April 8, 2014
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will unveil a new exhibition on Monday, April 14, in the Balcony Gallery of the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. An opening reception for West Virginia Juried Exhibition 2013 Award Winners will be held at 6 p.m. that evening. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be open through June 29, 2014.
Tiera Floyd of Sutton, who won the prestigious D. Gene Jordon Memorial Award, will make remarks at the reception. Floyd recently graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design. After discovering a hidden talent for painting four years ago, she has actively pursued a career in fine art, showing her paintings in juried shows across the state.
The display showcases the 18 works that were award winners in the division’s biennial exhibition last year. West Virginia artists and craftspeople received $33,000 at the opening ceremony at the Dunn Building in Martinsburg on Nov. 24, 2013. Ten of the 18 works were purchase awards, and at the close of the exhibition on Feb. 21, 2014, became part of the West Virginia State Museum’s contemporary art collection.
The Purchase Awards consist of three Governor’s Awards of $5,000, one of which is designated as the D. Gene Jordon Memorial Award after the former chairman of the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, who died in 1989. There are also seven Awards of Excellence of $2,000. In addition, there are eight Merit Awards of $500 which did not become part of the museum’s collection, but are included in this exhibit. A complete list of the award winners with a link to photos of their artwork is attached.
The awards money was made available through the West Virginia Commission on the Arts of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History from funds appropriated by the West Virginia Legislature. The awards constitute one of the largest endowments for any single exhibition in the country.
The 53 pieces of art in the entire exhibit, including the award winners, were chosen by jurors Julie Peppito of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Samantha Wall of Portland, Ore., both working artists. They viewed several hundred submissions to select the show. “The vast geographic area and range of media represented in the artwork serves to highlight the state’s unique voice and cultural concerns,” said Wall.
For more information about the exhibit, contact Charles Morris, director of museums and exhibits manager for the division, at (304) 558-0220.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, 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 of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
West Virginia Juried Exhibition 2013 Award Winners Exhibit Participants
Karen Ensor Brown
Buckhannon
Peggy’s Iris
MERIT AWARD
Kristen Colebank
Wardensville
Mumbles and Squeaks
MERIT AWARD
Jeff Diehl
Meadow Bridge
Lunar Lilies
MERIT AWARD
and
Large Vessel
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Joseph Elbert
Leon
Derecho 1
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Tiera Floyd
Sutton
Suzy
D. GENE JORDON MEMORIAL AWARD
and
Johnny
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Charly Jupiter Hamilton
Charleston
Easter Parade, Glenwood Avenue, West Side,
Charleston, WV
MERIT AWARD
Sharon Harms
Charleston
A Tiger Convergence
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Vernon F. Howell
Barboursville
Surveying the Aftermath
MERIT AWARD
and
WV @ 150
GOVERNOR’S AWARD
Barrie Kaufman
Charleston
A Thin Blade
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Stephen Lawson
Morgantown
Opening Up the Bucy #2 Mine Extension
MERIT AWARD
Brian Reed
Ivydale
Desert Lotus
MERIT AWARD
and
Pillars of Fire
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Pat Roberts
Charleston
Typical Hillside Tipple (New River Gorge)
MERIT AWARD
Andrew Thorne
Buckhannon
Appalachian Heritage
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Robert Villamagna
Wheeling
Moundsville Prison Break, 1949
GOVERNOR’S AWARD
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Media Note: Photographs of the award winners are available at www.wvculture.zenfolio.com/juried
