Anderson Art Center 38th Annual Juried Exhibition Opens

 

I am pictured here with my good friend Bruce Schlein  in front of 

Nyx- Goddess of Night which received a Merit Award.  Bruce is

a photographer and his wife Alice Schlein is a weaver.  Both

were represented in the show. 

Friday evening marked the opening of the 38th Annual Juried Art Exhibition at the Anderson Arts Center in Anderson SC.  The opening was well attended and  shows the great support this institution has by area artists and residents.  The competition is open to artists 18 or older and not limited solely to area residents so it attracts a nice array of work from a broader field.

Tom is pictured next to his entry, S.H.I.E.L.D. - mixed media collage.

Both Tom and I had work selected for the show and I received one of the 17 Merit Awards sponsored by friends of the center.  The total awards amount is a generous $15,650 topped by a $1,000 Best of Show which went to Charles R. Vavra for his wood and glass sculpture.  Also included in this total were 13 Purchase Awards.  The sponsors of these awards are able to select a recipient and the sponsor receives the art for their collection.

Executive Director Kimberly Spears chats with Tom Dimond

just as the show opens.  

The Arts Center began, like others I know, in a Carnegie Library but has expanded into a beautifully renovated warehouse which was adjacent to the original location.  The galleries are expansive, well lighted, with wooden floors, and high ceilings.  There is plenty of classroom space as well as a gallery operated by a collective of artists from the region.  You can see some of beauty of the building from the above photo.  There are many arched brick doorways and two large galleries.  The area behind them is gallery two and gallery one is just as large.

The show was well attended by enthusiastic art lovers.

I had not entered this show for many years until 2012 when I entered and received a Merit Award which encouraged me to enter again this year.  I often encourage artists who work with textiles to break out of their usual show routine to participate in open media shows.  I believe it's good for us to "mix-it-up" with other artists and show them what excellent work is being made with fiber.

Carter and Priscilla Jarrard with S.H.I.E.L.D.  A big thank you

to my older brother and his wife who have supported Tom and

me by attending our many shows and exhibitions for many years.

The show is rather conservative in approach and subject matter but the quality of technique was very high this year.  There also seemed to be a nice mix of work from mature well-known artists and younger artists just making their start while media included painting, sculpture, textiles, photography, ceramics and more.

Megan Wolfe received the Public Art Purchase Award for her Terra Cotta ceramic works

 UNCA 1201 and UNCA 1202. 

Megan taught ceramics here at Clemson University and now teaches at UNC Asheville, Asheville NC.

Congratulations to all who entered for putting yourself in a position to be in the show.  Congratulations to those who were accepted and congratulations to those who received special recognition.  That's always appreciated.

The show runs through May 31, 2013.  There are also auxiliary shows and you can find out more about those on the Arts Center Website.

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Thank YOU for spending time at Studio 24-7.

I'm preparing to head to Pittsburg this week.  I'm 

excited to be participating  in the opening 

ceremony for FiberArt International.

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