By Carnegie Arts Center
Judging is complete, and Carnegie is excited to announce the award winners for the 31st Anniversary Show! A total of 66 pieces were divided into seven media categories. As always, there was an incredible amount of talent, and the competition was fierce. We are so proud of all our entrants for the courage it takes to put their hearts on display to the public.
There was no specific theme or imagery required. Artists could enter whatever work they wanted as long as it fit into one of our seven media categories which included Painting, Three-Dimensional, Drawing, Mixed Media, Textile, Photography, and Youth. The exhibit was judged by Stephanie Coley from West Nebraska Arts Center.
Best of Show went to Gretchen Peters with “Sunset Wheat.” In the Painting category First Place went to Rick Yusten for “Old Home Place” and Second Place went to Stephanie Berve for “Unfetter.” In the Three-Dimensional category First Place went to Mark Van Housen for “Wood Vase” and Second Place went to Becci Thomas for “Nature’s Bits and Pieces.”
In the Drawing category First Place went to Gretchen Peters for “Sunset Wheat” and Second Place went to Dennis Laughlin for “Jonny.” In the Mixed Media category First Place went to Becci Thomas for “Serendipity Totem” and Second Place went to Danika Rowe for “Winter Light.” In the Textile category First Place went to Diana Eaglin for “Hortense” and Second Place went to Dennis Laughlin for “Red Cloud Tribute.” In the Photography Category First Place went to Garald Horst for “Midas Touch” and Second Place went to Garald Horst for “While Time Passes.” In the Youth category First Place went to Ayvrie Waldron for “Looking into History” and Second Place went to Olive Radice for “Are You There God? It’s Me.”
Each Category also had two Honorable Mentions. Painting Honorable Mentions went to “Water Dreams” by Bob Peltz and “Fiery Chariot” by Yelena Khanevskya. Honorable Mention in Three-Dimensional went to “Small Emerging Vase” by Mark Van Housen and “Emerging Vase” by Mark Van Housen.
In the Drawing category, Honorable Mention went to “Nebraska Bowl of Cherries” by Ann Darling, and “Gunnera, The Poor Man’s Umbrella” by Ann Darling. Honorable Mentions for Mixed-Media went to “The Wheel & Center Stage” by Mary Ellen Neff and “Light” by Tristan Stephenson. In the Textile Category Honorable Mentions went to “Doodle Stitches” by Susan Hisel and “Creative People” by Diana Eaglin.
For Photography, Honorable Mentions went to “Tilly” by Audrey Powles and “My Take on Stephen Wilkes” by Brian Stephenson. Last but not least, in the Youth category, Honorable Mentions went to “Lilac Haze” by Carver Hauptman and “Running Free” by Riley Bixby.
We want to invite the public to come and meet the artists, enjoy food, and drink the night of April 27th from 5-7pm at the Carnegie Arts Center. The night is free to the public and the whole family is welcome to attend. During the reception we will be handing out our sponsored First Place and Best of Show cash award winners.
None of what we do would be possible without the support of generous community members and businesses! Thank you to our April business sponsors Western Potato, FNIC Trusted Insurance, and Dietrich and Sautter CPAS. We also want to thank our generous grantors who provide operational funding, the Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
Last but certainly not least, we want to thank our grantors that make free and reduced cost art classes available through educational grant support. Thank you, DF Dillon Foundation, Snow Redfern Foundation, Mission Store, CA Story Foundation, Kimmel Foundation, and St. John’s Lutheran Church.