With a permanent collection of 22,000 pieces, the Butler Institute of American Art can display only a small fraction of those works at any given time.

Even when the museum is assembling an exhibition from its permanent collection, there are those creations that don’t quite fit any unifying theme. They’re oddly shaped and oversized or they focus on strange subject matter.

Some of those works get their chance on the gallery walls in “Less Than Usual,” which opens Sunday at the Youngstown museum.

Executive Director Louis A. Zona used the word “oddities” to describe some of the art.

“We decided it was going to be very general, pull things that appeal on a totally strange level,” Zona said. “These are pieces that just don’t seem to fit, although there are several pieces here that I love.”

Some were part of larger exhibitions at the museum, and one work was acquired after the run, either by purchase or donation.

A painting by astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon, was kept when Bean’s work was featured at the Butler in 2005. Bean incorporated moon dust he brought back from his mission into the canvas.

“When I asked him what it was like to be the fourth man on the moon, he said, `I’m not the fourth man; I’m the first artist,'” Zona said.

Others have local ties, such as a triangular abstract by Paul Jenkins, who lived in Struthers as a teenager, and a painting by Ralph Humphrey, who grew up in Vienna.

“He (Humphrey) was probably the most important art graduate from Youngstown State,” Zona said. “He was one of Jon Naberezny’s first students and went on to New York and taught at Hunter College. He was on the cover of Artforum magazine. He did a series (of paintings) of windows and this is one of them.”

Several of the canvases are huge, but none is bigger than an abstract work by Jules Olitski. Executive Administrative Assistant Susan Carfano said the work was so large, they had to transport it out the side Beecher Center door, carry it around to the front entrance and then “scarily up the staircase” to get it to the second floor gallery.

Some are both huge and strange, like a John Alexander painting of a party that looks like a cross between the Addams Family and something out of a Tim Burton film.

“I don’t think I’d want to be at that party, whatever is going on there,” Zona said.

“Less Than Usual” only will be on display for a month, closing Feb 4, and most of the works won’t re-emerge from the vault anytime soon.

“This is a way to let people see things they might not ever see again,” Carfano said.

If you go …

WHAT: “Less Than Usual”

WHEN: Sunday through Feb. 4. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

WHERE: Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Admission is free. For more information, go to www.butler

art.com or call 330-743-1107.