The effort was worth it according to Elizabeth Wetterstroem, SMOA’s collections and exhibitions manager, as it brought in nearly 30 more pieces than the previous year and 163 total submissions. It could be attributed to the pandemic allowing artists more time to hone their craft.
“There’s some really, really good work here and we’ve had lots of comments on it so far,” she said.
Wetterstroem said roughly 35 percent of the submissions came from the Greater Dayton area, 30 percent from the Springfield area and 12 percent from Yellow Springs and Columbus. The rest were from as far as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Cincinnati and northern Ohio.
Deidre Hamlar, Director of the Aminah Robinson Legacy Project at the Columbus Museum of Art, served as juror. Wetterstroem said Hamlar has built a legacy in the Columbus area and the staff was excited to have her as juror, and she has a local connection as husband Ron Stephens is from Springfield.
Award recipients had pieces in different mediums. Jerry Womacks took Best in Show with his sculpture “Vortex”, created from reclaimed yellow pine, stone base and steel. Second place went to Paul Rienzo for the acrylic and gouache on board painting “Kingdom”.
Grace Worley’s liquid charcoal on canvas untitled piece claimed third. Honorable mentions went to Cat Sheridan, Cheyenne Shuttleworth and Bill Franz.
“Overall, this exhibition captures the different types of art in our community and good representation from all over,” said Wetterstroem. “There’s always a diverse group of media, like a lot of collages.”
After two years of the pandemic keeping things limited, she added this year feels more like the pre-pandemic days.
The SMOA is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Sundays.
HOW TO GO
What: 76th Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition
Where: Springfield Museum of Art, 107 Cliff Park Rd., Springfield
When: Wednesdays through Sundays through Oct. 2
Admission: $5 non-members; free for members
More info: www.springfieldart.net/
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