“When you think of our university, you don’t always think of art,” Guerra said. “You might think of sports, basketball, science or study abroad. So I think him being on that show and showing MSU has another side is great.”

Mitchell was selected as one of 14 artists in Season 2 of “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” — which airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays — competing for a chance to have work shown on its own at the Brooklyn Museum and a cash prize of $100,000.

Throughout the season, contestants face creative challenges they must complete effectively or face elimination from the competition. Mitchell said the challenges require him to think outside the box and use tools and materials he is unfamiliar with to complete the tasks.

“It’s not really about doing what you do all the time,” he said. “The challenges provide unique obstacles so everybody is out of their comfort zone doing something they might not normally do.”

Laura Cloud, associate professor of studio art, said two months ago she received an email from Mitchell in which he described his excitement about being on the Bravo show.

Because they both worked with sculptures, the professor had the opportunity to work closely with Mitchell during his time at MSU.

“He was really fun to work with,” she said. “Dusty’s got a really strong sense of humor and sense of play in his pieces, and that is something to his advantage.”

When it comes to creating his masterpieces, Mitchell said a range of factors inspires him.

“It changes from time to time based on culture or the environment I’m in,” he said.

“I have a sarcastic, humorous approach to my work, and there are a lot of references to my childhood.”

While attending MSU, Mitchell said throughout an entire semester, he constructed an American flag composed of toy soldiers, “New Glory.” The artist said this piece stands out to him among his other works and represents for viewers ­— who can see a photo of the piece is displayed on bravotv.com — the type of art he loves to create.

“I don’t like being restricted to a media,” he said. “I like working with three dimensions and building things with my hands.”

While watching the show online, Cloud said she recognized Dusty’s playful attitude being expressed through his art in each challenge.

“I watched the program and saw the self-portrait done in cereal,” she said. “When he was at MSU he did one with Legos, so it made sense to me.”

A fan of Bravo’s shows, Guerra said the stereotypes of sensationalized reality shows don’t hold true on “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.”

“Reality shows on different networks like MTV are horrible, but on Bravo, I really enjoy them because the competitions are generally fair,” she said. “They’re still TV shows, so they have to concentrate on the drama, but they also show the artistic aspect of the contestant.”

Cloud said the competition on the reality TV show reflects for audiences the real-world difficulties of being a professional artist.

“This show displays amazing creative thinkers who are problem solving,” she said. “They’ve been given projects that will be scrutinized by judges. It’s showing the art culture as a highly competitive field.”

Mitchell said perhaps the most rewarding benefit of being on “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” was the national publicity of his talents.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to get out there,” he said. “Through networking I’ve met a lot of people. My work gets a lot of exposure.”

During his time in the Department of Art and Art History, Mitchell said he created his portfolio of work at MSU, strengthened his creative abilities and owes much of his success on “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” to his education at the university.

“I created some of my best work at MSU,” he said. “Without that experience, there is no way I would’ve gotten on the show or be where I am on the show.”