95th Toledo Area Artists Exhibition Award Winners Announced

Eye On Art | 11/25/2014

More than $12,000 in cash prizes and special recognitions were presented during an opening awards ceremony for the 95th Toledo Area Artists Exhibition Friday (Nov. 21) evening at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Thought to be the only remaining exhibition of its kind at a major art museum, the show continues the Museum’s nearly century-long tradition of celebrating and recognizing the best works by artists in the region. The exhibition of 73 works opened Friday evening and continues through Jan. 4, 2015, in the Museum’s Canaday Gallery. Admission to the exhibition and to the Museum is free.

After 462 artists entered digital portfolios of their work for consideration, 28 were selected to be part of this year’s show.

Award winners were selected by Christopher Knight, art critic for the Los Angeles Times and a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

Katie St. Clair of Ann Arbor won the $5,000 Best of Show award for Swilind, an acrylic and photo collage on panel. The $2,500 First Place honors went to David Eichenberg of Toledo for his hyper-realistic oil painting titled Doug. Winning Second Place and $1,500 was Sirens’ Song, a two-channel video installation by Michael Arrigo of Toledo. The $1,000 Third Place award was presented to Zak Lyons, also of Toledo. Lyons won with his intaglio print titled Goodbye Blue Skies. The cash prizes are sponsored by the Toledo Museum of Art.

The Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, also sponsored by the Museum, is given to an outstanding painting in the exhibition. Domestic #16, an oil painting by Jason E. Carter of Berkley, Michigan, won the $500 award.

The $500 Israel Abramofsky Award, sponsored by the Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim, went to Andrew Borowiec of Akron, who has three photographs in the show.

The Toledo Area Sculptors Guild and Flatlanders Gallery Award for an outstanding sculpture went to Leah Frankel’s Gray Scale, constructed with found objects. The recognition includes a $250 prize for the Columbus artist.

Joshua Newth of Farmington Hills, Michigan, took home the BLT University Award for his drawing Larus pacificus (Pacific Gull). The $750 award, presented to a work of art that expands one’s horizons and pushes conventional thought, is sponsored by Bowling Green State University, Lourdes University and the University of Toledo.

This year’s Athena Art Society $250 award, which recognizes an outstanding work by a female artist, went to Swilind by Katie St. Clair, also winner of Best of Show.

The $200 Toledo Friends of Photography Award went to Charles Mintz of Cleveland for his overall body of work.

Chris LaPorte of Grand Rapids, Michigan, received the Roulet Medal for his large-scale pencil drawing City Band. The award is sponsored by the Roulet Company.

Toni Andrews of Sylvania was presented the Toledo Federation of Art Societies (TFAS) Special Award given to someone who has made a significant impact in the Toledo art community.

This year’s TFAS Purchase Prize went to Slaughter of the Innocents, a tinted gesso on paper by K.A. Letts of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The 95th TAA Exhibition, curated by Halona Norton-Westbrook, is made possible by members of the Museum and supported through an Ohio Arts Council sustainability grant program.

To see videotaped interviews with the curator and artists in the show and obtain information on a series of public Gallery Talks with the curator and artists, visit taa.toledomuseum.org. To learn more about works in the exhibition that are available for purchase, inquire in the Museum Store.