MEA/MAEA art exhibit: Teacher wins Best of Show
Jurist Diane Scully looks at “Tenacity,” the art chosen as Best of Show in the 46th Annual MEA/Michigan Art Education Association Art Acquisitions Purchase Exhibition.
A digital photograph taken by a Bloomfield Hills teacher won Best of Show in the 46th Annual MEA/Michigan Art Education Association (MAEA) Art Acquisitions Purchase Exhibition.
The photograph by Candace Day shows rushing water flowing over a leaf in a river. It is one of 79 works of art selected for the exhibit, which is on display at the MEA’s East Lansing headquarters.
“I love nature and it seems like most of the pictures I take are in nature,” said Day, who teaches Latin at Lahser High School. Day said she was surprised to receive the top honor, considering the exhibit was her first. Day is still relatively new to digital photography; she purchased her point-and-shoot camera just a year ago.
Said jurist Diane Scully: “The qualities of both realism and abstraction drew me… The artist manipulated both the viewer’s eye and also the surface of the image itself. The manipulation transcends the piece and encourages the viewer to observe our world more closely.”
The exhibit features members of MEA, MAEA, or MEA-Retired, and provides an opportunity to showcase the artwork of active and retired education employees. Some of the pieces are purchased to enhance MEA offices throughout the state.
The exhibit is open to the public weekdays through April 23, excluding April 2. An online slideshow of the works chosen for the exhibit will be available (www.mea.org/members/awards/art) within a few days.
“Michigan has a lot to offer,” Scully said. “The vast array of subject matter, techniques, and skills exhibited in the variety of mediums make this show very welcoming and accessible to everyone in the community. There are many works that speak to the important qualities that give our lives meaning – family, nature, education, diversity, and creativity.”
Scully is a visual arts teacher in the Columbia Heights Schools in Minnesota, where she developed and implemented the elementary arts program and served as department chair. She is an adjunct professor at the college of St. Scholastica.
Juror’s Choice Awards
Jan Brown from Novi, Purple Boy, Acrylic
Christopher Bocklage from Ypsilanti, We Saw the Photograph, Charcoal and Graphite
Phil Savaglio from Royal Oak, Flowers in the Front Room, Watercolor & Ink (MEA Purchase Award)
Judy Wood Thurston from Clare, A Few Sweet Cherries, Watercolor (MEA Purchase Award)
Sharon Wood from Lansing, Stairway to Other, Ink on Paper (MEA Purchase Award)
Pamela Wilburn from Dimondale, Feeding Frenzy, Watercolor & Mixed Media
Sally Giroux from Saginaw, Monster, Mixed Media – Fiber (MEA Purchase Award)
Heidi Irvine from East Lansing, Lowe Sunset, Pastel
Karen Kirstead Miller from Okemos, Gucci Poppies. Mixed Media (MEA Purchase Award)
Thomas Thiery from Adrian, Favorite Hour of the Day, Watercolor (MAEA Purchase Award in honor of its 2010 Educator of the Year, September Buys from Greenville)
Honorable Mention Awards
Terry Junger from Shaftsburg, In Search of Birch, Collage - Mixed Media
Kegham Tazian from Farmington Hills, Imaginary Landscape, Mixed Media
Katherine Burkardt from Royal Oak, Soul Reflection, Watercolor
Lewis Smith from Lansing, San Xavier del Bac, Infrared on Metallic
Heidi Irvine from East Lansing, After the Game, Pastel
Carolyn Steenland from Newaygo, Solstice, Fused Glass (MEA Purchase Award)
Marti Liddle-Lameti from Owosso, Paris, Felted Fiber & Tulle
Catherine Rehbein from Monroe, Making Waves, Stoneware (MEA Purchase Award)
Jim Schulz from Ann Arbor, Tan Bowl with Curves, Clay
Judy Wood Thurston from Clare, Crystal Bowl and Peaches, Watercolor
MEA Purchase Awards*
Thomas Thiery from Adrian, Variations on Opus 36, Watercolor
Wendy Sample from Dearborn, Hat Man – Ecuador, Photography
Mary Clare Christiansen from Kent City, When Time Stands Still, Prismacolor
Julie Leopold Fernandez from Lapeer, Mother’s Nature, Photography
*Additional MEA Purchase Awards are included in the Juror’s Choice and Honorable Mention sections above.
Updated: March 16, 2010 10:26 AM