Ohio Arts Council Announces Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition Winners
by Jami Goldstein
The Ohio Arts Council presented ten $300 awards to professional artists in crafts, visual arts and photography, two $250 amateur awards and one Purchase Award at the opening of the Fine Arts Exhibition at the Ohio State Fair. The Fine Arts Exhibition presents works by amateur and professional Ohio artists in the Cox Building at the Ohio Expo Center.
Each of the winners was presented a check at a public ceremony.
John Kortlander of Westerville (43081) received the Purchase Award for his work Drifting on Raccoon Creek.
Winners of the $300 Ohio Arts Council Awards in the Professional Artist category are:
• Janis Mars Wunderlich, Columbus (43220), for the ceramic work Family Workout
• Dawn Marr, Andover (44003), for her drawing Lucille’s Hands
• Barbara Vogel, Columbus (43212), for her mixed media piece Squirrel Hunter
• Kristi Kloss, Columbus (43207), for her metal work A Swarm of Emotion
• Jack Garriott, Columbus (43232), for his wood work Asymmetrical Table
• John Vaughn, Columbus (43202), for the photograph Toxic Beauty #3
• Anne Cushman, Worthington (43085), for the print work Urban Harvest
• Laura Sanders, Columbus (43202) for the painting Congregation
• Julie Taggart, Westerville (43081), for her painting King
• James Strecker, Columbus (43204), for the sculpture Family of Friends
Winners of the $250 award in the Amateur Artist category are:
• Sherry Rea, Columbus (43206), for her painting Untitled #1
• Dee Cernus, Westerville (45750), for the painting Landscape with Truck
Dawn Marr of Ashtabula was the winner of the 2004 People’s Choice Award for her drawing Lucille’s Hands. The People’s Choice Award debuted at the 2001 State Fair and includes a $500 cash award from the Ohio Arts Council.
Of the 1,886 entries submitted for the Fine Arts Exhibition, 244 works were chosen and 43 received awards, including the 13 Ohio Arts Council Awards. The exhibition was juried by Gail M. Brown, Independent Curator of Contemporary Crafts; Jane Farver, Director of the List Visual Arts Center at MIT; Jeffery D. Grove, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The jurors assessed nuances of scale, surface, composition and technique in a variety of mediums, from historic to contemporary and studio to decorative techniques. They also looked for work from emerging artists living in Ohio.
The exhibition enables viewers to explore many facets of Ohio art. It demonstrates each artist’s sense of originality and inventiveness, ability to convey subject matter and technical mastery of the chosen media. Selected pieces reflect the diversity and high quality of contemporary art in Ohio.
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.
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