understanding of how we perceive the planet's other animals.

2. 'HENRY DARGER: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM'
The Andy Warhol Museum
Displayed the amazing fantasy world of the late recluse and outsider artist.

3. 'GRAYSON PERRY'
The Andy Warhol Museum
Elegant ceramics with social consciousness showed why the British artist was awarded the Tate Britain's prestigious Turner Prize in 2003.

4. 'LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY: ARTIST FOR THE AGES'
Carnegie Museum of Art
What's not to like about all of that glamorous glass, here presented beautifully (continues through Jan. 15).

5. 'WAKING DREAMS: THE ART OF THE PRE-RAPHAELITES FROM THE DELAWARE ART MUSEUM'
The Frick Art & Historical Center
Inspired by classical myth, poetry, the Bible, chivalry and fairy tale, this Brotherhood of 19th-century artists spurned the art of their day and sought a purity they believed existed before Raphael's time.

6. 'THE DOWNTOWN SHOW: THE NEW YORK ART SCENE, 1974-84' AND 'THE "F" WORD'
The Andy Warhol Museum
A trip through a culturally as well as artistically significant decade for New York and the country, with repercussions that continue, complemented by an exceptional selection of female artists who were or are influenced by philosophies developed during those years.

7. 'MESSAGES & COMMUNICATION'
Mattress Factory
This exploration of the many ways we generate and receive information included some sterling aesthetic expression.

8. 'ARTISTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH: REALISM AND ITS RESPONSE IN PENNSYLVANIA PAINTING, 1900-1950'
Westmoreland Museum of American Art
This rich historic overview is the second in a series of exhibitions responding to a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts initiative to encourage sharing among state institutions while highlighting Pennsylvania artists.

9. ASSOCIATED ARTISTS OF PITTSBURGH 96TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION
Carnegie Museum of Art
What current artists are doing is reflected in many large group exhibitions these days, most notably the granddaddy AAP show, which returned to the Carnegie after a several year hiatus (continues through Jan. 15).

10. PITTSBURGH'S BEST 2006
Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery
Among regional annual and biannual exhibitions, the one held in conjunction with the summer Arts Festival (replacing the juried shows held previously) has found the pulse of the local art world and been consistently fresh.