Judging is complete, and Carnegie is excited to announce the award winners for the 32nd Anniversary Show! A total of 79 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 Trudy Denham from Chadron State College.
Best of Show went to Yelena Khanevskya with “Jingle Dress.” In the Painting category First Place went to Jennifer Berge Sauter for “Pretty” and Second Place went to Sue Oliver Dowse for “Overlooked.” In the Three-Dimensional category First Place went to Rich Swanson for “Firetruck” and Second Place went to Beryl Ann Dunn for “Springtime Clock.” In the Drawing category First Place went to Gretchen Peters for “Follow the Sunflowers” and Second Place went to Aaron Wade for “Pachyderm Coach.” In the Mixed Media category First Place went to Brandon Mundt for “The Absolute” and Second Place went to MelloDe McCart for “Camp Clark Raider.” In the Photography Category First Place went to Brian Stephenson for “Old Friends” and Second Place went to Margaret West for “Under a Stormy Sky.” In the Youth category First Place went to Ayvrie Waldron for “Once Full, Now Forgotten” and Second Place went to Taylor Sherlock for “Jellyfish.”
Each Category also had two Honorable Mentions. Painting Honorable Mentions went to “Prairie Oasis” by Rick Yusten and “Coming Out of My Reverie III” by Stephanie Berve. Honorable Mention in Three-Dimensional went to “What I Become” by Mark Van Housen and “Whistling Duck” by William Roth. In the Drawing category, Honorable Mention went to “Crocus” by Ann Darling, and “Learning the Hunt” by Tom Samson. Honorable Mentions for Mixed-Media went to “Books Open Your World” by Becci Thomas and “Toot-sie” by Becci Thomas. For Photography, Honorable Mentions went to “Parachute by Nature” by Garald L Horst and “Stick the Landing” by Lori Davis. Last but not least, in the Youth category, Honorable Mentions went to “Take it Easy” by Chili Potmesil and “Sandhills Horizon” by Carver Hauptman.
We want to invite the public to come and meet the artists and enjoy food and drink the night of May 17th 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. The Carnegie is also offering a People’s Choice Award and ask for the public’s help in voting! Stop by at the CAC before the closing reception and cast your vote for your favorite piece.
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, and WNCC. 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.