Newport Art Museum Annual Member’s Exhibition Results:
Kat Ely and McDonald Wright take top prizes
Providence artists Kat Ely and McDonald Wright have won the two top prizes in the 2011 “Newport Art Museum Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition.” Ely’s Pair of Fungi on a Log, a cast glass and wood 3-dimensional work, won “Best-in-Show, the OceanPoint Insurance Agency, Inc. Award.” Wright, who submitted a silver gelatin print entitled Brush Light Strokes, won the “Newport Art Museum Award.” Guest Juror Maya Allison, Curator of the David Winton Bell Gallery, at Brown University, selected Ely’s artwork for “Best in Show” and Newport Art Museum Curator Nancy Whipple Grinnell awarded the “Newport Art Museum Award.” Executive Director Elizabeth A. Goddard and Grinnell announced winners in multiple categories during an opening reception on Friday night, February 4. The “Newport Annual” opened on Saturday, February 5 and runs through May 22, 2011.
Award-winning artists and others will speak about their work on Sunday February 13, beginning at 2 pm in the Museum’s Cushing Gallery. This event is free with admission to the Museum.
The “Newport Annual” is the largest, most comprehensive exhibition of regional contemporary art in the state. Two hundred and forty-two (242) artists entered the juried show this year, which is sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Edward T. Harvey, Jr. Allison selected 72 for the exhibition and awarded prizes in seven categories in addition to “Best-in-Show.” As the “Newport Art Museum Award” winner, Wright will receive a future solo exhibition at the Museum. Ely and other prize-winners received cash prizes.
Allison commented, “I was impressed by the volume and quality of work submitted for this show…I do not believe in the idea of a universal masterpiece….When selecting work I considered three factors: originality (‘have I seen this before?’); professional skill (‘is this at the level of comparable work showing in serious galleries and museums?’) and, on the most subjective level, whether the work moved me in some way. (A)ll the works (selected) moved me in some way and wouldn’t let me send them home.”
Special thanks to all our friends and business sponsors who underwrote this year’s prizes in the Newport Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition. Our heartfelt thanks go to Guest Juror Maya Allison, Curator of the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University.
Best In Show: OceanPoint Insurance Agency, Inc. Award
Kat Ely
Pair of Fungi on a Log
Oil on canvas
The Newport Art Museum Award
McDonald Wright
Brush Light Strokes
Silver gelatin print
1st Painting: Roger King Fine Art Award
Claudia Flynn
Apparition
Fingernail polish on board
Honorable Mention – Arnold Art Store and Gallery Award
Carol Miller
Paddock Boot
Acrylic on board
Honorable Mention – Providence Picture Frame/Dryden Gallery Award
Erika Sabel
National Anxieties (When Consequences Seem Insignificant)
Oil and paint pen on canvas
Honorable Mention – Providence Picture Frame/Dryden Gallery Award
Chipp Davis Wells
Tournament Peoplescape
Oil on canvas
1st in Watercolor – William Vareika Fine Arts Ltd. Award
Toni Petersen
Rain in the Garden
Watercolor on paper
Honorable Mention – Providence Picture Frame/Dryden Gallery Award
William Heydt
Eric with Juan and Autumn on the Very Last Day of the Opera House Cinema
Watercolor on paper
1st in Three-Dimensional – Roderick O’Hanley Award
Henry Petzel
Minimalism: Seville M
Found objects (sculpture)
Honorable Mention – Roderick O’Hanley Award
Lisa May
A Mighty Catch
Cast paper
1st in Photography – Jessica Hagen Fine Arts Award
Kristie L. Gardiner
Gutterline Trim
Digital photograph on vellum on glass in lightbox
Honorable Mention – Providence Picture Frame/Dryden Gallery Award
John Supancic
Cross Road, Johnston, Rhode Island
Digital capture, ink jet print
1st in Prints and Drawings – Roger King Fine Art Award
Grace Bentley-Scheck
Memories and Transformations
Collagraph with aquatint
Honorable Mention – Gladys Quentin Reed Memorial Award for Drawing
Beth Curtin
Say Yes
Colored pencil on wood
1st in Mixed Media – Dr. Arthur and Catherine Bert Award
(Given in memory of Dr. Thomas Wachtel)
Gloria P. Woods
Mardi Gras Bird House
Mixed media
