Bethesda's Trawick Prize Names 8 Finalists In Annual Art Competition

BETHESDA, MD — Eight artists have been selected as finalists for The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a competition and exhibition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District.

More than 250 artists from Maryland, Virginia and D.C. submitted works to the 20th annual competition.

The award winners will be announced at a reception on Sept. 7. The Best in Show (first place winner) will be awarded $10,000; second place will get $2,000; and the third place winner will get $1,000. A Young Artist, a finalist who is younger than 30, could win $1,000.

The finalists’ work will be on exhibit at Gallery B from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Sept. 8 to Oct. 2. Gallery B is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E.

The 2022 Trawick Prize finalists are MK Bailey of Washington, D.C; WonJung Choi, Marcia Haffmans and Ali Kaeini of Richmond, Virginia; Caryn Martin of Baltimore; Robert Mertens of Staunton, Virginia; Evie Metz of Henrico County, Virginia; and Judith Pratt of Orange, Virginia.

The 2022 jurors who will be deciding the winners are Alexis Assam of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Thomas James of the Creative Alliance in Baltimore; and Maria del Carmen Montoya of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at the George Washington University.

Founded by Carol Trawick in 2003, the regional competition is one of the largest prizes to annually honor visual artists. Trawick, a community activist in Bethesda, also established the Bethesda Painting Awards in 2005.

She has served as the chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Bethesda Urban Partnership, Strathmore and the Maryland State Arts Council.

The Trawick Prize has awarded more than $260,000 in prize money and has exhibited the work of more than 160 regional artists.