Adult Competition
Juror’s Statement
The 35th Annual Adult Competition Exhibit at the Center for Art and Education offers viewers a rich selection of works, from oil paintings and watercolors to fabric works and mixed media. With a show that includes pieces demonstrating both the practice of seasoned artists and the work of talented emerging practitioners, choosing the best works became a challenging task. As a result I tried to select works of art that stirred some nugget of truth, or one might even say “wisdom,” in my mind. Having only lived in this region of the country for one year, I am continually struck by the beauty of the surrounding landscape, just as I was on the crisp morning I drove down from Fayetteville to jury this show. Images of barns, pastoral and bucolic spaces, and woodlands resonated with me. Concurrently, I found myself struck by those works that attended to industrial landscapes and representations of nearby towns. As such, I paid special attention in my selections to the natural and built environments, particularly pieces that suggested a sense of local place. While studying the show I was continually reminded of the work of the cultural anthropologist Keith Basso, who, in 1996, studied an American Indian community in Cibecue, AZ. In his conversations Basso asks one of his Western Apache friends, Dudley Patterson, to define wisdom. As Patterson observes, "Wisdom sits in places. It's like water that never dries up. You need to drink water to stay alive, don't you? Well, you also need to drink from places." The works in this exhibit not only impressed me with their technical skill and dedicated craftsmanship, but also with their commitment to the truth of this particular place and what it means to be an Arkansan in the twenty-first century. I am encouraged by the rising talent in this show, and hope to see more of this work in the future. I would like to thank all of the artists for the opportunity to experience their work, and to reap some of their wisdom.
Juror’s Bio
Alissa Walls Mazow is assistant professor of contemporary art at the University of Arkansas. She completed her graduate work in American studies and art history at Pennsylvania State University, and her undergraduate in archaeology and anthropology at Washington and Lee University. Her current work focuses on contemporary artists’ engagements with natur
al history.
Juror's Choice - "Old Curtis McGee Barn -
Elizabeth Bennett
First Place - "Untitled" - Larry Denton
Second Place - "Exploring the Creek"
Patricia Lappin
Third Place - "Sunrise Sunset" - Jane Hartfield
HONORABLE MENTION AWARDS
Gus Kelly - "The Last Man Standing" - Metal Relief (Found Object)
Vara LaFoy - "Prairie Chickens" - Oil
Laura Burton - "Grandfather" - Oil
Cindy Sugg - "Hot Pink" - Oil
Lynn English - "By the Sea" - Oil
MERIT AWARDS
Doris EcholsColor Award
DeDe Hutcheson - "Girl in Red Hat" - Oil
Carolyn Holmes Perspective Award
Laura Raborn - "Doe's" Oil
Ethel Ashley Founders Award
Jaime L. Hebert - "Air Mail" - Mixed Media Collage
Alice Adele Boatright Award (Architectural Elements)
Laura Rbaorn - "Industrial Scene #1" - Oil
Amie Fellwock Watercolor Award
Sharla Spoon - "Bovine in the Mist" - Watercolor
Helen Hallum Pastel Award
Julie Mayser - "Spring Reflections" - Soft Pastel
Mildred U Peak Acrylic Award
Elizabeth Bennett - "Country Mill" - Acrylic
People's Choice Award
Jessie James - "Waiting on Shemar" - Charcoal
