Juried art show reception Saturday
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on May 18, 2012 1:46 PM
Eric Schreffler took the Best in Wayne County prize in the National Juried Fine Arts Exhibition for his acrylic work titled "Jimi."
Sponsored by the Arts Council of Wayne County, this year's competition featured 117 entries using everything from oils and watercolors to wood and graphite. There were also photographs entered, as well as stoneware and rock art.
Best in Show went to Kenneth Eugene Peters of Raleigh for his oil on canvas titled "Biltmore at Dusk."
Other award winners were Robert Jones of Snow Hill, second place with a mixed media piece titled "Lila #1;" Stacey Swann of New Bern, third place with a pastel and charcoal piece titled "Retired;" and A. Jones Rogers of Fayetteville, fourth place with a watercolor piece titled "Fayetteville Connection."
This was the Arts Council's 33rd annual show.
The art show is being held at the old Heilig-Meyers building at 138 E. Walnut St. An opening reception will be held Saturday from 5 until 9 p.m. at the old Heilig-Meyers building.
"There are a variety of styles," said director Sarah Merritt. "Most of the work is two-dimensional, paintings mostly. "We do get some photography, sculpture, clay, metal, textiles and weaving. It runs the gamut."
She said one of her all-time favorites was a Cinderella dress that a local artist created a few years ago, that won best of show that year.
"It was made out of old feed sacks and had her drawings and a story on it, too," Mrs. Merritt said. "It was so different and so creative. The juror thought it was incredible and so unique."
Although the show gets entries from artist outside of Wayne County, a lot of the work comes from local artists.
"The thing I like most about it is seeing how much talent we have in our own community," Mrs. Merritt said. "I've been at the Arts Council for five years and all but one of those years, a Wayne County artist has won best in show. That's really awesome."
Entries were down somewhat this year, too.
"Before the recession hit, we had a record number entries, about 330," Mrs. Merritt said. "It's a popular show because we hang all of the entries for two to three weeks. The juried pieces get hung together and the unselected works get hung together."