The first thing to note about Susanne Slavick's 2008 Artist of the Year exhibition at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, "R&R&R," is that it is exceptional -- aesthetically, conceptually, technically, socially.

I say that upfront to assure readers of the finery of this two-year effort, which may be experienced and enjoyed, on one level, at face value.

But while Slavick's paintings have visual and emotional power, they also teem with references that court consideration and interpretation.

Her title plays off the military acronym "R&R" for rest and recuperation, she says; but Slavick prefers other r-words, like restore, revitalize, remorse, reveal, repair, reassure. Her imagery grows from photographs of the destruction engendered by ongoing war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon that she pulls from Internet sites (she credits photographers when known).

For most of the works exhibited, Slavick digitally printed the photographs after altering color and sometimes content (removing figures, for example) in Photoshop. Then she painted on them flora, fauna and other motifs inspired by their gem-like representations in the Persian miniatures tradition.

Two graceful birds and an ornate doorway, for example, overlay the background desolation of "Refuge: Stork Nest"; a camel staring past rolls of barbed wire at a tank advancing through an arch is watched by three of his stylized miniature peers in "Rendezvous"; and pink, blue and white hares hop about the jaundiced-yellow, collapsed city block of "Rabbits in Rubble," in the center of which stands a child's tricycle with built-in rabbit features.

The works are not easy, though they're accessible; not joyful, though comforting; not pretty, though they emit seductive beauty, even sensuality.

Slavick's achievement is to ameliorate the sense of despair and helplessness such now ubiquitous war imagery inspires by bestowing over it symbols of culture, birthed before and prevailing beyond this horrific time period.

The brushwork -- "the handmade element" -- is thus important to Slavick because it is a "metaphorical act of healing."

Her placements are corrective, willful, ritualistic. They are witness to unfathomable suffering and wrongs that she refuses to accept without notice. They are a call to see.

A bumper sticker popular a couple of years ago read, "If you're not outraged, you haven't been paying attention." Slavick is among those who aren't going to let things pass unnoticed.

She wants people to ask questions about complicity in these events, she says. But she's also "celebrating our recovery from all the things we've inflicted upon ourselves as a human race." The compositional elements in these works arise from now and the Middle and Near East, but they (mea culpa post-modernists) are universal and ahistorical.

Two evocative large paintings, "Recuperation: Diurnal" and "Recuperation: Nocturnal," were inspired by storm-damaged large trees that gardeners were trying to shore up and save. Aside from the dichotomies suggested by the day-night contrasts, they are timeless symbols of caring -- for the wounded, for that which is significant to a culture -- and of hope, in the capacity to mend and to be mended.

Reflecting upon the utopian visions that inspired earlier paintings, Slavick says of this work "I'm not trying to make a perfect world. My goals are more modest. I'm just trying to repair."

While doing so, she offers compelling lessons to all who enter her sphere.

The Brett Yasko-designed, illustrated catalog is a laudable complement. "R&R&R" continues through Nov. 2 at 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. Admission is $5 suggested. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Information: 412-361-0873 or www.pittsburgharts.org.

Squonk Opera debuts "Astro-Rama" at 8 tonight in Schenley Plaza, Oakland, followed by the 2008 Festival of Lights' switch flip that will bathe the Cathedral of Learning and Stephen Foster Memorial in color. "Astro-Rama" -- having something to do with those aliens you've seen in your backyard -- is free and will also be performed at 8 p.m. tomorrow through Saturday at the Plaza.

A 70-minute free screening of five films by the late San Francisco experimental filmmaker Bruce Conner, who died July 7 and is represented in the current Carnegie International by his "Angel" series photograms, will be held at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Pittsburgh Filmmakers' Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Ave., North Oakland (www.pghfilmmakers.org).

A punchy political Web site, organized by two Manhattan-based CMU alumni with the help of a friend in Honolulu, has been unveiling daily crisply graphic posters that present reasons to vote for Barack Obama. The project began Oct. 5 and will continue until Election Day.

Participants include Pittsburgh designer Brett Yasko, co-founder of the 2004 Partisan Project, and the likes of Milton Glaser, best known for his "I heart (read love) NY" design.

Co-organizers Chris Thomas and Julia Zimmerman graduated from CMU's School of Design in 2004. Friend Jesse Arneson hails from Polson, Mont.

To see all posters to date and/or sign up for daily delivery to your e-mail (free), visit www.30reasons.org.