Darien Arts Center Announces 2015 Art Show Winners

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

Pictured are winners from the 57th Annual Darien Art Show and Sale at the Darien Arts Center; Pat Atkins, Peter Thoren, Juliette Jansen, winner of Best in Show, Suzanne Wilsey, Nandini Hawley, Thomas Ernst, Pam Lindberg and Lisa Morrill Webb.

Founded in 1975, the Darien Arts Center (DAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing visual and performing arts programs and events for the community. The DAC offers educational programs in Dance, Visual Arts, Music & Theatre, & special events & live theatre performances by DAC Stage. Private donations, grants, tuition fees & ticket sales fund the DAC, which is located at 2 Renshaw Road, behind the Town Hall. For further information, call (203) 655-8683 or visit darienarts.org.