The South Arkansas Arts Center is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Juried Art Competition, featuring artwork from talented artists across the country. The Juror for the competition was David Houston, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Mississippi.
“I must say, once you get an assemblage like this, it is hard to make those final decisions,” said David Houston. “But there are several pieces that stood out to me. I chose six pieces from Arkansas, one piece from Louisiana, and two pieces from New York State. I’m surprised by the geographic mix, and I’m pleased with it.”
The Best of Show award went to Oluwatobi Adewumi of McNeil, Arkansas, for his charcoal, acrylic, and collage on canvas piece “Where is Home?”. This powerful work showcases Adewumi’s exceptional skill and bold artistic vision. When discussing Adewumi’s winning piece, Houston praised the work’s subtlety. “It is a work with a great deal of skill. Even though it is very bold, what hits me about it is how subtle it is.”
The Purchase Award was given to Kevin Seymore of Felsenthal, Arkansas, for his oil on gesso board piece “Lion Oil Building 1927”. When discussing Seymore’s piece, Houston said, “I thought the oil theme might resonate here at SAAC in the permanent collection.”
The top three awards were also awarded to artists from Arkansas and Louisiana, with Frank Hamrick of Ruston, Louisiana taking First Place for his handmade artist’s book “It Was There All Along”. Maria Botti Villegas of El Dorado, Arkansas took Second Place with her acrylic on paper piece “The Unsolicited Leader”, and Donna Pinckley of Little Rock, Arkansas took Third Place with her archival pigment print “Transitioning”.
Honorable Mentions were awarded to William Carroll of New York, New York for his acrylic on panel piece “Building 11”, Rhonda Berry of Fordyce, Arkansas for her black and white silver gelatin print “Forgotten Path”, Fernando Carpaneda of Freeport, New York for his acrylic on canvas piece “Embracing Differences”, Lisa Burton Tarver of El Dorado, Arkansas for her digital photography piece “Little Lady on Couch”.
The exhibition continues in the Merkel and Price galleries through July 23. Everyone is invited to stop by to vote for the “Peoples’ Choice Award” which will be awarded at the end of the exhibition. SAAC galleries are free and open to the public 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday.
