Nov. 25, 2013
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – Artists from Sutton, Barboursville and Wheeling won the top prizes in the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s 18th West Virginia Juried Exhibition, which opened Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Dunn Building in Martinsburg.
The exhibit featuring 53 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, mixed media and crafts created by 46 West Virginia artists is cosponsored by the Berkeley County Council. The public is invited to view the exhibit from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Feb. 21.
Ten pieces in the exhibit will be purchased and become part of the West Virginia State Museum’s permanent collection. Jurors Julie Peppito of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Samantha Wall of Portland, Ore., selected Sutton resident Tiera Floyd’s “Suzy,” Barboursville resident Vernon F. Howell’s “WV at 150” and Wheeling resident Robert Villamagna’s “Moundsville Prison Break, 1949” as this year’s $5,000 Governor’s Award winners. “Suzy” also received the D. Gene Jordon Memorial Award, which is named for a former chairman of the West Virginia Commission on the Arts who died in 1989.
Artists receiving $2,000 Awards of Excellence include Jeff Diehl of Meadow Bridge for “Large Vessel,” Joseph Elbert of Leon for “Derecho 1,” Floyd for “Johnny,” Sharon Harms of Charleston for “A Tiger Convergence,” Barrie Kaufman of Charleston for “A Thin Blade,” Brian Reed of Ivydale for “Pillars of Fire” and Andrew Thorne of Buckhannon for “Appalachian Heritage.”
An additional eight Merit Awards of $500 were made that are not purchase awards and do not become part of the museum’s collections. They include Karen Ensor Brown of Buckhannon for “Peggy’s Iris,” Kristen Colebank of Wardensville for “Mumbles and Squeaks,” Diehl for “Lunar Lilies,” Charly Jupiter Hamilton of Charleston for “Easter Parade, Glenwood Avenue, West Side, Charleston, WV,” Howell for “Surveying the Aftermath,” Stephen Lawson of Morgantown for “Opening Up the Bucy #2 Mine Extension,” Brian Reed of Ivydale for “Desert Lotus,” and Pat Roberts of Charleston for “Typical Hillside Tipple (New River Gorge).”
(A complete list is included below.)
The exhibit is open to the public from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Dunn Building, 400 W. Stephen St., through Feb. 21.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History proudly presents this biennial event in partnership with the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and with support from the West Virginia Legislature, which appropriates funding for the exhibition’s awards. The $33,000 in award money constitutes one of the largest endowments for a single exhibition in the country.
Photos of the art can be found at: http://wvculture.zenfolio.com .
For more information, contact Betty Gay, exhibits coordinator for the division, at (304) 558-0220, ext. 128.
The division is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. Led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, the division brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The division is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
2013 West Virginia Juried Exhibition Participants
Miyuki Akai-Cook
Huntington
Blacken
Karen Ensor Brown
Buckhannon
The Pack Horse
and
Peggy’s Iris
MERIT AWARD
Sheila Caim
Creston
Over-Past
Sheila M. Chipley
Princeton
Après van Gogh, Matisse, Cassatt, Neel
Kristen Colebank
Wardensville
Mumbles and Squeaks
MERIT AWARD
Linda Conner
Charleston
West Virginia 150
Daniel Cook
Huntington
Pythago Rings
Katherine M. Crim
Clarksburg
Rhythm in Blues
Jeff Diehl
Meadow Bridge
Lunar Lilies
MERIT AWARD
and
Large Vessel
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Chris Dutch and Robin Hammer
Charleston
Bye Bye Birdie
Joseph Elbert
Leon
Derecho 1
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Susan L. Feller
Augusta
Haying Stages
Tiera Floyd
Sutton
Suzy
D. GENE JORDON MEMORIAL AWARD
and
Johnny
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Todd Griffith
Charleston
Mammoth
James Haizlett
Wellsburg
Mechanical Bird
Charly Jupiter Hamilton
Charleston
Easter Parade, Glenwood Avenue, West Side, Charleston, WV
MERIT AWARD
Carolyn Harmon
South Charleston
I Had a Dream the Other Night When Everything Was Still
Sharon Harms
Charleston
Hide and Seek
and
A Tiger Convergence
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Cheryl Ryan Harshman
Wheeling
Threshold I
and
Detritus
Paul Hartmann
Glenville
Winter Circle
Vernon F. Howell
Barboursville
Surveying the Aftermath
MERIT AWARD
and
WV @ 150
GOVERNOR’S AWARD
Brian Humphreys
Belle
Duplex
Barrie Kaufman
Charleston
A Thin Blade
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Taylor Lee Kelly
Benwood
Color Blind
Ralph E. Kennedy
Charleston
Ulla Ulla, Bolivia
Stephen Lawson
Morgantown
Opening Up the Bucy #2 Mine Extension
MERIT AWARD
Staci M. Leech-Cornell
Nitro
The Always Elusive Carabbalope Has Been Spotted
Jessica Levine
Lewisburg
Plant Study
Chet Lowther
Charleston
Wildcat WV Impression
Ric MacDowell
Hamlin
Untitled
Ronald H. McCracken
Charleston
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Michael C. Mendez
Martinsburg
Bottom Feeder (For Günter Grass)
Jamie R. Miller
South Charleston
Trash Memory Trophy
Betty Neely
Fairmont
Worship
Ron Nichols
Martinsburg
Greek Key
Susan Poffenbarger
Charleston
Can-Can Trees
Brian Reed
Ivydale
Desert Lotus
MERIT AWARD
and
Pillars of Fire
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Jack M. Rife
Charleston
Cutting Remark
Pat Roberts
Charleston
Typical Hillside Tipple (New River Gorge)
MERIT AWARD
Megan Schultz
Charleston
Disaster Series #1
Andrew Thorne
Buckhannon
Appalachian Heritage
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Robert Villamagna
Wheeling
Moundsville Prison Break, 1949
GOVERNOR’S AWARD
and
Heading Back to Wheeling
Barbara Harris Walker
Charleston
Esber’s Fish Bone
Cathy Wilkin
Harpers Ferry
Weekend Lunch
R. S. Yoho
Charleston
John’s Struggle
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