Ohio Arts Council Announces Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition Winners
by Kaitlin Armocida
The Ohio Arts Council presented 10 - $300 awards to professional artists in crafts, visual arts and photography; two - $250 amateur awards; and one Purchase Award during the opening of the annual Fine Arts Exhibition at the Ohio State Fair on July 26. The Fine Arts Exhibition presents works by amateur and professional Ohio artists in the Cox Fine Arts Center on the grounds of the Ohio Expo Center.
Winners of the $300 awards in the Professional Artist category for 2012 are:
Marlene Steele, Cincinnati, for her painting Cenfab Fall
Rob Robbins, Westerville, for his painting Habra Vapor
Joan Tallon, Reynoldsburg, for her print Arab Spring 1
Keith Simpson, Columbus, for his sculpture Satellite
Lauri Murphy, Columbus, for her sculpture Snufflecervaurus
Ashley Moore, Columbus, for her photograph First Day of School
Rick Borg, Columbus, for his mixed media work Tiger
Lindsay Rodgers, Columbus, for her drawing In the Interest of Hasting...The Sunrise of Harmony
Carolyn Baginski, Akron, for her ceramic work Passing Under the Guards
Barbara Morejon, Ashland, for her fiber work Dad
Winners of the $250 awards in the Amateur Artist category for 2012 are:
Jessica Summers, Findlay, for her work Uprooted
Christy Wittmer, Cincinnati, for her work Fixed
Meghan Sours of Circleville received the Purchase Award for her work Brooklyn.
The 2012 People's Choice Award will be given out at the end of the fair. The People's Choice Award debuted at the Ohio State Fair in 2001 and includes a $500 cash award from the Ohio Arts Council.
The exhibition was juried by Ardine Nelson, professor emerita, Department of Art's Photography program at The Ohio State University; and Jon Cook, executive director, the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington. 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 annual exhibition provides viewers with an opportunity to celebrate Ohio's wealth of exceptional artists. It demonstrates each artist's sense of originality, 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.
About the Ohio Arts Council:
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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