Darien artist Juliette Jansen won Best in Show with an oil painting, Downtime in 2014 at the Darien Art Center’s 57th Annual Art Show & Sale, which kicked off with a packed gallery at their opening reception on May 29. The DAC, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2015, received 218 entries from over 148 artists from kindergarten age to adult.
The appeal and variety of the entries in this year’s show have translated into sales of over $4000 in art in its first weekend. The show will be open to the public through Saturday, June 6, in the DAC Weatherstone Studio at 2 Renshaw Road, behind the Town Hall. Artwork will be on display and available for sale in a variety of media from noon to 5 p.m. each day. 25% of art sales will benefit the DAC.
This year’s judge, Silvermine gallery director, Jeffrey Mueller suggested to “think of the awarded works as highlights to peak our sense of observation: whether it be mastery of technique, compositional complexity, provocative narrative, timeliness, or just plain youthful creativity…In a digital age, where we are bombarded with hundreds of images on a daily basis, the fact that each of these artists produced something that took a considerable amount of time and effort and asks us, the viewer, to stop and look, should be celebrated.”
This year’s show featured 14 categories and 41 winners. All adult first-, second- and third-place winners will be on display at the Darien Library Friday, June 12 through Wednesday, July 8. Adult honorable mention winning entries will be on display from Thursday, June 11 through Tuesday, July 7 at the Darien Town Hall. Children’s first place winners will be at Dr. David Osherow’s Orthodontics office from Monday, June 8 through Monday, July 6.
Adult first place winners included Lisa Morrill Webb for Oil, Peter Thoren for Acrylic, Henry Gioiella for Color Photography, Mackenzie Jones for Black and White Photography, Pat Atkin for Sculpture, Suzanne Wilsey for Watercolor, Pam Lindberg for Mixed Media and Thomas Ernst for Drawing, Pastel and Graphics. High school first place winners were Katie Abbott, Margaux Benoist d’Etiveaud, and Lucy Armstrong.
Darien Rowayton Bank is lead corporate sponsor and Nielsen’s Florist is corporate sponsor of the Art Show and Sale. Prize sponsors are Atkin Boat Plans, Atria, Ben Larrabee Photography, Darien Sport Shop, Dr. David Osherow D.D.S., Jerry’s Artarama, The Sugar Bowl, Wilson Avenue Loft Artists, and William Taufic Photography. Art show sponsors are Baubles, Brown & Co., Darien Carpet, Darien Diner, Everything is Rosey, Fabricare, Folly, Fredric & Company, Grieb’s Pharmacy, Kumon of Darien, Litho’s Restaurant, Post Corner Pizza, and Wineport of Darien.
Following is a list of the winners:
BEST IN SHOW
Juliette Jansen, Downtime in 2014
OIL
1st Lisa Morrell Webb, Silver & Rose
2nd Britt Bair, Sweet Autumn Cow
3rd Meg Gardella, Untitled (Self Portrait) #1
ACRYLIC
1st Peter Thoren, Back Porch
2nd Olga Todhunter, Crossing American Nevada
3rd Nandini Hawley, “Presence”
COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY
1st Henry Gioiella, Classic Cuba
2nd Torrance York, Elephant, Botswana
3rd Bambi Riegel, Pink Spring
BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY
1st Mackenzie Jones, Repair Industry I
2nd Henry Gioiella, Classic Italy
3rd Jan King, Teen Recess, Granada, Spain
SCULPTURE
1st Pat Atkin, Untitled
2nd Leo Dwyer, Tangled Soul
3rd David Ziga, Cold-Worked Millefiori Glass Knife
WATERCOLOR
1st Suzanne Wilsey, Nova Scotia Fog
2nd Gillian Grozier, Trotter Farms
3rd Bela Szabo, Flowering Cactus
MIXED MEDIA
1st Pam Lindberg, Reminiscence
2nd Nancy Gramps, Athena
3rd Denise Minnerly, Pagoda 2
DRAWING, PASTEL & GRAPHICS
1st Thomas Ernst, Diane 2014
2nd Robert Carley, Untitled
3rd Helene Palmer, Meadow
STUDENT AWARDS
HIGH SCHOOL – PHOTOGRAPHY
1st Katie Abbott, Erebus
2nd Blair Marine, It’s a gray day
3rd Julia Dunne, Kayaks
HIGH SCHOOL – SCULPTURE
1st Margaux Benoist d’Etiveaud, Running Metal
HIGH SCHOOL ALL OTHER MEDIA
1st Lucy Armstrong, The Eye
2nd Christina Molkenthin, London
3rd Jeremy Howe, Inpearrogation
GRADE 6 – 8
1st Ben Roland, Briggs
2nd James Mc Partland, Speak
3rd Emily Grandon, Owl in Blue
GRADE 3 – 5
1st James Jordan, Winter Forest
2nd Rachel Huang, Winter Sundown
3rd Reid Hanson, Lightening Grey
GRADE K – 2
1st Anna Ventker, Daffodils In The Wind
2nd Ali Meyers, Horsey In a Barn
3rd Nicholas Lucas, Parrot
The show is open to the public through Saturday, June 6, in the DAC Weatherstone Studio at 2 Renshaw Road, behind the Town Hall. Artwork will be on display and available for sale in a variety of media from noon to 5 p.m. each day. 25% of art sales will benefit the DAC. For more information call (203) 655-8683 or go to darienarts.org