Despite his status as an artist, Dan Connally, a professor in the College of Creative Studies at UCSB and the juror for the Student Show opening on April 16 in the Atkinson Gallery, can be one very modest man.

“Dan Connally is a smart university professor with a Southern folksiness. He’s the full package of goodness,” said Dane Goodman, director of the Atkinson Gallery. “If he were here, he’d probably walk out of the room because he wouldn’t buy any of this.”

Although they have known each other for over 20 years, Goodman chose Connally as the juror and guest speaker because of his solid art experience, his many years working with students, and his unique perspective.

“Abu Ghraib: A Romance” is the working title for Connally’s talk at 4:30 p.m. on April 7 in the Humanities Building-Room 111. Abu Ghraib is the infamous prison in Iraq where U.S. soldiers physically, psychologically, and sexually tortured prisoners in 2004.

“It will be about intense experiences that I’ve had with works of art at certain parts of my life,” Connally said. “I want to tell a story about something that happened to me in 2004.”

Raised in Georgia, Connally came from a working class family where art wasn’t on the table. Living in California for 30 years, his accent still springs into his sentences.

“When I drink whiskey, or go back to Georgia, or talk to my mother, it comes out,” he said.

Connally worked on earning his master’s of Fine Art at UC Davis in the mid 70s through 80s when it was one of the best art schools in the U.S., Goodman said. He has had art exhibitions in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Channing Peake Gallery, and the Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco.

Connally described his own abstract artwork as “goofy paintings that kids can make.”

Like most artists, he’s had his share of odd day jobs. He’s been a busboy, carpenter’s helper, plant nursery assistant, eBay merchant, and artist’s assistant to an extremely well-known artist.

“He used to collect outsider art. There’s a big history of this in the South. They make art for honest reasons because they have a real need for this expression,” Goodman said. “This appeals to Dan. Even though he’s in the system, he’s also a step out.”

As a juror, he veers away from any art that is “pre-baked” or “off the shelf.”

“I’m a sucker for earnestness,” Connally said.