Metropolitan State College of Denver — perhaps soon to be known as Denver State University — has the largest set of art departments in Colorado, with something like a thousand art majors. That's surely one of the reasons that Merge, a group show devoted to the efforts of Metro's alums, was so damn strong: An amazing number of artists have graduated from the school over the years. Presented at Metro's own little museum, the Center for Visual Art, this was a juried event with founding art-department chair Barbara Houghton and current chair Greg Watts calling the shots; the show included the work of Phil Bender, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Sean Rozales, Merlin Madrid, Luzia Ornelas, Evan Colbert, Heidi Jung, Josiah Lopez, Mary Cay, Mark Friday, Dave Seiler, Jennifer Jeannelle and many others. No matter what name Metro goes by, its artistic impact on Denver is undeniable.